For decades the traditional owners have been campaigning for the closure of the Uluru climb. Climbing Uluru goes against Anangu law.
1) Pinch it 2) Ride around it (on a camel) 3) Watch it in the rain 4) Drink Champagne 5) Put it in a glass 6) Fly around it 7) Pick it up 8) Put it back down again (gently) 9) Get Married 10) Ride around it (on a bike) 11) Jump over it 12) Eat it 13) Walk around it 14) Meet the locals (The Anangu People) 15) Play the didgeridoo 16) Frame it 17) Dip your feet in the red sand 18) Take timeless wedding photos 19) Jump out of a plane 20) Embrace it 21) Jump over it (again) 22) Take groupie photos 23) Take a sunrise selfie 24) Take regular selfies 25) Take a photo while you take a photo 26) Take a freefalling (skydiving) portrait. And 1 more for the road (rearview mirror) picture.
The safety chain together with the crude steel poles rammed into Australia’s so called heart, is a visual stain on this world famous landmark. The climb is also a sign of Australia’s inability to respect and understand Indigenous values. Uluru has long been one of Australia’s biggest draw-cards. Every year around 270,000 people visit the largest sandstone monolith or inselberg in the world.
Uluru has also served as a measuring stick of Australia’s relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia. Uluru was previously known as Ayers Rock for many years after the European saw the landmark for the first time in 1873. It took more than 100 years before the name was finally changed to Uluru out of respect to the wishes of the local Anangu people in 1993.
Much attention has also been drawn to the inequality between the resort area of Yulara and the local Aboriginal community of Mutitjulu. Yulara is home to 5 star resorts with state of the art accommodation, food and medical facilities. Mutitjulu is home to asbestos filled homes and medical facilities that have been deemed as third world.
In 2015, a protester cut the climbing chain which caused the climb to be closed for an extended period. During this time, debate raged once again and Anungu Elders took the opportunity to once again push for the permanent closure of the climb. But it seems that Australia was still not ready to respect the wishes of Aboriginal people in in one of our most sacred places.
If you enjoyed this article, make sure you share it so more people can help push for change in Australia. You might also be interested to read our recent article titled: 7 ways Aboriginals are still being robbed in Australia today.
