It was a monumental and moving moment in the history of land rights in Australia.<\/p>\n
On October 26, 1985, Governor-General Sir Ninian Stephen formally returned the famous landmark \u2014 which is millions of years older than any cathedral and steeped in deep cultural and spiritual significance \u2014 to the Anangu, Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara (APY) people.<\/p>\n
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It has now been four decades since the Ulu\u1e5fu sacred site was handed back to the APY people. (Getty Images: Tim Graham)<\/p>\n
When you drive towards Ulu\u1e5fu and see the stark, red monolith on the horizon, or stand at its base and look up at its striking, powerful enormity, time stands still.<\/p>\n
From the moment it was first sighted by European settlers in the 1870s, Ulu\u1e5fu’s history \u2014 and that of the peoples who surrounded it \u2014 took a sharp and pivotal turn.<\/p>\n
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In the early 1900s, the land around Ulu\u1e5fu and Kata Tju\u1e6fa was declared an Aboriginal reserve \u2014 a government sanctioned area were Indigenous people were forcibly relocated.<\/p>\n
By 1950, the area around Ulu\u1e5fu had been dubbed Ayers Rock National Park.<\/p>\n
In 1958, Kata Tju\u1e6fa \u2014 also known as the Olgas \u2014 was added, forming Ayers Rock-Mount Olga National Park.<\/p>\n
The park was managed by the government without the consent of the APY people, who weren’t welcome on their own country.<\/p>\n
The struggle<\/p>\n
The 1970’s and 1980’s ushered in a period of social and political change that meant Aboriginal land rights were finally on the agenda.<\/p>\n
In 1976, the federal parliament passed the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act, giving Indigenous Territorians\u00a0the opportunity to claim land where traditional ownership could be proven.<\/p>\n
But the declaration of the area as the Ulu\u1e5fu and Kata Tju\u1e6fa (Ayers Rock\u2013Mt Olga) National Park the following year\u00a0meant the landmark\u00a0was exempt from that act.<\/p>\n
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Ulu\u1e5fu remains a major tourist attraction and source of revenue for the nearby town of Yulara. (ABC Open contributor: Kartikeya1986)<\/p>\n
As the fight for land rights across the territory swelled and spread, the 1966 Wave Hill Walk-Off by Gurindji stockmen inspired the APY people to return to their country too.<\/p>\n
They pushed hard for their land rights, concerned about mining, pastoralism, tourism and the associated desecration of sacred sites.<\/p>\n
Traditional owners from the Pitjantjatjara Council and the Central Land Council lobbied former prime minister Malcolm Fraser and then-Aboriginal affairs minister Fred Chaney from the late 1970s, calling for amendments to the Land Rights Act to allow them to make a claim.<\/p>\n
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Former prime minister Bob Hawke, pictured here in the 1980s, receiving a bark painting from the late land rights advocate Galarrwuy Yunupingu. (File photo)<\/p>\n
The NT government resisted their calls, wanting instead for the title to be transferred from the federal government to the territory, with no control of park management and reduced title for traditional owners.<\/p>\n
Then in 1983, the Labor government under Bob Hawke<\/a> announced it would amend the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act and return the title for the Ulu\u1e5fu-Kata Tju\u1e6fa National Park to the APY people.<\/p>\n A historic handback<\/p>\n The ceremony to hand back the title deeds to Ulu\u1e5fu-Kata Tju\u1e6fa’s traditional owners took place at the base of the rock in October 1985.<\/p>\n In archival footage, crowds of Indigenous and non-Indigenous observers stand, or sit in the sand as the red, yellow and black flag is stretched tight against the sun.<\/p>\n The late Yankunytjatjara elder and activist Kunmanara Lester translated the words of Sir Ninian as he handed back the country that already belonged to the people standing before him.<\/p>\n Minutes later, the land was signed back to the federal government as a national park under a 99-year lease.<\/p>\n Traditional owners banned tourists from climbing Ulu\u1e5fu in 2019. (Reuters: Stefica Bikes)<\/p>\n With a majority of Anangu members, a joint board of management was established and the park is still jointly managed by the traditional owners and Parks Australia.<\/p>\n Not only did the handback set a precedent for land rights, giving Anangu control over one of the country’s most recognisable landmarks, it set a model for future agreements across Australia.<\/p>\n However, while Ulu\u1e5fu and Kata Tju\u1e6fa attract hundreds of thousands of visitors to the NT each year, with an enormous windfall for surrounding hotels in the town of Yulara, the community of Mutitjulu, at the rock’s base, still lacks adequate housing, basic amenities and services.<\/p>\n Fighting for the future<\/p>\n While the APY people don’t want Ulu\u1e5fu and Kata Tju\u1e6fa to be used as a political football, it has become a place where major policy on the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is discussed, debated and promoted.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n