Uluru is recognised as “Australia’s most natural icon” and has become a focal point for Australia and the world’s acknowledgement of Australian indigenous culture. The sandstone monolith stands 348 metres (1,142 ft) high with most of its bulk below the ground. To Anangu (local indigenous people), Uluru is a place name and this “Rock” has a number of different landmarks where many ancestral beings have interacted with the landscape and/or each other, some even believed to still reside here. Kata Tjuta, meaning ‘many heads’, is a sacred place relating to knowledge that is considered very powerful and dangerous, only suitable for initiated men. It is made up of a group of 36 conglomerate rock domes that date back 500 million years.
Anangu are the traditional Aboriginal owners of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. believe that their culture was created at the beginning of time by ancestral beings. Uluru and Kata Tjuta provide physical evidence of feats performed during the creation period. They often lead walking tours to inform visitors about the local flora and fauna, bush foods and the Aboriginal Dreamtime stories of the area.
The Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act was passed in 1976, meaning that after many years Aboriginal law and land rights were finally recognised in Australian law. Nine years later on 26 October 1985 the traditional owners were presented with the freehold title deeds for the park, who, in turn, leased the land back to the Australian Government through the Director of National Parks (formerly the Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service) for 99 years.
The Director is assisted by Parks Australia, a division of the Australian Department of the Environment and Energy. Since hand-back, Anangu and Parks Australia staff have worked together to manage the park. This process of working together is known as ‘joint management’.
History of uluru
Uluru and Kata Tjuta were formed about 350 million years ago during the Alice Springs Orogeny.
The Anangu have connected to the area for thousands of years and some records suggested that they may have lived there for more than 10,000 years.
Europeans came to the western desert area of Australia in the 1870s. Uluru and Kata Tjuta were first mapped by Europeans during the expeditionary period made possible by the construction of the Overland Telegraph Line in 1872.
In separate expeditions, William Ernest Powell Giles and William Christie Gosse were the first European explorers to this area. In 1872 while exploring the area, Ernest Giles sighted Kata Tjuta from near Kings Canyon and called it Mount Olga, while the following year Gosse saw Uluru and named it Ayers Rock after Sir Henry Ayers, the Chief Secretary of South Australia. Further explorations followed with the aim of establishing the possibilities of the area for pastoralism.
In the late 19th century, pastoralists attempted to re-establish themselves in areas adjoining the South-Western/Petermann Reserve and interaction between Anangu and white people became more frequent and more violent. Due to the effects of grazing and droughts, bush food stores were depleted. Competition for these resources created conflict between pastoralists and Anangu. As a result, police patrols became more frequent.
Aboriginal rock art at Uluru
Between 1918 and 1921 large adjoining areas of South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory were declared as Aboriginal reserves, as sanctuaries for a nomadic people who had virtually no contact with white people. In 1920, part of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park was declared an Aboriginal Reserve (commonly known as the South-Western or Petermann Reserve) by the Australian Government under the Aboriginals Ordinance 1918.
During the Depression in the 1930s, the Anangu became involved in dingo scalping with “doggers” who introduced Anangu to European foods and ways. The first tourists visited the Uluru area in 1936.
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