Description

On the far north coast live the Kaiara Wandjinas or Sea Wandjinas. The Kaiara were said to have arrived on the Kimberley coastline from the great whirlwinds from the north. They are considered to be very influential of the weather events. To upset, deface or bother a Kaiara would bring forth fierce cyclones and driving storms. In the early 1960s, Dr. Ian Crawford was appointed the head of Aboriginal Studies for the WA Museum and spent the following years researching and visiting the remote northern Kimberley art sites. The traditional stories relating to the Kaiara sites I've written about below have been referenced from his 1968 book "Art of the Wandjina-Aboriginal Cave Paintings in the Kimberley, Western Australia" p69-80.

Almost indistinct from other Wandjina sites throughout the Kimberley, the Kaiara are only told apart from the legends of their beginning. Ranging from Bigge Island east to Vansittart Bay are six documented Kaiara sites. Although it is not recognised by the traditional owners of the sites, the stories relating to the Kaiara could be said to have distinct similarities to interactions with the first visitors to the Australian continent.