A Cultural Heritage Trail
proposed for the
Arltunga Tourist Drive via Ross Highway
The Arrernte outstations see map situated along the Ross Highway & Arltunga Tourist drive are in locations that offer potential & opportunities for their residents to particpate in protection, conservation and management of places of cultural and natural significance .
Significant places already protected along the drive are Emily & Jessie Gaps Nature Reserves 25km from Alice Springs, Corroboree Rock Conservation Reserve approx. 45km, Trephina Gorge approx. 60km, Ndhala Gorge 70km, Arltunga Historical Reserve approx. 100km see map
The Northern Territory Government have new joint management arrangements proposed that will include training , education and employment opportunties for Indigenous custodians of these areas.
Parks & Wildlife NT and the Central Land Council are developing opportunities in cooperation with traditional owners for traineeships, work projects , employment and management within these Parks.
Work has already been done at the Little Flower Mission site which adjoins the Arltunga Historical Reserve . Arrernte people associated with this site have raised concerns about the protection of the Little Flower Mission site on Loves Creek Station , as a heritage place.
CAT students and Pantharrpilenhe residents built memorials
and placed signs at the Little Flower Mission site in 2000
Central & Eastern Arrernte Cultural Heritage in the East MacDonnell ranges has not always been a salient feature , almost undervalued in some areas, especially at the Arltunga Historical Reserve where 'white Settlement' & 'Mining' are afforded the bulk of interpretive material . This is not a criticism of Central Australia's early mining heritage and the protection and managment of it, but, just an observation of an Indigenous person who holds oral histories and the traditional Indigenous values of the area who would like to see these protected and interpreted for the general public to provide a balanced view of the country and to be there for future generations.
