Ancient sites

A Croatian born artist Vesna Tenodi who has an Art Centre in NSW stole the sacred image of the Wandjina in 2009 and commissioned a Wandjina sculpture at the front of her gallery and has been misusing the sacred image ever since. Local First Nations people objected strongly and a Worora Tribal custodian of the Wandjina travelled over from the West Kimberley to tell her the statue seriously offended his people, but she discarded what he said by saying her actions were a "revival of Aboriginal spirituality", even though she was born on another continent and the culture of the sacred Wandina is still practiced by its peoples. [node:read-more:link]

Archeologists working on the Dampier archipelago off Australia’s north-west coast have found evidence of stone houses dating back 9,000 years – to the end of the last ice age – building the case for the area to get a world heritage listing.

A team from UWA are exploring the Dampier Archipelago (Murujuga). What they have uncovered so far is astounding, and pushes back the known occupation of this place to before the Last Ice Age. [node:read-more:link]

MEDIA ALERT: Details on the Canberra Premiere of 'Star Stories of The Dreaming' will be held at 6.30pm on Wednesday 1st June 2016 at the Arc Cinema, National Film and Sound Archive, McCoy Circuit, Action, ACT
In the lead up to the Canberra premiere of Star Stories of the Dreaming Ghillar Michael Anderson Euahlayi Lawman and knowledge holder speaks briefly about the associated Law. [node:read-more:link]

Aboriginal heritage sites in WA are managed through different channels to non-Indigenous cultural sites, to their detriment. While non-Indigenous heritage is managed by a network of professionals across all levels of government, Aboriginal heritage is managed by a section in the Department of Aboriginal Affairs.

Archaeologists and Aboriginal elders are hoping the most comprehensive study of rock art in the Kimberley region will confirm the images are among the oldest made by humans anywhere in the world. More than a dozen scientists took part in two field trips to study remote faces on Dambimangari and Balanggarra country. They used pioneering techniques to collect and analyse hundreds of samples to narrow down the timeframes in which the striking images of people, animals and shells were made. Professor Peter Veth, from the University of Western Australia, said they were expecting to have the first results through by the end of the year. [node:read-more:link]

According to a duo of Australian scientists, Aboriginal society has preserved memories of Australia’s coastline dating back to 11,000 – 5,300 BC.

11 September 2015

Work on the Chichester Trunk Gravity Main has led to around 3,000 Aboriginal artefacts being uncovered at Tarro, near Maitland, New South Wales.

(Image source: ABC News Pic: Hunter Water)