Traditional Owners rejoice as Kakadu is finally handed back

Almost 10,000 square kilometres of the National Park has been handed back, a historic moment met with both joy, and also sadness reflecting on those who have passed.

Traditional Owners have waited decades to have their land returned to them Source: NITV, Guy McLean

There were tears of joy in the Northern Territory as a huge slice of Kakadu National Park was finally handed back to its rightful owners.

Hundreds gathered at Cooinda, about 300 kilometres from Darwin, to witness history being made.

And, with the stroke of a pen, land which Aboriginal people had fought long and hard for was finally recognized as Aboriginal land.

The Kakadu Region Land Claims cover almost 10,000 square kilometres - about half of the World Heritage-listed park. Some Traditional Owners had waited for this day since 1977.

More than a dozen Aboriginal clans celebrated the moment, among them senior Murumburr Traditional Iwner Violet Lawson.

Murumburr Traditional Owner Violet Lawson (Image: Guy McLean, NITV)

"I feel proud, I'm happy. I've got my family here, my grand kids, my niece and I'm happy that they came and supported me, for all of our family," she said.

"I'd like to thank everybody for coming along to be here for our people, my people."

The hand back paves the way for Traditional Owners to negotiate long-term lease payments for Kakadu, allowing visitors to continue to experience the park's wonders.

Djok man Jeffrey Lee speaks for a parcel of land known as Koongarra which lies just a few kilometres from Nourlangie Rock, one of Kakadu's most visited attractions.

"I feel really happy today from all those years and finally we’re there," he said.

Parks Australia and Aboriginal people from Kakadu are currently engaged in a Supreme Court battle over a walking track which was built near a sacred site.

Mr Lee lives and works in the park and has high hopes for the future.

Djok Traditional Owner Jeffrey Lee (Image - Guy McLean, NITV)

"I've been working here in the park for a very long time and I've seen a lot of changes (but) we've had a relationship with Parks (Australia) for 46 years," he said.

"Kakadu is big country in the tourism industry and that is really good because there's an opportunity there for us mob as the Traditional Owners."

The Northern Land Council represents the interests of Traditional Owners in the Top End and walked side by side with land claim applicants over their marathon journey.

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Northern Land Council Chairman Samuel Bush-Blanasi (Image: NLC)

“For too long there have been two classes of land in Kakadu National Park – Aboriginal land and other land ‘subject to Aboriginal land claim’. Today that has been fixed once and for all time," NLC Chairman Samuel Bush-Blanasi said.

“This land that has been returned is the traditional country of the Limilngan/Minitja, Murumburr, Garndidjbal, Yurlkmanj, Wurngomgu, Bolmo, Wurrkbarbar, Matjba, Uwinymil, Bunidj, Djindibi, Mirrar Gundjeihmi and Dadjbaku peoples.”

Earlier in the day, people gathered in 41 degree heat at Mataranka, 100 kilometres south of Katherine, as land in the Roper River region was also returned to Aboriginal owners.

Traditional Owners from the Roper River region also won back country (Image: Guy McLean, NITV)

The claims covered the township of Urapunga and the old homestead site on Elsey station, country immortalized in Jeannie Gunn's autobiographical novel 'We of the Never Never'.

Indigenous Affairs Minister and Noongar man Ken Wyatt attended both resolutions and praised the patience and persistence of Aboriginal people who had waited too long to get their land back.

Traditional Owners at both ceremonies held a minute's silence to remember those who had passed away while waiting to get their country back.

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Members of the Mangarrayi Aboriginal Land Trust have won back the old homestead site at Elsey Station (Image: NLC)

Minister Wyatt said he hoped the Northern Territory's remaining Aboriginal land claims can be resolved much faster.

"There’s about 20 altogether, they're smaller parcels of land but I want to work through completing those so they are back in the hands of different Aboriginal communities," Minister Wyatt said.

"More importantly, they (Traditional Owners) are prepared to share that land, where there is common use, and the Northern Land Council have set up a permit system which will enable people to access areas which go back to the Traditional Owners."