M-whY

Afterwards, Steve took us on a short walk at the base of Uluru and told us some history about the place. Located on aboriginal land, for thousands of years, the Anangu tribe looked after the area. In the 1940s, the sacred place was excised from the aboriginal reservation to be made into a national park. It took years of negotiation, but finally in 1985, the land was returned back to the traditional owners, who in turn leased it back to the government for 99 years.

For aborigines, everything revolves around Tjukurpa. Tjukurpa is Law, and the basis of life. According to Tjukurpa, everything began during Dreamtime, a period in the past where Tjuritja (ancestral beings) roamed the land. Dreamtime stories told of these ancestral beings, such as giant serpents, crossing the desert and fighting fierce battles. The actions of these ancestral beings shaped the world into what it is today.

"For example, in Australia, the wind blows from west to east, and most sand dune formations reflect that. But there are some areas in the desert where sand dunes appear to be created from nonexistant winds blowing in the other direction. Science has no explanation for this, but ask an aborigine why this is and he'll tell you they are enchanted trails left behind by an ancient serpent that snaked across the desert. And no one can explain why Mt Connor, Uluru, and Kata Tjuta are shaped so differently when they're supposedly part of the same underground mountain range. Dreamtime stories have explanations for all of these."

Steve was a great storyteller and told us some tales that revolved around Uluru.

Flies here are ruthless.

"Science would tell you the dark spots are actually algae and the holes are formed from wind blowing in the rocks for millions of years. But before aborigines knew this, they had their own explanations. Now you may have seen dust devils as we drove along the road yesterday? Aborigines believed that they were evil spirits, and would throw rocks at them to drive them away. There's a story about how a group of aborigine women were resting here when a group of these evil spirits snuck up and cornered them. With nowhere else to run, the women tried to escape by climbing over the top of Uluru. According to the legend, the dust devils chased and killed them. The dark spots here represent the flow of the bloodshed and the holes in the rock are the tracks of the evil spirits as they scaled the rock. Pretty gruesome stuff."

As I learned more about aboriginal history, I became enthralled at the native Australian residents.

"In aboriginal culture, these is this thing known as the Circle of Knowledge. At around the ages of 16-17, young boys would begin their initiation into the Circle. They would be taken out into the desert and for a week, they'd be told a story in song and dance. These stories, known as songlines, could be decoded into roadmaps allowing the person who knew it to travel across the land and find water and food along the way. As the boy grew older, he'd learn more and more songlines, allowing him to travel farther and farther away from home. A person who knew all the songlines could conceivably travel anywhere in Australia and not have to worry about dying of thirst, since he'd know where all the water holes are.

Like native americans, aborigines suffered with the arrival of Europeans.

"When European settlers first came to the land, they had a difficult time finding water. So what they'd do is kidnap these young men, blindfold them, bring them out to the middle of the desert, and set them free. Naturally, the aborigines would try to make their way back to the tribe, using the songlines to find food and water along the way. The European settlers would then follow them at a distance, and take note of all the water sources. Much of Australia was surveyed this way."

Around this time, Steve began wrapping up the tour.

"Uluru is probably the most sacred place for aborigines. As a result, the Anangu owners ask visitors not to climb. You'll often see Japanese tourists wearing these white gloves, since they're told that as long as they're not touching it directly, it's okay. But to the Anangu, it makes no difference. They would prefer you not to climb at all, gloves or no gloves."

Someone asked why the Anangu didn't just tear down the chain and prohibit people from climbing. As owners of the land, it was certainly within their rights.

"Australia has problems with racism, just like any other country. Aborigines already suffer from the stereotype of being uneducated and alcoholics. You often hear about the huge amounts of money the government sets aside for aboriginal education, drunk aborigines causing trouble in city parks. Then you read in newspapers about land the size of Holland being given back to aborigines, and people really start to get mad. Of course, what you don't hear about is that aborigines see very little of the money, and the new reservations set aside are located on uninhabitable nuclear testing grounds.

There are many ways to enjoy Uluru

"Many people come to Uluru with the intention of climbing. If the Anangu were to tear down the chain, it would cause an uproar, and just worsen their image in the eyes of many Australians. The setback in relations wouldn't be worth it."

We were given some free time to explore.

"There's a walk around the base that's very nice, it's about 10kms and takes two hours to complete. If you want to climb Uluru, you can do that as well. The choice is yours really, a lot of people still attempt the climb, so no one will hold it against you if you do."

I did the walk instead. It wasn't really a difficult decision.

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