Culture

Aboriginal heritage sites in WA are managed through different channels to non-Indigenous cultural sites, to their detriment. While non-Indigenous heritage is managed by a network of professionals across all levels of government, Aboriginal heritage is managed by a section in the Department of Aboriginal Affairs.

Senior artists from South Australia's APY Lands want to set up a permanent art centre in Alice Springs to protect people from being exploited by unscrupulous dealers known as carpetbaggers.

Prominent artist Nyurpaya Kaika said, "We've been watching over the years how so many of our people are getting stuck in Alice Springs, particularly those who are now on dialysis regime that can't leave; their families comes in and join them and they're stuck there for years and years." [node:read-more:link]

Forrest offered a capped payment to the Yindjibarndi of $4 million for access to their sacred land. After negotiating for six months, which is all that is required under the act, Fortescue was able to get its mining lease from the National Native Title Tribunal. Last month, the dispute returned to haunt Forrest when a Federal Court judge made a series of extraordinary findings about Fortescue's conduct in the native title claim lodged by Woodley and the Yindjibarndi over a stretch of land that includes the now-built Solomon mine. Included on this page is article, audio report and copy of the court report. [node:read-more:link]

The complete transcript of Jeff McMullen's Lecture at Charles Darwin University on 6 Augus 2015 - Vincent Lingiari knew who he was and that this land held him close to its heart. "You can keep your gold. We just want our land back." The Old Man knew that the answer was in the hearts of good men and women who stood together as the best of mates. He never doubted what was right, no matter how long it took or how many tried to buy him off. The Old Man outlasted all the naysayers because he lived his value system and he led good people with him on the long road towards equality. [node:read-more:link]

A new genetic study is threatening to transform theories about who the original Native Americans were after finding certain tribes in the Amazon are related to Aborigines in Australia. Researchers believe these stories could constitute some of the oldest accurate oral histories in the world, passing through some 300 generations. Traditional stories passed down through generations by Australian Aborigines may be among the oldest accurate oral histories in the world. 'About 2 per cent of the ancestry of Amazonians today comes from this Australasian lineage that's not present in the same way elsewhere in the Americas.' [node:read-more:link]

Murrumu Walubara Yidindji, the former Canberra press gallery journalist previously known as Jeremy Geia, who has renounced Australia to live under tribal law in far North Queensland has been booked for using his own Nations registration plates on his car. Murrumu is behind the establishment of an infant sovereign Yidindji government near Cairns. He is now the nation’s "foreign affairs and trade minister" and says he has referred the matter to his “attorney general for further investigation” [node:read-more:link]