Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are advised that this article contains images, voices, names or references to peoples now passed on.
This week marks the First Anniversary of the passing of Vivian Charles Sinnamon (1953-2022).
A beloved family member and friend to many in the Kowanyama Community and beyond, Viv dedicated over 50 years of his life to the cultural and environmental retention, conservation and regeneration of the region and its culture. He was a respected Elder in Kowanyama, where he lived and worked tirelessly to pass on the knowledge taught to him by Elders and scholars, and built on through his own studies, research, and practice.
Viv's passing last year rocked the Kowanyama Community and the many connected communities from across the globe who had come to know Viv through his work and advocacy for First Nations' self-governance of land and water management, and cultural heritage protection and preservation. Many knew Viv through his role as manager at the Kowanyama Lands and Natural Resource Management Office (KLANRMO) where he worked between 1990-2015.
In his role at the Lands Office, Viv was often the first point of contact for visiting researchers and workers in the areas of Science, Land Management, the Arts and Education. He actively supported many grass roots and collaborative programs on Country and often played a facilitating role which contributed to their success.
In 2003, Kowanyama Aboriginal Council's KLANRMO collaborated with Bush TV to spearhead The Kowanyama Project - a community campaign "to maintain the heritage of the ancestors and their children through passing knowledge using new media like Facebook, videos and school cultural classes. Families are encouraged to teach traditional knowledge the old way, at home and in the bush while they are hunting, camping and fishing" (i).
The first stages of the project included developing a web presence: "a Kowanyama Project Facebook Page, two magazines and a video promoting the campaign, to raise the necessary funds to develop a future state of the art Culture and Research Centre" (ii).
From this campaign, the Kowanyama Culture & Research Centre was established with a Q150 Program (2009) grant, which allowed the first stage of interim museum space and staff accommodation to be built to house the Kowanyama Collection.
The Kowanyama Collection "is a collection of more than 12000 objects that in 2009 received a Statement of National Significance and consists of the Sinnamon Collection (1972 to 2022), and a series of acquired collections which include the Palmer Collection of Cape York Wommeras, and the Atherton Family Collection of Mitchell River Wommeras. It also contains repatriated collections, including from the Queensland Museum, Yalga binbi Institute [Townsville]" (iii) and also from numerous private collections of people who had worked at Kowanyama in the past.
The Collection, which had previously been stored in the Lands Office (KLANRMO), was relocated to the newly built, environmentally controlled, storage space, and Viv took up residence in the adjacent building, as the Centre's curator and coordinator. For the next 12 years he volunteered his time to document, catalogue and promote the items in the Collection, describing their significance to Kowanyama people, their culture, homelands and histories. Viv also produced numerous printed and digital publications for and with the community, including the Kowanyama Land Office News (2011-2015), The Kowanyama Project Newsletters (2018-2021), and Algngga Orrngan (2020) copies of which can be found in JCU Library Special Collections – North Queensland Collection.
In the months before his death, Viv had been collaborating with the Kowanyama Shire Council to secure funding and approvals for a purpose-built cyclone shelter that could house The Kowanyama Collection and keep it safe (safer than it is currently).
Viv died on Kokomenjena Country, out bush – where he loved to be – and doing what he loved to do: walking, hunting and collecting materials for teaching and making traditional cultural and functional items. He is greatly missed and, with his family and community, has created an enormous legacy. His efforts are highly valued and there are many supporters – from Kowanyama and around the world – who wish to honour the vision and build on this legacy, which is outlined in the newsletters and his last publication, The Kowanyama Collection (iv).
"The Project is developing into something very special. Something that enriches Kowanyama lives. The dream is for the future centre to become an icon of Cape York as a region, and that it will promote and share the rich diversity of its culture and that of all First Nations with all Australians. Enjoy our stories" (v).
Vivian Sinnamon was a JCU alumnus and a Special Collection's donor. He completed a BA (Human Geography Major) from JCU Townsville in the 1980s and participated in the Land Rights Conference in Townsville in 1981. Viv's totems (given to him by Elders of the Yir Yoront Language group from the Kokomenjena Clans) were Brush (or Scrub) Turkey: Minh-Them+Them and Wallaby: Minh-Lalpm.
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| Vivian Sinnamon with colleague and long-term friend, Senior Ranger John Clarke, Kowanyama, 2019. Photograph: © Mark Weaver. |
This week marks the First Anniversary of the passing of Vivian Charles Sinnamon (1953-2022).
A beloved family member and friend to many in the Kowanyama Community and beyond, Viv dedicated over 50 years of his life to the cultural and environmental retention, conservation and regeneration of the region and its culture. He was a respected Elder in Kowanyama, where he lived and worked tirelessly to pass on the knowledge taught to him by Elders and scholars, and built on through his own studies, research, and practice.
Viv's passing last year rocked the Kowanyama Community and the many connected communities from across the globe who had come to know Viv through his work and advocacy for First Nations' self-governance of land and water management, and cultural heritage protection and preservation. Many knew Viv through his role as manager at the Kowanyama Lands and Natural Resource Management Office (KLANRMO) where he worked between 1990-2015.
In his role at the Lands Office, Viv was often the first point of contact for visiting researchers and workers in the areas of Science, Land Management, the Arts and Education. He actively supported many grass roots and collaborative programs on Country and often played a facilitating role which contributed to their success.
In 2003, Kowanyama Aboriginal Council's KLANRMO collaborated with Bush TV to spearhead The Kowanyama Project - a community campaign "to maintain the heritage of the ancestors and their children through passing knowledge using new media like Facebook, videos and school cultural classes. Families are encouraged to teach traditional knowledge the old way, at home and in the bush while they are hunting, camping and fishing" (i).
The first stages of the project included developing a web presence: "a Kowanyama Project Facebook Page, two magazines and a video promoting the campaign, to raise the necessary funds to develop a future state of the art Culture and Research Centre" (ii).
From this campaign, the Kowanyama Culture & Research Centre was established with a Q150 Program (2009) grant, which allowed the first stage of interim museum space and staff accommodation to be built to house the Kowanyama Collection.
The Kowanyama Collection "is a collection of more than 12000 objects that in 2009 received a Statement of National Significance and consists of the Sinnamon Collection (1972 to 2022), and a series of acquired collections which include the Palmer Collection of Cape York Wommeras, and the Atherton Family Collection of Mitchell River Wommeras. It also contains repatriated collections, including from the Queensland Museum, Yalga binbi Institute [Townsville]" (iii) and also from numerous private collections of people who had worked at Kowanyama in the past.
The Collection, which had previously been stored in the Lands Office (KLANRMO), was relocated to the newly built, environmentally controlled, storage space, and Viv took up residence in the adjacent building, as the Centre's curator and coordinator. For the next 12 years he volunteered his time to document, catalogue and promote the items in the Collection, describing their significance to Kowanyama people, their culture, homelands and histories. Viv also produced numerous printed and digital publications for and with the community, including the Kowanyama Land Office News (2011-2015), The Kowanyama Project Newsletters (2018-2021), and Algngga Orrngan (2020) copies of which can be found in JCU Library Special Collections – North Queensland Collection.
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| Cover of Algngga Orrngan, featuring Olkola Elder, Simpson Yam. Photograph by Tom Hearn. © The Kowanyama Project 2020. |
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| Covers of Kowanyama Project newsletter, Issues 2 & 4, 2019 & 2020. Images feature: Stephen Patterson (dec) cutting wood for traditional shields at Worrtha in preparation for The Ochred Shields Exhibition CIAF 2016; Nelson Brumby Jnr making ironwood gum, Ortno (Oriners) Culture Camp, August 2008. © The Kowanyama Project. |
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| Graphic created for the Kowanyama Project Facebook page, by Viv Sinnamon 2021. |
Viv was a humble man, a talented and skilled artist/bush/master craftsman, a storyteller, a designer and a generous collaborator. Over the last decade, he voluntarily led many community workshops with the Kowanyama State School and collaborated on other community initiatives such as the Awin Udnum Project (2011-2014) that was developed following the success of Alma Luke s book, Uw Oykangand Oy berr - Traditional Bush Medicine from the Kunjen of Kowanyama, to which he also contributed time and energy.
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| Left: Cover of Uw Oykangand Oy berr. © Alma Luke (Wason) 2011. Right: One of the posters created in the Awin Udnum Project (2012-2015). |
In 2019, Viv curated and coordinated a community festival Ngethn o' (We are Here!), as well as exhibitions and displays of items from the Collection in the Kowanyama community and Cairns – working there with curators from the Cairns Museum and Historical Society, Cairns Regional Art Gallery and Umi Arts.
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| Ngethn o' Festival banner, featuring photographs of Kowanyama people. Design and images by Mark Weaver & Viv Sinnamon 2019. |
Viv died on Kokomenjena Country, out bush – where he loved to be – and doing what he loved to do: walking, hunting and collecting materials for teaching and making traditional cultural and functional items. He is greatly missed and, with his family and community, has created an enormous legacy. His efforts are highly valued and there are many supporters – from Kowanyama and around the world – who wish to honour the vision and build on this legacy, which is outlined in the newsletters and his last publication, The Kowanyama Collection (iv).
 |
| The Kowanyama Collection, Community Information publication. © The Kowanyama Culture and Research Centre, 2022. |
"The Project is developing into something very special. Something that enriches Kowanyama lives. The dream is for the future centre to become an icon of Cape York as a region, and that it will promote and share the rich diversity of its culture and that of all First Nations with all Australians. Enjoy our stories" (v).
Vivian Sinnamon was a JCU alumnus and a Special Collection's donor. He completed a BA (Human Geography Major) from JCU Townsville in the 1980s and participated in the Land Rights Conference in Townsville in 1981. Viv's totems (given to him by Elders of the Yir Yoront Language group from the Kokomenjena Clans) were Brush (or Scrub) Turkey: Minh-Them+Them and Wallaby: Minh-Lalpm.
Article written by Bernadette Boscacci.
Further reading
Newsletters:
Further reading
Newsletters:
A community magazine produced for the Kowanyama Community and Friends.
Produced by The Kowanyama Culture and Research Centre. Editor: Viv Sinnamon, Assisting Curator, Kowanyama Collection.
Produced by The Kowanyama Culture and Research Centre. Editor: Viv Sinnamon, Assisting Curator, Kowanyama Collection.
- The Kowanyama Project News Issue 6 November 2021, Wet Season edition
- The Kowanyama Project News Issue 5 February 2021, Wet Season edition
- The Kowanyama Project News Issue 4 May 2020, Winter edition
- The Kowanyama Project Issue 3 October 2019, Ngethn O' 2019 A special edition
- The Kowanyama Project Issue 2 July 2019
Rigby, M. "Aboriginal Shield Returned to Country 60 Years After Croc Hunters 'Collected' it from Banks of Mitchell River". ABC News, April 2022. https://tinyurl.com/53t8w8fv.
(ii) Kowanyama Project Newsletter, Issue 2, July 2019.
(iii) ibid.
(iv) The Kowanyama Collection, A Community Information Publication for the Kowanyama Community and Supporters, The Kowanyama Culture & Research Centre, Kowanyama 2022.
(v) Kowanyama Project Newsletter, Issue 2, July 2019.
Academic articles & Reports:
Barber, M, et al. "Working Knowledge: Characterising Collective Indigenous, Scientific, and Local Knowledge About the Ecology, Hydrology and Geomorphology of Oriners Station, Cape York Peninsula, Australia." The Rangeland Journal, vol. 36, no. 1, 2014, pp. 53-66, doi:10.1071/RJ13083.
Barber, M. Beyond the Local: Assessing the External Social Uutcomes of Indigenous Environmental Management. Key concepts and a case study of the Kowanyama Aboriginal Land and Natural Resource Management Office. CSIRO. 2015. https://tinyurl.com/4s9vt49v
Smart, J.C.R, et al. Environmental Economic Accounting for Interconnected Ecosystem Assets and Ecosystem Services in The Mitchell River Catchment, Queensland: Pilot Ecosystem Accounts and Supporting Information. Griffith University. 2022. https://tinyurl.com/4yf7dekd
References
(i) Kowanyama Project Newsletter, Issue 4: May 2020 – Winter Edition.(ii) Kowanyama Project Newsletter, Issue 2, July 2019.
(iii) ibid.
(iv) The Kowanyama Collection, A Community Information Publication for the Kowanyama Community and Supporters, The Kowanyama Culture & Research Centre, Kowanyama 2022.
(v) Kowanyama Project Newsletter, Issue 2, July 2019.
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