Heritage
The land of the east Kimberley region in Western Australia is vast, rich and exceptional. It is truly unique in its remoteness, is blessed with dreamtime legend and is home to many Australian Aboriginal people – the traditional land owners.
The Australian Aboriginal people believe that the Argyle mine was created when a group of women were fishing for a barramundi and it escaped the net. They believe that the varying colours of Argyle’s diamonds are from the different parts of the barramundi – with pink diamonds being from its heart.
The dreamtime story, as told by the Gidga and Miriuwung people:
A barramundi being chased by a group of old women swims into a cave near the area now known as Barramundi Gap. As she enters the cave, the women prepare to catch her with nets made from rolled Spinifex grass (a traditional fishing method known as Kilkayi). The barramundi realises she is trapped in the shallow, muddy water of the caves entrance, and tries to escape by swimming to the other end, toward Nunbung (Wesley Spring). But she cannot find a way out and so returns to the entrance of the cave, where the women are waiting with their nets. She swims toward the women and jumps over them, shedding her scales as she jumps - leaving them behind in the shallow water. The scales become the diamonds of all colours that are found there today.
The barramundi then jumps through a gap in the rocks, landing in the deep, clear water of Kowinji (Cattle Creek). As the barramundi dives, she turns into a white stone. Three of the women who have chased her there peer into the water to look for her, and they too turn to stone – forever becoming part of the landscape. Today there are three stone formations overlooking the creek. According to the Gidga people, barramundi are not found there today because of the presence of the Ngarranggarni barramundi in this place.
Diamonds were first discovered in Australia in the 1850s, but it took more than a century before the search began in earnest. Looking for diamonds in the rugged and isolated north west corner of the country was a job for modern pioneers.
It took seven years of hope, despair, joy and frustration, as geologists combed the Kimberley region – an area the size of Texas – before any sign of success was encountered.
The pink diamond story has continued to enthral, as to transform a rough pink diamond to an exquisite piece of jewellery, requires extraordinary skill, fine artistry and great passion.