A 'Port Scene', Identity and Rock Art of the Inland Southern Kimberley, Western Australia

In Australia, Indigenous rock art images of European material culture and animals were common responses to European contact. However, in the southern Kimberley of northwest Australia, European motifs are rare. Instead, rock art associated with the first European contact emphasises group identity more than in immediate pre-contact times. A rare depiction of European motifs in one rock art panel in the region can be interpreted as a representation of individual identity. This contrast within a single region demonstrates the diversity of responses to European arrivals in Australia and the effect on motif choice of the nature of relationships between the Indigenous and new peoples.