BBC: Mining firm desecrated Australia Aboriginal site

I thought I would include this BBC story that aired today about a landmark ruling in Australia where a mining company called OM Manganese was warned years ago (2011) that they were beginning to damage sacred Aboriginal land, and is held up to financial penalty for causing further destruction.

Here is a brief excerpt:

“Kunapa community representative Gina Smith said: “It will always remain a sacred site to us, but it has been ruined and we don’t know what to do because this has never happened to the old people.

“It has been there for thousands of years as part of our culture and our story.”

Indigenous Australians believe the land is the mother of creation, and is a living, breathing mass full of secrets and wisdom.”

When I read the article, I thought about discussions we have had in our course about the responsibility of younger generations of indigenous peoples to protect and advocate for their cultural heritage, and I felt this when I read the reference to the fact that ‘this has never happened to the old people.’ Also, as I work on my paper, I am reminded in this case that storytelling is so intimately linked to the land, and how difficult a time modern technologies have in trying to move such a naturally situated process into the digital realm.