Who Owns the Outback

The elemental relationship Aboriginal people have with their "country" -- the particular landscape region where they live and the legacy of their ancestors who are also associated with the land -- has certainly been challenged by the influx of settlers over the years, all over the continent of Australia. The challenge exists at many levels -- practical in terms of who actually occupies the land, legal in terms of who has rights associated with the land, and philosophical in terms of who has the responsibility of "caring for the land," respecting it in all its aspects. It seems as if Australia is trying its best to achieve a working partnership between indigenous peoples and those who have arrived in the last two and a half centuries, since 1788.

The fact that the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park is jointly managed by its Anangu traditional owners and the federal Parks Australia is an example of the partnership. In 1985, after much negotiation, the title deed to the land was handed over to Anangu and they then leased the land back to the Federal Government for 99 years. Both the Board of Management and the park rangers are comprised of both Anangu and non-Anangu.

In 1987 the park was recognized as a World Heritage Area by UNESCO, outstanding for its "spectacular geological formations, rare plants and animals and exceptional natural beauty." In 1994 it was additionally acclaimed for its cultural landscape, honoring the "traditional belief systems as part of one of the oldest human societies on earth." To quote the Uluru-Kata Tjuta visitor guide: "Traditional knowledge is combined with western sciences in caring for country."