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One of Central Australia’s most significant sacred sites has been handed back to its Eastern Arrernte traditional owners today.
Emily Gap or Anthwerrke is an extremely important registered sacred site, not only for the Eastern Arrernte, but for all Arrernte people across Central Australia.
It is the focus for incoming Yipirinya (caterpillar) dreaming from the east, west, north and south. Some of the stories are restricted to men, but there are both men’s and women’s sites in the area.
Jessie Gap, or Akepelye Arntaye, is also a significant registered sacred site. The dreaming related to these gaps is central to the creation of the Alice Springs area.
The two are part of the Emily and Jessie Gaps Nature Park, which is a thin strip of land following the Ross Highway east of Alice Springs.
It has been handed back to traditional owners as schedule one Aboriginal Freehold land and leased back to the Northern Territory Government for 99 years under a joint management agreement.
Director of the Central Land Council David Ross said the Emily and Jessie hand back represents an important day for the traditional owners.
“The Central and Eastern Arrernte have had few opportunities to claim land under the Land Rights Act, because most of their country had been consumed by pastoral leases,” Mr Ross said.
“The sites in this area are vital for the dreaming stories of the Arrernte and so finally having the land handed back to them and being able to contribute to its management will bring a lot of joy to the traditional owners.
“For them, this hand back has been a long time coming and as with most of these occasions where it has taken decades for traditional owners to win their land back, many haven’t lived to enjoy the moment. Two senior custodians, the Ross brothers, passed away this year and should be acknowledged for their tireless work that has led to this ceremony.”
09/12/09
