MOORABERRIE STATION

Alice Duncan-Kemp, whose family owned and ran Mooraberrie cattle station in the  Channel Country in the 1930's kept diaries and photographs which form part of the Kirrenderri travelling exhibition.

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Ms Duncan-Kemp and her family formed close relationships with Mithaka people in Channel Country during that period. Mithaka dwellings — called Gunyah — have been found on the station and throughout the Channel Country. Researchers have dated them as the oldest structure in Australia.

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Carved wooden objects were given to Alice by stockmen and community members, which she subsequently donated to the Anthropology Museum in the mid-1950s. These add a wonderful personal dimension to the story as Alice wrote detailed observations in her published books about Aboriginal people and their country. This rich resource of knowledge is presented alongside recent archaeological discoveries, which have the potential to inspire a complete reimagining of the complexity of Australia’s Aboriginal past.