ELDERS from Shoalhaven Aboriginal communities are celebrating new attempts to preserve their links with the past.
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A celebration is being planned following the NSW government’s formal recognition and protection of part of Coolangatta Mountain, now known as the Cullunghutti Aboriginal Area.
More than 100 years ago anthropologists documented the importance of Cullunghutti to the local Aboriginal population, and in recent years the National Parks and Wildlife Service purchased 67 hectares of land on the mountain.
That land has been gazetted as an Aboriginal area under the National Parks and Wildlife Act.
An Aboriginal elder with traditional connections to the mountain, Gordon Wellington said the area held special significance to the South Coast’s Aboriginal people.
“Mount Coolangatta, or, as we call this place, Cullunghutti, is a culturally and spiritually significant place for our people,” Mr Wellington said.
“There are connections between people, Cullunghutti, and other significant places along the entire South Coast, so this mountain is important to all Aboriginal people from La Perouse to Lake Tyers in Victoria.
“For us, the whole mountain and its connections are important.”
He said many of the ancestors were born on the mountain, while it was also viewed as a launching place for spirits, connecting the earth with the spirit world.
“It comes back through all our old families,” Mr Wellington said.
“A lot of our grandparents were born there,” added fellow elder Lena Bloxsome.
She said the recognition and protection of Cullunghutti was important to the Aboriginal community.
“We need to teach our children the importance of the land and the history of our ancestors,” Mrs Bloxsome said.
“I think it is important to respect the significance of the mountain and recognise that the Aboriginal people of this area have a strong history and continue to hold connections to the mountain.”
Mr Wellington said he hoped to see the area used for education, teaching children history and Aboriginal language.
“Hopefully it will be a meeting place,” he added.
Museums and tour guides were other possibilities, Mr Wellington said.
Chief executive with the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, Sally Barnes, said the Cullunghutti Aboriginal Area’s gazettal recognised the mountain’s high cultural significance.
“Purchasing this land responded to the wishes of the South Coast Aboriginal community and acknowledged their continuing cultural connections with the mountain,” she said.
“I am delighted these lands have been gazetted as an Aboriginal Area, and one of such great significance to the Aboriginal people of the south coast.”
Local Aboriginal Elders are working with NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service officers to plan for the Cullunghutti Aboriginal Area’s management to protect its cultural significance and the environment.
A public celebration is tentatively scheduled for May.