CUSTODIANS TAKE MURUJUGA CAUSE TO THE UN

Raelene Cooper at the UN Expert Mechanism on Rights of Indigenous People yesterday.

Traditional custodians from Murujuga, the Burrup Peninsula, are presenting at a United Nations forum in Switzerland today.

Marthudunera woman Raelene Cooper told the forum forced removal of rock art by industry was a form of cultural genecide.

“The Ngurra, our land, is our temple and our parliament,” she said. “The rock art archives our law. It is written not on a tablet of stone but carved into the Nurra which holds our dreaming stories and songlines. It is alarming that governments and industry continue to use our Ngurra in a way that harms people all over the world by releasing phenomenal amounts of greenhouse gasses.”

Kuruma Marthudunera Josie Alec intends to say Female participation in the heritage surveying and approval processes, is vital to ensure the women’s cultural sites are identified and recorded prior to approvals being considered.

“This has not happened at Murujuga (and other sacred sites in Australia) and resulted in approvals for massive industrial projects over significant women’s sacred sites.”

They will be reading prepared speeches at the UN Expert Mechanism on Rights of Indigenous People.