Summary

This item is one of our 50 Treasures: Celebrating 50 years of James Cook University.

Patricia Fagan answers the question 'Why is this significant?'

For the Trezise family, the dry seasons of the 1960s and 70s were marked by husband and father, Percy's frequent absences on long bush trips in remote Cape York searching for rock-art. Three of these trips are documented in the notebook diaries.

Percy was a remarkable character: a pilot, explorer, conservationist, author, artist and ceramicist. He came from rural Victoria but interest in northern Australia and a love of aviation brought him and his young family to Cairns in 1956. A man of many talents, he was largely self-taught and approached projects with a determined enthusiasm. He was not afraid of controversy.

In 1960, when roadworkers accidentally uncovered the art at Split Rock near Laura, 250 kilometres north-west of Cairns, Percy recognised its significance. He began to use his routine flights as an Ansett pilot to conduct aerial surveys of the remote sandstone country around Laura to identify further potential rock-art sites. Then, he would mount bush expeditions to locate these seemingly inaccessible places on foot.

Percy quickly confirmed that the Split Rock art belonged to a much wider body of work that represented a significant rock-art heritage. At the same time, he realised it was in danger and would soon be lost with 'development' and the passing of the last Aboriginal generation with a lived connection to the cultural tradition and way of life that produced the art.

He determined he would document as much of the region's rock-art as possible to ensure its conservation and proper place in history, so that the stories of its people would not be lost.

With the help of his close friend Goobalathaldin (Dick Roughsey), he befriended the few remaining initiated men in the region and together they went bush, again and again. Once a gallery was found, they explored the area to understand its purpose and context, and then painstakingly developed precise, scaled drawings of the art.

The diaries provide a vivid record of these bush trips including Aboriginal vocabulary and complete equipment lists. They describe fireside yarns where his Aboriginal companions relate ancestral beliefs and talk of the devastating events arising from frontier conflict. The diaries excitedly report new galleries giving detailed descriptions of the art, its technical quality and likely purpose. We also glimpse prevailing attitudes toward Aboriginal people through the eyes of a man who stood apart, taking people as he found them.