Uluru-Kata Tjuta Handback

Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara Anaṉgu land, Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park

Ownership of the national parklands which
surround Uluru and Kata Tjuta was handed back to the Anangu People by the Federal Government on 26 October 1985.

Uluṟu and Kata Tjuṯa are two sacred rock formations and popular tourist sites. The national parklands around and including these sites were handed back (ownership over them was given back) by the Federal Government to the Anaṉgu People, in particular the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara Anaṉgu, on 26 October 1985. The handback was carried out on the condition of a handover agreement, resulting in the Anaṉgu leasing the area to Parks Australia for 99 years (Maruku Arts 2012; Cromb 2017). Prior to the handback, Uluṟu and Kata Tjuṯa were formally taken from the Anaṉgu in 1920, when the Federal, Western Australian, and South Australian governments included the land in the Great Central Desert Aboriginal Reserve, later replaced in 1950 by the Ayers Rock National Park.

The handback came about because of persistent lobbying and protest by the Anaṉgu peoples, and so their success is remembered as a victory for Aboriginal land rights and continues to inspire the community. Traditional owner Barbara Tjikatu said about the handback "My family were here for Handback. They really felt strongly about not leaving their country. It's grandfather's and the ancestors' land" (National Museum of Australia 2020).

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