We spent 3 days in the Red Centre, climbing or walking around Kings Canyon, Kata Tjuta, and Uluru. Scott of The Rock Tours chose our paths, told us the stories of the Anangu and stories told by the Anangu, and gave us lessons in geology.
Central Australia was once covered by an inland sea which was surrounded by mountains. These mountains eroded into the sea, and the glaciers of an ice age compressed the ground. Massive earth movements formed the Peterman Range. These mountains eroded completely, and the debris was carried along two alluvial fans. Kata Tjuta, consisting of both sand and rocks, was built up by one alluvial fan; Uluru, consisting of sand only, was built up by the other. Glaciers of another ice age compressed these mounds into conglomerate rock and sandstone. The shifting of the tectonic plates brought about the MacDonnell Ranges (Alice Springs area), Kings Canyon, and tilted the two mounds. Cracks formed in Kata Tjuta, which is why we see 36 domes. Uluru was tilted 87 degrees. Everything around these two formations eroded, and so they stand tall on a relatively flat land.
To get a full picture of Uluru, you must be quite a distance away. From that distance you get an impression of a perfectly smooth rock. I was surprised to see that it is not smooth at all. Both Kata Tjuta and Uluru are pockmarked with indentations that look like caves. These are formed by the combination of erosion on the surface and the freezing of water held by the sandstone inside; the weaker parts of the rock are forced out. At Uluru there are several large caves at ground level, some with drawings made by the Anangu. As we walked around this rock, we saw flaking walls in which you could see images, much in the way you see images in clouds. We saw large boulders piled up at the base here and there, and the walls of the rock have ridges.
The national park containing Kata Tjuta and Uluru is owned by the Anangu. the indigenous people of this region. When ownership was transferred (called the hand-back), the Anangu had to agree to a 99 year lease to the Australian government. The board of directors for this park consists of 8 Anangu members and 4 government officials. Several specific sections of Uluru are sacred sites, and we are not to take pictures or enter those areas. There’s not much that can be done to prevent picture taking, but the walking paths in some places have been moved further away from the walls over the 10 years Charlie has been coming here. There are places where we can in fact touch the rock, and we were able to peer into some of the caves. Scott’s stories of the Anangu, their Tjukurpa (belief system and laws) were so compelling and sincere that I believe all the students refrained from taking pictures of the sacred sites and from taking souvenirs from the rock. Climbing Uluru is not an option for the students taking this course. Scott and many members of our course expressed disappointment that so many people continue to come here with that sole goal; they don’t take the time to learn anything about the rock or what it means to the Anangu.
A sacred site could be a meeting place for men’s business or women’s business. We cannot know what this business is. In the eyes of the Anangu everyone in our group, including Charlie, Scott, and me, are children. We have not received instruction, and the men have not gone on walkabout. We cannot enter these sites. Anangu men cannot enter or look at the women’s sacred sites, and women cannot be at the men’s sacred sites.
A sacred site could have special meaning in the history of the Anangu, whether it is a location mentioned in their story-telling or a location where an actual, important event occurred. Scott couldn’t tell us any stories of Kata Tjuta – he is not allowed. We heard several stories about Uluru. Let me see if I can summarize it using the features of the rock I saw after hearing the story.
There is a band of rock that has pulled away from the wall a bit – you can see a gap if you are standing in the right place. It might remind you of a pole. A tumble of rocks could make you think of seed cakes. A portion of the wall of flaky sandstone looks like a menacing dingo. The story: Mali men have started a ceremony, indicated by thrusting their pole into the ground. Another tribe approaches, hoping to invite the Mali to attend their ceremony, but they accidently interrupt the Mali ceremony, which is not supposed to be stopped once started. There are bad feelings on both sides, and the visitors create an evil spirit, a demon dingo, to attack. The women are making seed cakes when the dingo comes upon them, and they drop their cakes and run to the men for help. The kingfisher woman has already been killed when she tries to warn the women; two men stay behind to fight the dingo while the rest of the tribe runs south to safety. Those men die.
Another story is about a man (a blue-tongued lizard) coming across a speared emu and taking the meat for himself, and then lying about it when the hunters show up. They have their revenge when they realize the truth. This story explains some of the round holes in the rock (where the man hid while eating the emu), the pile of boulders at the base (the dropped emu meat when the hunters’ fire cooks the thief), and a black streak on the wall (the flesh of the thief as he rolled down the wall after being cooked). The story tells children about controlled bush fires – the lizard-thief is burning spinifex grass when he finds the emu. It also teaches them about fair play and the dangers of stealing and lying.
Scott told us many stories like this. This is part of the instruction children received before becoming men and women. Boys were also taught to hunt, women to cook. Boys would go on walkabout, spending years in the desert surviving on their own. When they were called back, it was because they succeeded in the eye of the tracker who checked up on them now and then. They then had an initiation ceremony and were declared men. Girls became women when they got married.
Let me stop here. I will talk about the flora of this region in the next post.
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