Evelyn Noble is a Traditional Owner in the Indigenous community of Yarrabah. Yarrabah is a one hour drive south of Cairns and has a population of about three thousand people. For those who have flown out of Cairns to other cities in Australia, the quick successive left and right turns immediately after take-off (when taking off towards the south) take you over this Indigenous community. To get to Yarrabah from Cairns, you drive south past Edmonton down the Bruce Highway until you come across the turn off to Yarrabah. This notoriously bad intersection has recently had major road works completed, including a new set of traffic lights installed. From there it is a beautiful drive through cane fields and then along the eastern bank of Trinity Inlet.
I have visited Evelyn a few times now with the newspaper. The Cairns Post was doing a story on the illegal Dugong and turtle hunting that was reportedly happening in Yarrabah and we interviewed Evelyn about her concerns with the poaching. The hunting of Dugong and turtle for ceremonial purposes and festivities is permitted by Indigenous people, although strict self-regulation is observed to police poaching activities. It was reported that people not from the area were coming to Yarrabah to hunt Dugong and turtle, then selling it on the black market.
Evelyn took me down to the beach to make some photographs of her and her grandchildren to accompany the article. This photograph was not used in the newspaper, but it is a favourite of mine.
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