Soakage
Encyclopedia
A soakage, or soak, is a source of water in Australian deserts
.
It is called thus because the water generally seeps into the sand, and is stored below, sometimes as part of an ephemeral river or creek system.
in the desert, being the most dependable source in times of drought in Australia
.
Aborigines would scoop out the sand or mud using a coolamon
or woomera
, often to a depth of several metres, until clean water gathered in the base of the hole. Knowing the precise location of each soakage was extremely valuable knowledge. It is also sometimes called a native well.
Anthropologist Donald Thomson
wrote:
...
against the wall. This would set like a cement
wash and help to hold loose sand, preventing it from falling into the water.
Wells could be up to fifteen feet deep, with small toe holds cut into the walls.
In the 1930s, when H. H. Finlayson made his journeys through the desert by camel, he noted that a gelded male camel, after a hard three-and-a-half day journey in intense heat without water, drank thirty-three gallons by actual measure without stopping, and fifteen minutes later, another ten gallons.
This sheds light on the resentment built up among desert Aborigines against explorers for the exploitation and, by enlarging well entrances and digging out springs, the devastation of their precious water supplies to satisfy camel teams.
Don McLeod
also tells a story of clashes over soak water at the time of the gold rushes in Western Australia:
McLeod relates a story told to him by an old prospector by the name of Long, observing an Aboriginal man and woman:
Deserts of Australia
Deserts cover a large portion of the land in Australia. Most of the deserts lie in the central and north-western part of the country. The largest part of Australia is desert or semi-arid...
.
It is called thus because the water generally seeps into the sand, and is stored below, sometimes as part of an ephemeral river or creek system.
Aboriginal water source
Soakages were traditionally important sources of water for Australian AboriginesAustralian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...
in the desert, being the most dependable source in times of drought in Australia
Drought in Australia
Drought in Australia is defined as rainfall over a three month period being in the lowest decile of what has been recorded for that region in the past. This definition takes into account that drought is a relative term and rainfall deficiencies need to be compared to typical rainfall patterns...
.
Aborigines would scoop out the sand or mud using a coolamon
Coolamon (vessel)
A coolamon is an Indigenous Australian carrying vessel.It is a multi-purpose shallow vessel, or dish with curved sides, ranging in length from 30–70 cm, and similar in shape to a canoe....
or woomera
Woomera (spear-thrower)
A woomera is an Australian Aboriginal spear-throwing device used for when there is a greater distance to be overcome. It is highly efficient and made of wood. Similar to an atlatl, it enables a spear to travel much further than by arm strength alone...
, often to a depth of several metres, until clean water gathered in the base of the hole. Knowing the precise location of each soakage was extremely valuable knowledge. It is also sometimes called a native well.
Anthropologist Donald Thomson
Donald Thomson
Donald Fergusson Thomson, OBE was an Australian anthropologist and ornithologist who was largely responsible for turning the Caledon Bay crisis into a "decisive moment in the history of Aboriginal-European relations." He is remembered as a friend of the Yolngu people, and as a champion of...
wrote:
- For a white man the difficulty in this country is that there is no way in which he can find the wells and soaks unless he does so by chance, and certainly nothing to indicate that the well is there, nor as a rule, even when the terrain and at least its superficial geological formation, the lie of the country, is examined, is there anything to explain the presence of water when he does find it
...
- A lifetime of experience, backed by the traditional knowledge that is handed down from generation to generation, enables these people [the PintupiPintupiPintupi refers to an Australian Aboriginal group who are part of the Western Desert cultural group and whose homeland is in the area west of Lake MacDonald and Lake Mackay in Western Australia. These people moved into the Aboriginal communities of Papunya and Haasts Bluff in the west of the...
in this instance] to judge, without having to visit a well that they know, whether it will still contain water and whether, if dry, with the sides fallen in and the well full of debris, it is worth cleaning out.
Cleaning and maintaining the well
Wells were covered to keep them free from fouling by animals. This involved blocking the well with dead branches and uprooted trees. When the wells fell into disrepair, people would bail the well, using the coolamon to throw slushSlush
Slush can mean any of the following:* Slush — a slurry mixture of liquid and solid forms of water.* Slush — a pejorative and slang combination of the likewise derogatory terms slut and lush...
against the wall. This would set like a cement
Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...
wash and help to hold loose sand, preventing it from falling into the water.
Wells could be up to fifteen feet deep, with small toe holds cut into the walls.
Recording well locations
Donald Thomson writes:- Just before we left, the old men recited to me the names of more than fifty waters – wells, rockholes and claypans ... this, in an area that the early explorers believed to be almost waterless, and where all but a few were, in 1957, still unknown to the white man. And on the eve of our going, Tjappanongo (Tjapanangka) produced spear-throwersWoomera (spear-thrower)A woomera is an Australian Aboriginal spear-throwing device used for when there is a greater distance to be overcome. It is highly efficient and made of wood. Similar to an atlatl, it enables a spear to travel much further than by arm strength alone...
, on the backs of which were designs deeply incised, more or less geometric in form. Sometimes with a stick, or with his finger, he would point to each well or rock hole in turn and recite its name, waiting for me to repeat it after him. Each time, the group of old men listened intently and grunted in approval – "Eh!" – or repeated the name again and listened once more. This process continued with the name of each water until they were satisfied with my pronunciation, when they would pass on to the next.
- I realized that here was the most important discovery of the expeditionBindibu ExpeditionThe Bindibu Expedition was a series of three field trips mounted by anthropologist Donald Thomson to meet with and learn from Pintupi Indigenous Australians between 1957 and 1965....
– that what Tjappanongo and the old men had shown me was really a map, highly conventionalized, like the works on a "message" or "letter" stickMessage stickA message stick is a form of communication traditionally used by Indigenous Australians. It is usually a solid piece of wood, around 20–30cm in length, etched with angular lines and dots....
of the Aborigines, of the waters of the vast terrain over which the Bindibu hunted.
White explorers and the wells
In the nineteenth century, both Warburton and Carnegie recorded that they had run down Aborigines with camels and captured and chained them to compel them to reveal their secret sources of water. This action left a lasting impression on the desert Aborigines, who would have handed accounts of this down through successive generations.In the 1930s, when H. H. Finlayson made his journeys through the desert by camel, he noted that a gelded male camel, after a hard three-and-a-half day journey in intense heat without water, drank thirty-three gallons by actual measure without stopping, and fifteen minutes later, another ten gallons.
This sheds light on the resentment built up among desert Aborigines against explorers for the exploitation and, by enlarging well entrances and digging out springs, the devastation of their precious water supplies to satisfy camel teams.
Don McLeod
Don McLeod
Donald Martin "Smokey" McLeod is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played briefly in the National Hockey League and 6 full seasons in the World Hockey Association....
also tells a story of clashes over soak water at the time of the gold rushes in Western Australia:
- During the time of the Laverton rush, the Blackfellows tried to keep their meager water supplies hidden from the knowledge of white prospectors since their horses and camels quickly exhausted the limited soaks.
McLeod relates a story told to him by an old prospector by the name of Long, observing an Aboriginal man and woman:
- The man took the throwing stick he was carrying and worked it into the sand. He then broke off a hollow reed and, placing it in the hole he had thus developed, lay down on his stomach and appeared to suck up something through the reed. His companion repeated his movements before they quietly moved on...
- Without delay Long, with the aid of a shovel, proved the existence of a soak of sweet water, from which he replenished his supplies...Only a few days later in the same place, another prospector had the same Blackfellow bailed up, threatening to shoot him unless he revealed a source of water. This was certainly not an untypical bush encounter. However, [they were] interrupted by yet another prospector riding a camel. The Blackfellow took advantage of the confusion and threw a spear into the bush and escaped.
- On the diggings, a hue and cry was raised over this alleged murderous attack and a party was quickly organised to set out and teach the Blackfellows a lesson - for daring to protect their water. Mustering what guns they could, the punitive party went out to what later became known as Skull CreekSkull CreekSkull Creek is a common name for a number of creeks and waterways in Australia. In each case, it is named so due to the killing of Aboriginal people in the area....
, and shot every Blackfellow they could find. The bodies were buried in shallow graves.
See also
- Bindibu ExpeditionBindibu ExpeditionThe Bindibu Expedition was a series of three field trips mounted by anthropologist Donald Thomson to meet with and learn from Pintupi Indigenous Australians between 1957 and 1965....
- Canning Stock RouteCanning Stock RouteThe Canning Stock Route is one of the toughest and most remote tracks in the world. It runs to Halls Creek from Wiluna, both in Western Australia. With a total distance of around it is also the longest historic stock route in the world...
- ClaypanClaypanIn geology, a claypan is a dense, compact, slowly permeable layer in the subsoil having a much higher clay content than the overlying material, from which it is separated by a sharply defined boundary. Claypans are usually hard when dry, and plastic and sticky when wet. They limit or slow the...
- GroundwaterGroundwaterGroundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock...
- WaterholeDepression (geology)A depression in geology is a landform sunken or depressed below the surrounding area. Depressions may be formed by various mechanisms.Structural or tectonic related:...
- Soak dikeSoak dikeThe term Soak dike is used in The Fens of eastern England to mean a ditch or drain running parallel with an embankment, for the purpose of taking any water that soaks through from the river or drain beyond the bank...