Five million hectares around Uluru to be declared an Indigenous protected area
A special ceremony was held on Thrusday last week, with five million hectares of land around Uluru being declared as an Indigenous protected area. The new zoning will allow traditional owners to better preserve the area and surrounding sites of cultural significance.
The Anangu people will also receive Federal Government funding to help them protect sacred sites, native plants and animals around the Uluru-Kata Tjuta national park.
“We really want to teach the young ones how to look after the place properly and strongly … to get out there and see all the waterholes and important places,” said one traditional owner, Janie Miama.
How do you feel about this? Is this a positive step for recognition of Indigenous rights to their traditional lands? Are there other areas you feel could be declared as Indigenous protected areas?
Well then, maybe the "protectors" can pick up all the rubbish and litter around the place and make sure it stays "protected" from further of the same. PRIDE in ones' possessions is the key word.
I feel perplexed by this whole issue. Aboriginal people have always said they are one with the land and do not own it. Yes, being a custodian of the land does not mean you own it, it means you care for it. I believe very strongly that Aboriginal people care very much for the land. However, there are large pockets of Aboriginal communities who do not care for the land they live on. These communities are often dominated by alcohol abuse, domestic violence together with child abuse and unemployment. Proposed solutions to date have not made a lot of difference. We cannot keep throwing money or land rights at this issue. What is needed is more variety in the things the Aboriginal people value. Mind sets need to change. Aboriginal communities need to value education, have a strong work ethic, a true belief in themselves and a willingness to develop stronger communities with these values in mind. This does not need money, it needs devotion to change and to live by your beliefs
Indigenous Australians can also be very racist among their own Nations and towards non indigenous people. I have worked in Aboriginal communities and have seen this first hand. I have been there when an Aboriginal has a job and is working hard and gets berated by his people that he is 'only trying to be a whitey' and he 'thinks he is better than everyone else'. This is while his relatives are on welfare and not looking for work.
I am the mother of an Aboriginal son and could say a lot more but I am afraid it would turn into a book!
Lizzie, are you yourself Aboriginal or is your son adopted? You dont have to answer this if you don't want to. My reason for asking is, if your son is adopted, he might be not getting the full story and history of his people and only your point of view.
This is not meant to offend you in any way.
Lizzie
Thanks for that informative insight into the Aboriginal culture.
MAC, the facts are that the Anangu people who are actually the Pitjantjatjara people neither live in the Uluru area, or actually even visit, other than a very few. In actual fact, most aborigine people today would have no real knowledge of, or no practice of any of the Aborigine laws or way of life. The majority of Aborigine people now live in towns & cities, have never been near the outback, hate the white hand that feeds them & won't even send their children to school. All they do is exist on Centrelink & would not know the difference between an edible berry & a witchety grub. I would venture to say that very few who live in Bourke have ever walked to Bree or vice versa. They want to protect their culture in every way except to live under Aborigine Law.
I agree with both Innes & Lizzie. I am not setting out to denigrate aboriginal people but I am sick of the political correctness that forbids any criticism of the lest we be labelled "racist".
Huge amounts of taxpayer monies have been spent on our aboriginal people over a good many years with only marginal success - was the money misspent, poorly allocated, wasted etc.... or is the problem with the aboriginal communities that received those funds? I know plenty of aborigines, part aborigines etc who have embraced our culture, way of life, work ethic etc and they have done WELL. Just look at Stan Grant who is always championing the "poor aborigines" - he is one and does not seem to be suffering too much. I know one family personally, Aussies through and through - blonde hair, several kids and hard workers. They discovered a drop of aboriginal blood from several generations ago (granny was indiscrete). Suddenly they have packed up, left a good business and employment and moved to western NSW - they now draw every cent of welfare they might even be remotely entitled to.
They have embraced their aboriginality with a vengeance.
The truth is that there is education, health facilities, work opportunities galore in this country.....again, I would say that our aborigines dont seem to want help, only welfare.
KFC,
I doubt you will find any political party brave enough these days to make the required decisions.
As it exists today, time is the only solution, heaps of it, a lifetime or three maybe.
Take it easy.
SD
I have been to almost every part of Australia and to Uluru several times. I would like to note that while the Anangu people had displaced a previous owner, I do welcome this declaration as it will help preserve this area.
Shaggy, you are probably correct, only time (and plenty of it) might heal this rift in our society. Our aboriginals have the world at their feet if they choose to embrace it. I dont care what colour, creed or ethnic background a person has - I treat them all alike. I encourage hard workers who will "have a go" and frown on lazy bludgers who just want to sponge off the workers. Pauline Hanson was branded as racist but all she ever espoused was a fair go and equality for all. Our aborigines seem to have a chip on their shoulder and feel that "whitey stole their country". They need to wake up and smell the roses - sure horrible things were done - we have apologised with Rudds "sorry" speech but they should consider themselves Australians, not BLACK Australians and then we might start getting somewhere with this mess.
Compensation for past sins? - okay, but what about compensation for the rapes, murders, stolen livestock and property that the early settlers also suffered?
Compensation for the sexual abuse coming out of the Royal Commission? - sure, but why should the taxpayer pay it - bill the Churches and other institutions that fostered and covered up the abuse - send an invoice to George Pell.
You don't have to give 5 million hectares to the Aborigine tribe to preserve it. The NSW State Gov., has set aside the Mulgoa nature reserve. They have fully fenced the property & only allowed the conservationalists to have a key. It is now perfectly preserved without a single Darug being able to eat the witchery grubs or burn it off. The coastal Browns, red belly blacks & tiger snakes like it enough to stay there. All this without a single corroberee.
It is a fact that most white Australians live on a very small proportion of mostly coastal land. If the Aborigine tribes want all their land. It is still there & mostly untouched. Well over 90% of the so called Aborigines living in Redfern are not black. The Aborigine cannot have a throw back, so most of the Aborigines in Redfern are at least 50% or more white. If we could get them to just go on one walkabout, they would never survive & the little old ladys in Redfern could cash their pensions without being mugged.
Innes,
You are opening a can of worms.
I believe that there are three distinct races amongst our indigenous people.
You mention that Abrogines cannot have a throw-back. This means, in this case, that the black gene is recessive. Extremely unusual.
Early in white Australia's history, anyone with a drop of indigenous blood was considered black. This came from an extremely racist position, posturing black as inferior to white.
We seem now to continue this idea, albeit, like the "magician and his apprentice", the PC crowd has sanctified it into something different, but the premise still remains. A drop of indigenous blood and the person is black. We are skating uncomfortably close to the Nuremberg Race Laws.
Among the various Native American Tribes, the ratio of indigenous blood to "other" varies as to identification as Native American ... the most generous is 1/16 ... the least 1/4. These ratios are determined by each individual tribe. Also there has to be ritual acceptance of the claimant by the tribe concerned. The fact, that different tribes identify with being distinct from others is also extremely important.
Perhaps if Australia looked at other countries as to what constitutes a person as being indigenous, also recognising that our indigenous peoples comprise of three races, the situation would be better handled. The result being, people who are identified as truly indigenous would have a more respected and recognised position within our society.
Yes ... I know a person who claims to be indigenous, he is fair with freckles. As a business man, he openly admits that there are government benefits to be had in doing so. He has indigenous blood, but so far back, it is a "legend".
My husband and I went back to visit Uluru-Kata Tjuta only 2 weeks ago after 20 years. It was very disappointing to see what has occurred on the site of this magnificent place. It is now a National Park given to the traditional owners, the Anangu people. The Federal Government has leased it back from the Anangu people on a 99 year lease.
Now you cannot go and even look at the Rock or the Olga's (Kara Tjuta) without paying an entry fee to the National Park of $25 per person for a 3 day pass. As we had been before we just wanted to take a quick look as we intended to take a helicopter ride to see the landscape from the air. We explained this to the person on the gate and we were told ' if you step on that line, even for 5 minutes it will cost you $25 each! We were flabbergasted that we could not access parts of our own beautiful country without having to pay $50! There are no concessions and no children's prices.
Just outside the National Park accommodation for tourists has been built en masse and the buildings are so ugly and dominate the landscape. From the air we saw a small community of people living near Uluru and were told they were Anangu people who had chosen to live there. There are no dogs allowed in the National park but the Anangu people can own them. We were advised a lot of their dogs had gone wild and had chased all of the dingoes out of the area.
I would like to know where the money collected from fees goes to and why more land and money is necessary for the Anangu people to care for the next 5 million hectares they will be given responsibility for.
Lizzie,
Prefer to remember it as I knew it all those years ago.
SD
Interesting Lizzie because my husband and I also visited Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park 2 weeks ago - we may have crossed paths. Unlike you we did not resent paying the $25 entry fee. That money goes towards the running of the cultural centre (which was fantastic), the cleaning of the toilet facilities and other upkeep of the sites. You say you resented having to pay to see your own country but many of the tourists who visit Uluru and Kata Tjuta come from overseas. I was in a tour group of about 20 people and my Hubby and I were the only Australians. They would be foolish to not charge people to visit these famous Australian icons...the place doesn't run on air. The buildings and tents you speak of used to be right next to the rock when you visited 20 years ago, now they are situated outside of the park which is a vast improvement. They were not ugly either, the facilities for tourists are varied and good.
I agree 100 % with Robiconda.These places do not run on air.
Am I correct in saying that the Aboriginals themselves have to upkeep the places and get no help from the government to do this? Maybe someone could tell me.
I have visited sacred sites too and do not resent paying a penny.
Lizzie you are upset because you could not access parts of your country without being asked to pay.It is their country first and foremost, also, can you just set foot on any famer's land in Australia where there is an artifact?or do you have to get permission and maybe pay? Why do you think it sould be different for an Aboriginal person?
No offence meant, just curious
Twila, it is about time that somebody opened the can of worms. You are correct. The Australian Aborigine is rare. The black gene IS recessive. I can't quite remember the biology, but I vagualy recall that a quarter cast aborigine woman can have a baby with a full blood & the child will be no darker than the quarter caste woman. That was not really my point. We have created an industry. The true Aborigine culture barely exists anymore. The Aborigine tribes virtually never mixed family or social wise. The Wankai people of Western Australia never mixed with the Umedi or the Wudjari and none of these people would have even known that the Darug people even existed. At the same time you can go to any part of Australia & witness identical coriographed dance routines put together by entrepreneurs who have never paid a cent in tax, but managed to collect all the benefits that the white do gooders can give them. If you want an almost impossible task, you should travel to Redfern, Bourke, Brewarrina, Cairns & The Kimberleys & find a full black Aboriginal expert who is culturally expert & can speak more that a few words of the tribal language. We hand out money like it is neverending, to old men who rape 10 year old girls as well as Aborigine boys to be initiated into manhood.
Innes,
Language if vitally important to the identity of a people. Without it, there is no culture of value. I know that there were/are many languages among our indigenous people/s and I say peoples advisedly.
Personally, I believe that these languages should be recorded ... if in existence now. Indigenous peoples did not have a written language, so no kind of this exists.
As many have observed, "ingenous" has very murky/iffy connotations. I would like to see this well defined, as it should be recognised, valued and respected.
Innes,
Yes we have created an industry.
I have lived much of my working life where there were reasonably large numbers of indigenous people, seen the changes, known a number quite well.
How it can be changed for the betterment of all from where it is right now is the question.
It does appear to be beyond the wherewithal of governments to come up with lasting and sensible solutions. One can hope this will change but I would not hold my breath.
I have my views but prefer to keep them to myself.
Take it easy.
SD
SD,
Some years ago, I attended an international women's conference. Having a coffee with a group of indigenous women, I asked them directly what they thought.
Unanimously ... they stated that the senior men of their tribes had been emasculated by white interference. That for indigenous groups to bloom, the male elders of the tribes must be given back their position and responsibilites ... and left in peace.
Twila,
My views toward indigenous people are rather ambivalent as I have seen and experienced both sides, the good and the bad. Some well educated and some far from that ideal.
Government policy appears to be more along the lines of just throwing money at the problems and hoping they will go away. Rarely does any program eminating from government meet with any real success.
The answers are in the people themselves, the solutions various and needing time. Money is part of it but not on the industrial scale it is handed out today, that is a cop out on the part of government.
In my opinion too much has been made of stolen generations, many white children were also removed from their parents around that time as the Govt of the day thought they too would be better off as wards of the state and placed in institutional care rather than being raised by their parents. Questionable maybe by todays standards.
Whatever, todays policies are a crock, a complete rethink is needed but I doubt that is going to happen soon. Politicians are not renowned for their brains or bravery.
Take it easy.
SD
Yes, SD, looking back from our more enlightened period, horrors were perpetuated on every front.
We had British migrant children, some as young as three, brought out here without their parents. Indeed, they were often told, wrongly, that their parents had died. Their experiences here were not kind.
Then the appalling situation where new borns were torn from their mother's arms, indeed, some women weren't even permitted to look at them. The only crime these women had committed was to have their children out of wedlock.
As you observe, children were made wards of the state on extremely questionable reasons. They experienced institutional care, a care which was merciless, indeed cruel at this period.
"... todays policies are a crock, a complete rethink is needed but I doubt that is going to happen soon. Politicians are not renowned for their brains or bravery."
Agreed ... Agreed!
Good comment MAC. The Anangu tribe took care of this land for 49,800+ years with no budget from the working taxpayers in England. Does burning off the land require many public servants & a budget of $millions?