Page 268 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Australia

266  THE NOR THERN TERRIT OR Y

Aboriginal Lands

Aboriginal people are thought to have lived in
the Northern Territory for between 20,000 and 50,000
years. The comparatively short 200 years of European
settlement have damaged their ancient culture
immensely, but in the Northern Territory more traditional
Aboriginal communities have survived intact than in This X-ray image (see p37) of the
other states – mainly due to their relatively greater dreaming spirit Namarrgon at Nourlangie
numbers and determination to preserve their identity. Rock is centuries old, but was continually
Nearly one-third of the Northern Territory’s people repainted until the 1900s.
are Aboriginal and they own almost 50 per cent of
the land through native title legislated enacted by
the federal government (see p63). For Aboriginals, the
concept of land ownership is tied to a belief system
that instructs them to care for their ancestral land.

0 kilometres 200
0 miles 200
Nourlangie Rock in Kakadu ie Rock in Kakadu ie Rock
Nourlang
Nourlang
KAKADU National Park is significant to
DARWIN NATIONAL Aborigines as home of the Light­
PARK ARNHEM ning Dreaming (see pp280–81).
LAND
Key
Aboriginal land
Katherine National park
Highway
Major road
JUDBARRA/
GREGORY Daly Waters Unsurfaced road
NATIONAL
PARK
Access and Permits
Northern Land Council
Tel (08) 8920 5100.
For access to all Aboriginal
land in the Top End, including
TANAMI DESERT Arnhem Land. ∑ nlc.org.au
Tennant Parks and Wildlife
Creek
Commission of the
Northern Territory
Tel (08) 8999 4555.
For permits to Garig Gunak
Barlu National Park.
∑ dtc.nt.gov.au
Tiwi Land Council
Tel (08) 8970 9373.
For access to Melville and
ALICE SPRINGS Bathurst (Tiwi) islands.
∑ tiwilandcouncil.com
Central Land Council
Tel (08) 8951 6211. For access to
all Central Australian Aboriginal
lands. ∑ clc.org.au