Entangled Knowledges: Sharing collections in Albany

Since 2021 Ali and Andrew have been collaborating in a mission which goals to spotlight Menang Nyungar data embedded in a historic assortment of fishes and cultural objects and return this data to the Menang neighborhood in Western Australia. Right here they inform us about this assortment, their current go to to Albany (Kinjarling in Nyungar) and the way cross-cultural, cross-disciplinary working is enabling a fuller understanding of those collections.

The historical past of the gathering

In 1839, Scottish-born Robert Neill was posted as Deputy Assistant Commissary Common to King George’s Sound (Albany) in Western Australia. Right here he collected zoological, ethnographic and geological specimens and despatched them to his father’s cousin, Patrick Neill, in Edinburgh. The ethnographic objects have been donated to the College of Edinburgh’s Pure Historical past Museum in 1849.

Robert Neill additionally collected, recognized, drew and wrote about numerous fish specimens in 1841 with the help of Menang individuals, colonists and sealers. The sketches have been introduced to the British Museum (now the Pure Historical past Museum, London) in 1845, the place they continue to be right this moment certain right into a single quantity. Many of the fish specimens have been donated to the New School Museum (later the Free Church School Museum).

Among the fish specimens have been acquired by the British Museum from Benjamin Leadbeater, a vendor in pure historical past specimens in London. In 1966, when the Free Church School Museum was closed, the fish specimens have been donated to the Royal Scottish Museum, now the Nationwide Museum of Scotland. The work and unique labels on the fishes embody the Menang names of every species and, in some instances, the title of the Menang fishermen who caught them. Small sewn-up holes within the fishes verify that they have been caught utilizing Menang fishing spears, just like the Toŏbetoŏbit beneath (herring cale, Olisthops cyanomelas).

The Entangled Knowledges mission

This analysis mission includes working in a cross-sector, collaborative and Indigenous-governed crew. In October 2022 we met the mission crew members* in Albany for per week of analysis and workshops. Our goals have been to introduce the mission to the local people in Albany, converse to Menang individuals about how they want to take part within the mission, situate Robert Neill within the native panorama and plan future work.

Fishing has at all times been an vital a part of native life in Albany. We have been taken to see the historic fish traps at Oyster Harbour by  Menang guides Larry Blight and Vernice Gillies. The traps have been made by Menang individuals to catch fish at low tide and are round 7000 years previous. The traps comprise a wall of enormous stones that minimize off an space of shoreline at low tide. At excessive tide, the fish swim over the wall, however because the tide ebbs the fish are caught behind it in shallow water. Right here they are often speared or caught by hand. From 2011-15, Menang elder and information Vernice Gillies was concerned within the Oyster Harbour Fish Traps Conservation Mission which created a shelter and interpretation panels for the positioning. The panels characteristic a few of Robert Neill’s drawings of fish discovered within the native waters.

These work are additionally being integrated into granite slabs alongside the boardwalk at Binalup seaside on the outskirts of Albany as a part of the foreshore enhancement scheme. The incorporation of those drawings into the boardwalk makes Menang data seen on this panorama while additionally telling tales about historic interactions between Menang individuals and Europeans.

Robert Neill labored with Menang individuals to gather lots of the fishes now within the collections of Nationwide Museums Scotland. As a part of his function as Commissariat Officer it’s doubtless that he obtained artefacts comparable to kodj (axe), taap (knives), spearthrowers and arm ornaments in alternate for gadgets comparable to flour and tobacco. These transactions typically mirrored unequal energy relations between European colonial officers and Menang individuals.

The bodily panorama of Albany has modified lots since 1839, with the shoreline pushed additional out by way of land reclamation. Lowley Park, now surrounded by residential homes, was as soon as the positioning of the commissariat retailer the place Robert Neill labored and the place it’s identified that Menang individuals introduced him fishes.

We held a workshop on the Noongar Centre in Albany the place members of the Albany Heritage Reference Group and Aboriginal Company and the broader Albany neighborhood might drop in to listen to extra in regards to the mission and share their ideas. Staff members gave displays on the collections now held in Edinburgh and London. It was highlighted that one of many fishes painted and preserved by Neill was the brown-spotted wrasse, whose scientific title, Notolabrus parilus, consists of ‘paril’, the Menang title for this fish. There was a lot dialogue about which fish are nonetheless caught right this moment and the way artefacts comparable to kodj and taap are made.

The mission continues till 2024 and we hope to host members of the crew in Edinburgh in 2023. Within the meantime, we’re arranging for 3D fashions of the dried fish specimens to be created to share with Menang households. On the similar time, we’re trying to have the kodj and taap x-rayed to disclose how they have been made and what supplies have been used. This data can be shared with Menang households and can be of specific curiosity to those that are making kodj and taap right this moment.

*Mission crew