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To say Gagudju are connected to the land is like saying Kakadu gets a little rain during the wet season. Their culture revolves entirely around a spiritual and physical connection to the earth. According to Aborigines, during the creation period, called the Dreamtime, the original spirit ancestors charged the Aboriginal people with the custodianship of the land before turning into physical and natural forms themselves.
"Our story is in the land...
it is written in those sacred places.
My children will look after those places,
That's the law."
Those are the words of Gagudju elder Big Bill Neidjie, who, foreseeing the loss of his people's oral traditions, agreed to tell his story in the book Australia's Kakadu Man: Bill Neidjie.
Ultimately, the deep and complex relationship Aborigines have with the land is a simple concept, says park official Paul Styles. "If you don't look after (the) country the right way, it can't look after you."
About half of the land in Kakadu National Park is Aboriginal land leased to the federal government for park purposes. These traditional owners, as they are known, work in partnership with park management, with many working as rangers and in other roles. In fact, the chairman of the park's board of management is always a traditional owner.
Priority number one for Kakadu's traditional owners is looking after the land. But they'd also like park visitors to understand more about their culture and the values they hold so deeply.
As Big Bill Neidjie says:
"This story is for all people.
Everybody should be listening.
Same story for everyone,
just different language."
