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Following Garkman the Frog
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Dr Valérie Boll is a visiting anthropologist at the South Australian Museum in
Adelaide, Australia. She is also a Visiting fellow at the Cross Cultural
Research Centre, Australian National University in Canberra, Australia and a
Honorary research fellow, Centre for Research and Documentation on Oceania
(CREDO), University of Provence, Marseille, France. I first met Valerie in 2003
when she visited Perth to look at some local collections of anthropological
material.
Valérie is an incredible multi-disciplinarian, with an academic background in
art, anthropology and zoology. After studying at the University of Strasbourg
and the Sorbonne, Paris (France), she started post-doctorate research at the
South Australian Museum in July 2000. Between 2001 and 2005, Valérie worked on a
project called “The distribution and ethnozoology of frogs (and toads) in North
East Arnhem Land – Phase 1 + 2”. This research focused on the cultural
relationship between Dhalwangu people and the frog, Garkman, in North-East
Arnhem Land (Yolngu territory), Northern Territory, Australia. The aim of this
research was to record traditional Aboriginal knowledge about frogs as viewed by
Dhalwangu, a Yolngu clan. Particular emphasis was placed on amphibian traditions
and beliefs, local nomenclature, and natural history as conceived by the
Dhalwangu. Data and art works were collected during two research periods, August
to December 2002 and February to June 2005, at Gängan outstation, Gapuwiyak,
Yirrkala (community and Buku-Larrnggay Art Centre) and Nhulunbuy.
Valérie is now focussing on a new project
on traditional ecological knowledge: “Caring for country. Managing indigenous
and scientific environmental knowledge in North- East Arnhem Land.” She is also
presently working on an exhibition project: “Following Garkman: the frog in N.E.
Arnhem Land”. Valérie says: this journey, following Garkman, the totemic frog,
will take us through Dhalwangu (Yirritja) country, traditions and beliefs,
allowing outsiders to learn about Dhalwangu sophisticated systems of living,
their philosophy and an encyclopaedia of the environment, combining the ancient
time, the present and the future. The exhibition represents a tremendous
opportunity to bridge the gaps between natural and social sciences, jointly
presenting cultural and zoological knowledge as an educational exhibition
supported by significant artworks. The exhibition is being developed by the
South Australian Museum for the 2007 program and will open mid-December. The SA
Museum also propose to tour the exhibition in 2008/10.
Traditional and local Aboriginal knowledge systems are dynamic expressions of
perceiving and understanding the world. As such, they can make a valuable
contribution to science and technology, and there is an urgent need to preserve,
protect, research and promote this cultural and empirical knowledge. Animals and
plants are of value to humans in many ways for their scientific, cultural,
ecological and aesthetic worth, and they play a critical role in the world’s
ecosystems. In the face of the evidence for global decline of many species,
additional research on traditional ecological knowledge is urgently needed in
all these areas both from a broad approach and a detailed case study
perspective. I can think of no person more dedicated to this work than Valérie
Boll and I wish her every success.
