Thread: Climbing Uluru to be banned from 2019

Call me a cynic But 99% of the time this issue of sacred sites is only brought up when there is Money involved.
As soon as some Money changes hands the area that is apparently So important and culturally significant suddenly can be accessed and used.

Originally Posted by p38arover

I have thought of that. I'm not sure what percentage I need to qualify.

I don't need a home loan so I can't try for that.

A new Cruiser!

My impression is that it is not so much what the percentage is, but what you "identify" as. There seem to be heaps with only say 5% indigenous that "identify" as indigenous. Many even clearly have a white brain, like Stan Grant.

I cant help wondering if some deep lefties/greenies are involved somehow. It seems like an attempt to simultaneously give power towards people perceived as less powerful in society, as well as reduce any human impact.

Originally Posted by trout1105

The initiation site has always been a No Go area But Not the rest of the rock, This climbing issue is a quite new development.
Make of it what you will But giving the entire rock a sacred site status is something it never had before.

There have been a few comments on this thread about the "Sacred Site" nature of The Rock, and that the entire Rock was not considered "Sacred" in years gone by.
A very good friend of mine Grahame Walsh, grew up on a grazing property in the Roma area of Western Queensland, & grew up amongst the Aboriginal people.
He subsequently became Australia's foremost expert in Aboriginal Rock Art. He published many books on Aboriginal Rock Art. He was also very knowledgeable on Aboriginal culture, and He received an Honorary Doctorate from Melbourne Uni for his work. I have heard it said that Grahame had forgotten more about Aboriginal culture than most people ever knew.
He told me years ago, that the Rock itself was not sacred, but that there were many sacred sites around it. When I traveled there maybe 20 years ago, we spoke to many Aboriginal people, but none discouraged us from climbing.
I know I've said much of this before, but climbing will soon be not allowable, & I accept that, so unfortunately a most (I cannot think of a word to adequately describe) experience will not be possible.
But I can only say that climbing the rock & experiencing the view from the top is one of the most memorable things I have done in Aussie, the memory of which will stay with me forever.
Pickles.

Originally Posted by Tombie

The creatures are Triops on the top in the pools.
The fish aren’t unique...

Triops. I was told by a random local they were unique. There you go, have to be careful who you listen to. I'd never seen them before , but I guess if you think about it, any cave system could have them

The final word comes down to the indigenous people themselves. Can't be any clearer, really. Those who climb stand on the spirits of their ancestors. Kinda like desecrating the graves at Gallipoli.

We, the Anangu traditional owners, have this to say

Uluru is sacred to our culture. It is a place of great knowledge. Under our traditional law climbing is not permitted.

P E F T M

Me and a mate camped at Ayres Rock in my old Ambulance for two or three days back in 1968. no other bugger there at all, black , white or brindle
They were the days, go where you like , camp anywhere

The view from the top was awesome, bit chilly but.

Keith

Originally Posted by Classic88

Is it new or was it simply not listened to previously? A request to stop the climbs was made when the land was handed back (and then lease to the national parks service) 30 years ago.

Just not listened to. And back in the day, indigenous people's wishes were ignored, they had no rights. Besides, there was money to be made.