Searching for the Lost
MEDIA RELEASE
26 July 2011
Searching for the Lost
The Iningai People, the Traditional Owners of the land surrounding the Thomson River, and beyond, have long since disappeared; renewed efforts are currently underway to try to find their descendants.
Desert Channels Group’s Ronell Frazer was one of many Indigenous people attending this week’s Longreach meeting with the Queensland South Native Title Services (QSNTS) to begin the detective work. The QSNTS, including a lawyer, anthropologist and Indigenous Consultant, were in the west to gather information, but to date, there is no knowledge of any Iningai Traditional Owners, only Custodians.
Being a Custodian of the Iningai people means that you were born and bred on Iningai country and you are entrusted with making decisions on all matters relating to the best interests of Iningai country. Custodians for the Iningai people include the Weldon Family in Longreach and the Thompson and Frazer Families, both from Barcaldine.
Ronell is a proud Custodian of the Iningai people and would not have missed this week’s meeting where those interested in helping with the search, gathered as part of a community engagement, sharing and networking session.
“The research being done for Native Title, may show there are Iningai people in existence and I am excited about being involved,” said Ronell Frazer. “Any findings could certainly help the work I am doing for the Recording Traditional Ecological Knowledge Project at DCG, which involves the recording of 8 stories based on traditional ways of caring for country, from within the region. If there are descendants of the Iningai people still living, I would love to hear and record their stories.”
For more information on the TEK Recording Project and the work of Desert Channels Group, visit www.dcq.org.au.
Media enquiries: Roelie Hartwig Ph: (07) 4652 7812 Fax: (07) 4658 0122 or roelie.hartwig@dcq.org.au
