indigenous cultural

The protection, restoration and management of significant Indigenous sites in the region has the strong support of Longreach-based Desert Channels Queensland with the release of $150,000 under its Indigenous Cultural Heritage Program.

The program has been developed with Indigenous culture and obligations to ‘country’ in mind and will focus on developing partnerships between the Indigenous community and individual landholders.

Desert Channels Queensland’s Indigenous Program Facilitator, Mr Dave Thompson is a local Aboriginal leader and is quite excited by the program as a whole and the funding in particular.

“This is positive stuff for my people,” he says. “This program will fund specific on-ground works like; fencing off bora rings, caves and other areas that potentially can be damaged by livestock; erecting plaques that inform the public of the significance of a particular place to the local Aboriginal people; and formally recording a site’s significance with the assistance of professionals, like anthropologists and the like.”

Mr Thompson says he will be available to assist people in completing their applications, and that they close on the 24^th April. “Applications won’t get a look in if they don’t adequately show collaboration and support. Aboriginal people have to speak with the landholder to gain their support and vice versa. This means we have the support of all parties involved in the project and everybody is very aware of what the other party intends to do. It also sets the path for forming good, long-term relationships.”

In allocating the funds, the Board of Desert Channels Queensland expressed its optimism about producing real on-ground results for the Indigenous community of the region.

Board Chair, Mr Peter Douglas says that, in addition, the program will foster greater understanding across both the landholder and the Indigenous communities.

“We’re seeing it already,” he says. “In the eastern part of the region, Dave Thompson has brokered an understanding between a landholder and the local Aboriginal groups.”

left: Landholder and local Aboriginal people searching for rock art

right: DCQ's Indigenous Program Facilitator, Dave Thompson inspects rock art

 “The gratifying thing about it is that the landholder approached us wanting to protect some cultural sites, and we were able to put them in touch with the right people and help with some expertise and funding.”

“The landholder’s happy, the local Aboriginal people are happy, and the sites are being protected. It’s win, win.”