35 years with the Thalanyji - 50,000 years of deep history on Barrow Island, Boodie Cave and the remote WA coast

Archaeologist Dr Fiona Hook, who has worked alongside the Thalanyji people, discovered unique shell artefacts and evidence of their connection to Barrow Island going back 50,000 years and counting. Image: Samara Diaz — Archaeologist Dr Fiona Hook, who has worked alongside the Thalanyji people, discovering unique shell artefacts and evidence of their connection to Barrow Island going back 50,000 years and counting. Image: Samara Diaz

It was an unexpected invitation to a remote part of the Western Australian coastline that led archaeology graduate Fiona Hook to a lifelong connection to the Thalanyji people - and the discovery of more than 50,000 years of deep indigenous history.

Now an Adjunct Professor and archaeologist, Dr Hook first came to Thalanyji Country near Onslow in the early 1990s, working under the Aboriginal Heritage Act to help record sites that could be impacted by development.

Shells of seafood commonly eaten by Thalanyji ancestors thousands of years ago unearthed in Boodie Cave on Barrow Island. Image: Samara Diaz

Her work and that of husband Bruce - who first invited her to WA and whose academic legacy is remembered by the University of Western Australia’s Dr Bruce Veitch Award for Excellence in Indigenous Engagement - continues today.

Examples of the Melo shell knife (left) and water-carrying container (right). Images: Dr Fiona Hook

Among Dr Hook’s discoveries has been the first evidence of the use of Melo shell knives in Boodie Cave on Barrow Island - formerly a part of the mainland before the last recorded Ice Age.

Barrow Island, a renowned significant site for Thalanyji to this day, was once connected to the Pilbara coast. Images: Samara Diaz

Ngaarda Media’s Tangiora Hinaki and Samara Diaz spent time with Dr Hook and the Thalanyji people in and around Onslow last week

Here, we present a conversation with Dr Hook, recorded during the trip and edited for clarity.

From her connection with Thalanyji Elders to the discovery of Melo shell knives dating back thousands of years and what they reveal about the knowledge, skill and continuing connection Thalanyji ancestors maintain with the island, Boodie Cave and the Sea Country the Thalanyji once traversed overland to reach; the conversation is sure to enthrall.