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Articles on Indigenous heritage

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Indigenous Rangers pointing to damaged rock art. Left to right: William Campbell, Meryl Gurruwiwi, Aron Thorn, Marcus Lacey, Djorri Gurruwiwi. Jarrad Kowlessar/courtesy of Gumurr Marthakal Indigenous Rangers

From crumbling rock art to exposed ancestral remains, climate change is ravaging our precious Indigenous heritage

Cyclones, floods and other climate change-linked events are threatening Indigenous heritage tens of thousands of years old. Unless we act, they’ll be gone for good.
The government intends to destroy Djab Wurrung sacred trees and sites to upgrade the Western Highway at the same time as it seeks heritage status for the Eastern Freeway. Allies Decolonising/gofundme

What kind of state values a freeway’s heritage above the heritage of our oldest living culture?

The Victorian government plans to destroy trees and sites sacred to Djab Warrung people to make way for the Western Highway at the same time as it seeks heritage listing for the Eastern Freeway.
Uluru-Kata Tjuta: of 19 Australian World Heritage sites this is one of only two that recognise the values of ‘living’ Aboriginal culture. Shutterstock

Australia’s problem with Aboriginal World Heritage

Of 19 World Heritage sites across the country, only two, Kakadu and Uluru-Kata Tjuta, recognise the values of “living” Aboriginal culture. None of Australia’s three sites inscribed purely for cultural values recognises Aboriginal people.
A line of protesters against the construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline on the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota head to a unity rally on the west steps of the State Capitol in September 2016 in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Protecting heritage is a human right

Development projects are claiming ancestral sites at alarming rates. This ineffective protection of Indigenous heritage is a violation of human rights.
Adam Goodes continues to demonstrate through dignity and presence of mind, that he is an empowered Aboriginal man. AAP Image/Paul Miller

Adam Goodes, dignity and Aboriginal men: what the research says

Adam Goodes’ actions – from his celebratory dance to his decision to temporarily withdraw from the AFL – epitomise the concept of male Indigenous dignity.
The unfinished Crazy Horse memorial in Custer County, South Dakota. Bernd00/Wikimedia Commons

Crazy Horse: leader, warrior, martyr … artist?

More than a century after he died, the Lakota warrior Crazy Horse, who famously fought General Custer in the Battle of Little Bighorn, is thought of as transcendent force – attuned to the universe in a…
The First Contact cast members’ transformation over the series is an optical illusion of Australian race relations. SBS

SBS’s First Contact is the real ‘festering sore’ of the nation

The SBS/Blackfella Films production First Contact – that takes six non-Indigenous people and immerses them into Aboriginal Australia for the first time – captured the nation’s attention this week amassing…
Indigenous groups are concerned about proposed changes to the process for determining heritage sites in Western Australia, including the location of the Nyoongar Tent embassy. Allen Stewart/Newspix

Frustration rises over changes to the WA Aboriginal Heritage Act

In June, the Western Australian Government released draft amendments to the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972. This is the legislation that determines what qualifies for heritage protection in the state – and…

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