HONOURING the lives of loved ones with grave headstones has made the Plummer family happy they are recognising their heritage.

The graves of its seven family members in the Tennant Creek cemetery had become hard to find. Only one had a plaque.

In April Central Monuments Headstones installed headstones, vases and granite surrounds on all seven gravesites. The family drafted the words on the memorials.

Mr R Plummer, a prominent Tennant Creek resident, began planning the headstone project with his family and the Central Land Council’s community development team in 2022. After his death in 2023 the family wanted to continue his work to commemorate their ancestors and help keep their identity, culture and history alive.

“It’s about honouring family that are gone,” said Marlene Plummer. “Every time we come out [to the cemetery] we never see anything. Now we know where they are buried and we don’t have to go searching.”

The whole family was involved in the project and decorated the graves with flowers and added gravel, said Aden Plummer. “They felt proud doing their bit. Everyone helped out with the little things to finish and make it look good,” he said.

He credited the late Mr Plummer with getting the ball rolling. “If it wasn’t for him we probably wouldn’t have looked into it. He was the one that started doing the slabs as part of the mob project.

After the death of the late Mr R Plummer in 2023 the family wanted to continue his work
to commemorate their ancestors and help keep their identity, culture and history alive.

“He was always thinking about our family wanting to make headstones. The whole family feel happy with this, seeing their headstone on their parents’ [grave].

“It’s for the generations to come. They’ll come out here and look where my great grandfather is. He’s here with his brother. That’s what we were thinking,” he said.

The Purrurtu traditional owner (Plummer family) group funded the project with compensation income and matched funds from the Aboriginals Benefit Account.

Since 2020 the matched funds trial of the CLC and the National Indigenous Australians Agency has supported groups whose income from land use agreements would otherwise be too small for the projects they want to do.

Twenty-three traditional owner groups and 27 communities are taking part. The trial has been extended until 2026.