Queensland Parks provide this insight into Waanyi Culture at Boodjamulla National Park (Aboriginal Land).
“Aboriginal occupation at Lawn Hill dates back at least 17,000 years and may extend beyond 30,000 years, possibly the longest continual occupation of an area in Australia. The Aboriginal Traditional Owners, the Waanyi people, know this country as Boodjamulla or the Rainbow Serpent country. According to the Waanyi people, Boodjamulla—the Rainbow Serpent—formed the Lawn Hill Gorge area and created the permanent spring water. To the Waanyi people, Lawn Hill Gorge is a sacred place used only for ceremonial and celebratory purposes. They believe that if you tamper with the water, pollute it or take it for granted, the Rainbow Serpent will leave and take all the water with him.
During the wet season, the Waanyi people would gather under overhanging rocks and in caves, while in the dry months they would camp in paperbark shelters along the creek banks. They made paperbark canoes for travelling short distances and used a shield-shaped wooden dish, called a coolaman, to carry babies, prepare food or to transport fire and food.
The Waanyi people were hunters and gatherers. Men hunted while the women and children gathered edible plants. Boomerangs and spears were used for hunting while grass-woven nets were used for catching fish. Boodjamulla country provided plenty of food for the Waanyi people. Their staple diet consisted of fish (wirigatyigatyi), turtle (wabungara), kangaroo (mailadyi), and goanna (dyambapna), and was supplemented with berries, mussels (mulla mulla), pandanus fruit (bulalula), wild banana and cabbage palms cores (wodidy). They used stones to grind lily seeds for damper and used earth ovens (dundee) of hot coals and rocks for cooking.
Evidence of Aboriginal occupation can still be found today in the remaining mussel middens, grindstone relics, and rock art. Waanyi Elders have interpreted some of these sites, providing visitors with an understanding of their traditional lifestyle.
The Waanyi people feel a deep sense of responsibility for the safekeeping of this place. The Waanyi people's connection to the landscape is maintained through cultural practice on their traditional homeland—their strong association to this Country was recognised through the determination of Native Title in 2010”