Aboriginal community starts heritage survey of sites in Cundeelee Reserve

11/6/99
The Coonana Aboriginal community this week started a heritage survey to identify and document burial and ceremonial sites in the Cundeelee Reserve and parts of the Queen Victoria Springs Nature Reserve, north east of Kalgoorlie.
The Aboriginal Affairs Department has granted $8,000 to the community through Upurl Upurlila Ngurratja Inc to engage anthropological and archaeological consultants to assist them with the survey.
The project has also received $15,600 from the Australian Heritage Commission through the 1996-97 National Estates Grant Program, a Federal Government grants program administered in Western Australia by the Heritage Council of WA.
Many people in the community and from the desert to the north have close links with the Cundeelee Mission, which was finally closed in 1985.
During the 1950s, prior to the establishment of the mission, Cundeelee was a ration depot. Aboriginal people drifted into the area as a result and a significant Aboriginal community grew up nearby. Many were employed in the mission's thriving sandalwood industry.
"The protection of objects and places that hold special significance to Aboriginal people is of paramount importance to the Aboriginal Affairs Department and the State," Aboriginal Affairs Minister Dr Kim Hames said.
"Aboriginal people have one of the oldest living cultures and it is alive and dynamic, playing an important part in their lives wherever they live and whatever their situation.
"I applaud the Coonana community for delving into their past and taking the initiative to document and protect it for future generations."
Two years of community consultation and planning has culminated in the anthropological, ethnographical and archaeological survey of the area, which will take approximately 10 days.
The survey, which was scheduled to start in March, has been delayed because access roads into the area were washed away by heavy rains in the wake of Cyclone Vance.
"It has been a long journey to get this far and we are pleased to be in the field at last," project co-ordinator Graham Townley said.
During the 10-day survey, community members and old people from the desert to the north of Cundeelee, assisted by consultants, will work in the field to identify and document burial and ceremonial sites associated with the Cundeelee Mission.
Once the survey is completed the community intends to develop heritage management plans to protect the significant sites identified.
There is also a strategy in place for local people to gain the skills necessary to implement these plans and to deal with the relevant agencies.
Media contact: Hartley Joynt, Minister's office, 9321 1444