20 October
2006 - One of Australia's leading Indigenous women,
Uluru's Barbara Tjikatu, will today receive one
of the nation's highest honours: Member of the
Order of Australia.
Northern Territory Administrator,
His Honour, Mr Ted Egan AO, will present Mrs Tjikatu
with her award at a ceremony at the Andy McNeill
Room, Alice Springs Town Council, at 5.30pm.
Barbara Tjikatu will be honoured
"For service to the Indigenous community
of the Northern Territory as an Anangu Elder,
and in the preservation and management of the
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park."
The Parliamentary Secretary
with ministerial responsibility for Uluru Kata-Tjuta
National Park, Greg Hunt, said the award recognised
Mrs Tjikatu's groundbreaking efforts over three
decades.
"Barbara Tjikatu is almost
unknown outside Uluru, yet this quiet achiever
has led the way in Aboriginal cultural protection,
Indigenous business and the joint management of
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park," Mr Hunt
said Barbara Tjikatu, now a senior Anangu woman,
was born in Central Australia's Western Desert
to a nomadic family. In her youth, she walked
from place to place in the desert region around
Uluru, visiting her family's traditional lands
and hunting and gathering.
"Barbara returned to Uluru
in the early 1970s with her husband Nipper, drawn
by the desire to take part in traditional ceremony
and to begin efforts to gain traditional ownership
of Uluru - Kata Tjuta," Mr Hunt said.
"With the handback of land
to traditional owners in 1985, Barbara helped
set up the park's historic joint management arrangements
and she's been a tireless Board member almost
ever since."
"Since 1985, Barbara Tjikatu
has worked in almost every aspect of the park:
as a manual labourer, as the prime mover behind
the establishment of the Cultural Centre and three
park businesses and as a negotiator with Australian
Government and Northern Territory ministers.
"Her formidable tracking
skills are now employed in monitoring the park's
wildlife and feral animals, and she is an invaluable
advisor to the park's scientific staff.
"Perhaps Barbara's proudest
achievement is her protection of Aboriginal culture
and her commitment to passing it on to young Anangu
women. Now in her 80s, Barbara still works with
park staff, tour guides and visitors to explain
the cultural heritage that is central to Aboriginal
life in the desert," Mr Hunt said.
John Deller (Mr Hunt's office)
