Along with the godparent title, Seabourn has donated $100,000 dollars to support the Wunambal Gaambera’s development of tourism facilities and additional year-round resources for the Traditional Owners. This includes the construction of residential camps designed to withstand the remote and dry conditions on Jar Island during the harsh winter season (as in any tropical region, this means a long stint of heavy monsoons), which will help community members live on their ancestral land year-round.
“We, the Wunambal Gaambera people, have a communal need and responsibility to look after and prosper from our Country,” Catherine Goonack, Chairperson of the Wunambal Gaambera Aboriginal Corporation, said in a news release following the partnership’s announcement. “Seabourn’s contributions will assist us to be on Country, look after and keep our land and sea Country healthy, strengthen our Wanjina Wunggurr culture, and create economic opportunities for our people.”
The donation supports the terms of the Wunambal Gaambera Aboriginal Corporation’s Uunguu Visitor Management Plan, which sets goals and guidelines on how to best manage visitor access so that tourism economically benefits community members while also protecting their cultural values and natural environment.
Expedition ships like the Pursuit are one of the main ways travelers access remote Wunambal Gaambera Country. Cruises along the Uunguu Coast provide the majority of the region’s visitors each year, (approximately 65%, according to estimates from the Wunambal Gaambera Aboriginal Corporation).
All visitors are required to purchase an Uunguu Visitor Pass (UVP), an online permit that doubles as a responsible travel agreement. Since 2017, when UVPs were first launched, funds have been allocated to the community’s tourism leadership and facilities, the Uunguu Ranger Team (community members who tend to the region’s land), and the maintenance of cultural heritage sites. As part of the partnership, Seabourn has registered as a tour operator with the Wunambal Gaambera, granting each passenger on board an individual UVP (ranging from $50 to $100 per person).
In turn, visitors receive an immersive introduction to the region’s Aboriginal culture and traditions on and off the ship. Two Wunambal Gaambera community guides joined the Pursuit’s expedition team, leading passengers on hikes through historic rock art trails, hosting welcome smoking ceremonies, and teaching lessons on Junba song and dance, among other excursions.
To kickstart a self-sustaining commercial art industry, Seabourn has committed an additional $10,000, which will support workshops led by Wunambal Gaambera artists who can then sell traditional art work, such as decorated pearl shells, to visitors. “Several pearl shells have been completed by our community artists and distributed to Seabourn guests during the 2024 season,” says Goonack.
“Seabourn bringing guests from all parts of the world to share our Wanjina Wunggurr culture will help us for years to come,” Goonack tells Condé Nast Traveler. “It will help us to build along our coast, to share our Country.”
Leahy says she hopes other cruise lines who visit Australia’s Kimberley region will develop similar community-led partnerships: “My true personal dream is that trends of the cruise industry will follow our lead to make more of these special [godparent] ceremonies and effectively invest in the local communities we travel to, and bring travelers to.”