Our services
Aboriginal Heritage Assessments and Surveys
Aboriginal people have lived throughout Western Australia for well over 45,000 years before the arrival of the Europeans. Not surprisingly then, evidence of their presence and occupation is found throughout the Western Australian landscape. Heritage surveys record and document these places as ‘sites’. Finding sites and recording them is what Big Island does. We are highly experienced in ethnographic and archaeological heritage assessment, advice and reporting, and preparing section 18 (Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972) applications. We can also provide expert advice on heritage legislation.
Genealogical and Historical Research
Big Island undertakes robust and independent genealogical and historical research to help answer questions and resolve issues relevant to Native Title, PBC membership and rights to country. Our approach is comprehensive and exhaustive; we combine field research, interviews, and expansive archival and document research to provide clients with rigorous and trustworthy advice. It must be understood, however, that the resources drawn upon are varied, as are their authors and the social circumstances and eras wherein these records were created. They are, therefore, neither neutral nor lacking in ambiguity, and advice informed by them must be seen as the best and most accurate possible within these constraints.
Social Surroundings
Under Western Australia’s Environmental Protection Act (1986), Aboriginal heritage can be defined as a relevant environmental factor when linked to the physical and biological attributes of the environment and when threatened by a proposed development. Big Island can undertake Aboriginal cultural and heritage assessments and surveys to provide developers, and the EPA, with sufficient reliable information on aesthetic, cultural or social values to draw clear conclusions about significance, potential impacts and possible avoidance or mitigation strategies. Central to our approach are thoroughgoing consultations and engagement with Aboriginal people.
Cultural Mapping
The identities of Aboriginal people, their cultural practices, Law, social systems and spiritual beliefs are intrinsically interconnected and tied to land. To map these webs of meaning and value is to create a record of landscape that is animated—not a map in a static European sense—but one imbued with life, movement, language, spiritual significance and practice.
Big Island provides cultural mapping services to help custodians of country research, document, integrate and interpret the cultural values and uses of land and landscapes.
Contact us
If you would like to discuss a project or would like more information, simply contact our office using the following details.
bigisland@bigislandresearch.com.au
(+61) 0417 941 909
2/779 Canning Highway
Applecross, WA, 6153