General News
14 November, 2024
Barengi Gadjin Land Council shares the importance of cultural heritage
Traditional Owners share the importance of cultural heritage
Following the Victorian Government's announcement of $1.7 million in funding for Mount Arapiles-Tooan State Park traditionally known as Dyurrite Cultural Landscape, there has been an outcry against the loss of climbing sites by the rock climbing community.
The government's announcement followed significant rediscoveries of unique cultural heritage at Dyurrite including one of the largest quarries by traditional owners on record.
It claimed the updated management plan provided certainty for the traditional owners, represented by the Barengi Gadjin Land Council, and all state park users.
Stuart Harradine is a proud Wotjobaluk man and BGLC Spirit Officer spoke to The Wimmera Mail-Times in the hope sharing his views and of his fellow traditional owners would bring about a greater understanding between all sectors of the community.
"Nothing that happens there now, cannot still happen," he said. "Visitors can still enjoy the same recreational activities they do now."
"Climbers can climb, people can camp and visit and enjoy the area and the traditional owners are okay with that, but we want to protect our culture, and this plan will help us do that," he said.
"Before colonisation, our ancestors lived at Dyurrite but they were forcibly removed and taken to missions like so many were.
"Most of our ancestors from Dyurrite were taken to the Ebenezer Mission at Dimboola.
"Through this forced removal, our culture was broken, and a lot was lost because our history, our way of passing down our culture, is an oral one.
"Without that ongoing connection between generations to hand down our stories, so much was lost," he said.
Mr Harradine said the discovery of history and cultural artifacts at Dyurrite is of great significance to piecing together so much of the fractured history.
"People ask why we have only begun to take steps to protect our culture, paintings, and artefacts after so many years of colonisation," he said.
"We had no rights, no power, no influence, no voice, we were not even considered citizens of the country, the country we lived in and worked for 60,000 years.
"So now that we have ways to speak up and protect our culture we want to work with all people and share the knowledge that we are recreating."
However, Mr Harradine said that comparing one of the oldest cultures in the world, with an activity, was insulting.
He referred to statements made by some members of the climbing community that their culture of rock climbing compares with the Traditional Owner's culture, and that he finds a difficult claim to accept.
"There are many places to climb but we have just one Dyurritte," he said,
Mr Harradine said he was concerned about the amount of misinformation about the plan that has been spread throughout the community.
"It has been claimed this plan will destroy Natimuk," he said.
"We have Elders living there, why would we want to destroy their homes and lives? We don't.
"Our vision is to open Dyurrite to more people, and have organised cultural tours and workshops in the future.
"What may be lost by some people not coming, will be replaced by more people coming as these changes are implemented. .
"We just want to find a balance so we can all live together with respect for each other."
He explained the archaeological fieldwork to help create this plan and identify the cultural spaces was not done in secret, as some people believe, but like any archaeological exploration, it was confidential to protect the findings.
"Rock climbers helped us find some of the cultural sites," he said.
"They worked with us to get to this stage."
However, that hasn't always been the case, and Mr Harradine said past experiences of abuse and disrespect have left their mark, and many traditional owners are hesitant to speak publicly about culture and spiritual ways.
Camping will still be allowed at Mt Arapiles, and a spokesperson for Parks Victoria explained that under the original 1991 plan, a new camping area was added at the Lower Gums, and camping in and around Centenary Park was reduced.
This was completed in the late 1990s, and the management plan amendments do not propose any further changes to campsite capacity or locations.
"There has been so much attention on one activity, but we want to expand that to many activities," Mr Harradine said.
"And there has been so much attention on the $1.7 million [of funding] but not what that money will do for Dyurrite and the economy of Natimuk and the neighbouring communities."
If Dyurrite is that important to rock climbers who have been using it for 50 years, think how much more important it is to people who have been here for thousands of years," he said.