Wilgie Mia, known by the Wajarri Traditional Owners as Thuwarri Thaa (the place of red ochre), lies in the Weld Ranges of Australia. It is the largest and deepest underground Aboriginal ochre mine in Australia and the world’s oldest continuing mining operation. Its’ rich red ochre was first extracted more than 30,000 years ago and is still used today in Aboriginal Law, art, ceremony and healing practices throughout the Western Desert and its fringes.
Wilgie Mia is characterised by large open-cut pits, excavated caverns and underground galleries that follow ochre seams in red, yellow, and green. But it was the red ochre that was most prized by the Wajarri people. The lustrous sheen and the ‘glow in the dark’ properties of this particular ochre, made it among the most sought after ochre in the country, used for thousands of years in ceremonies, rock art, and for trade.
The ochre from Wilgie Mia formed part of the most extensive pre-contact ochre trade network recorded in Australia. The ochre would be delivered on foot to the border of a neighbouring tribe where it would be passed on from one territory to another, reaching as far afield as 1,600 kilometres away. For those seeking ochre, a message stick was marked and passed on ahead of travelling men, letting people ahead of them know they were coming seeking red ochre from the Weld Range. Spears, boomerangs, and kangaroos were given as payment.
According to the Dreamtime stories of the Wajarri people, Wilgia Mia was created when Marlu, a red kangaroo, was speared. Marlu’s blood was believed to have made the red ochre, his liver the yellow ochre and his gall the green ochre.
