Blue Lake

Statement of Significance

Blue Lake is an ecological and cultural node within an extended Noongar heritage landscape. No thorough archaeological or cultural survey has been conducted at the site to date; however, numerous cultural features are apparent in the area surrounding Blue Lake and at the edge of the lake itself, including lizard traps and gnamma holes found in the granite outcrops of the area and stone artefacts found at the lake edge and in surrounding bushland. Blue Lake and its surrounds are part of the Wilson Inlet catchment area which forms the basis of a large cultural landscape focused around the Denmark and Hay River systems and culminating at Wilson Inlet (more information see; Mitchell, 2008, Wilson Inlet Cultural Management Plan).
The cultural elements within the landscape exist at different locations around Blue Lake today as physical manifestations of the ways in which Noongar people engaged with the area in the past. None of the archaeological features exist in isolation from one-another or from the ecosystems and natural features of which they are a part.
The features are all important components of a cultural landscape now, just as they were components in a cultural system in the past. Noongar cultural systems throughout the Wilson Inlet catchment in the past were interwoven with the landscape and its ecosystems, just as today the cultural landscape is an inherent part of the natural landscape.
Blue Lake provided Noongar people living traditionally in this area with abundant resources including freshwater, aquatic and terrestrial food sources such as marron, lizards, kangaroos, emus, turtles and frogs. The resource system surrounding Blue Lake and its location within the Wilson Inlet Catchment makes it an ideal camping place for traditional Noongar people.
The Noongar community, as cultural custodians of Blue Lake and the Wilson Inlet catchment, wish to care for and conserve the natural health and beauty of the land and water. The preservation of cultural values in the area is dependent upon maintaining ecological values and on the active involvement of Traditional Owners in caring for country. In caring for the ecological health of Blue Lake, Traditional Owners are caring for culture.

Physical Description

Blue Lake is in the upper part of the Wilson Inlet Catchment, 20 km NNW of Denmark, adjacent to the junction of Powley Road and Blue Lake road in the Denbarker area.

History

Blue Lake is in the upper part of the Wilson Inlet Catchment, 20 km NNW of Denmark, adjacent to the junction of Powley Road and Blue Lake road in the Denbarker area.
This lake is a type of overflow system on the eastern edge of the Wilson Inlet catchment. It sits at an overflow into the catchment of the Denmark River, but it rarely does overflow. The land around this system is Crown land, mostly managed by Department of Environment and Conservation.
There is a wide buffer of natural vegetation around the lake helping to maintain a healthy ecosystem. The land is largely unused for human activity in the immediate surrounds of the lake. Before the 1960s, stock were driven through the Blue Lake area from the hinterland to Albany for export. Water was also pumped from this wetland and trucked to nearby landholdings for stock water in dry periods that led to local water shortages.
(Information obtained from Wetland conservation in the Wilson Inlet Catchment, WA. Tim Frodsham for Greenskills 2007

Creation Date

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Last Update

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.