Central Land Council

Flynn's Grave - the Rock goes home

Warumungu and Kaytetye traditional landowners from around Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory and Arrernte traditional landowners in Alice Springs came together in September to celebrate the return of a sacred rock to its rightful place. For both groups it was the end of a long story which spanned generations. At the centre of the story is a sacred rock, removed from Karlu Karlu (the Devil's Marbles) 50 years ago and taken to Alice Springs to mark the grave of the Reverend Dr John Flynn.

It is now back at Karlu Karlu, 100 kilometres south of Tennant Creek. And, thanks to the goodwill of the Arrernte people, Dr Fynn's grave is now marked with a similar rock selected from an Arrernte registered sacred site in Alice Springs. Almost 100 people gathered on 4 September to watch the exchange of rocks at Flynn's grave and ceremonies by both Arrernte people and the Uniting Church to reconsecrate the site. The following day, Warumungu and Kaytetye traditional owners welcomed the marble back to Karlu Karlu with dance and ceremonies. In October 1996, negotiations involving traditional owners, the Central Land Council, Uniting Church, Rev. Fred McKay, the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority and the Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory resulted in agreement being reached for the stone to be returned to Karlu Karlu. The truck and crane hire for moving the rocks was financed by Community Aid Abroad (Oxfam Australia) which works with poor communities around the world including Australia.

The Uniting Church's Rev. Fred McKay, now 93, was involved in the removal of the marble in 1953 for the grave and welcomed the gift of the sacred Arrernte stone to replace it. "The sacrificial pride and positive goodwill of the Arrernte people are probably unmatchable in the outback history of our time and the sacred dignity of the grave of a godly servant of bush people will be worthier and more significant to everybody than ever before," Rev McKay said. Leslie Foster Jampijimpa, a Warumungu/Kaytetye custodian of Karlu Karlu said taking the rock was like taking a child away from its parents. "First of all I would like to say thank you to everyone for this." He said " I've been worrying about this just like a parent - it's like when they took those kids away from Hatches Creek, they forget about their grandfathers and maybe nanna. If you take away from mother or something you're a little bit sad. This rock is the same."

The custodians of Karlu Karlu had been concerned about the removal of their rock for a long time. A similar rock removed in 1980 from another important site in the Tennant Creek region, Kunjarra, caused such disquiet in the community that it was returned by the council which had installed it in a recreational park in the town's centre. At this time, there were also calls from the Karlu Karlu custodians to return the rock taken for Flynn' s Grave.

Arrernte custodian Rosie Furber said that Arrernte (Alice Springs traditional owners) people were happy to replace the rock. "We'd like people who hear about it to recognise it as goodwill to all people," she said. She said that Arrernte people had been concerned about a rock from another country being on their land. "We didn't know where it came from and then when we grew up we heard about it then," she said. "It's come from another country and we wondered why it was brought down to Alice Springs. "They used to talk about it around the campfires and they felt a little bit shame because that rock didn't belong here. And then later down the track Warumungu people started talking about it, talking about taking the rock back to Devil's Marbles. That's when we started thinking about it that we had to give the rock back."