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- Traditional owners locked out of sacred McArthur River site
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Traditional owners locked out of sacred McArthur River site
Submitted by admin on 20 June, 2008 - 02:09.
Traditional owners in the Territory's McArthur River region have today been denied access to a sacred ceremonial site which they say will soon be destroyed by the expansion of a nearby zinc mine.
Around 100 Aboriginal people from four different language groups were met by police and mine security and were told only one senior traditional owner could visit the sacred site.
The traditional owners havenow set up camp outside the mine and are vowing not to leave until they are allowed to hold a ceremony at the sacred site.
Traditional owner Jackie Green says it is a serious abuse of the Sacred Sites Act, and traditional owners are particularly upset that the mine's operators did not come and talk to them.
"We're all pretty cross and upset because the company they should be coming talking to us instead of having the police in front of us," he said.
"Our personal feeling is that we don't think police should be involved because they made this decision without the police and they should be talking to us face to face as a human being."
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Traditional owners in the NT's McArthur River region have been denied access to a sacred ceremonial site.[MORE]
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