Urgent funds are Needed to Preserve Sacred Aboriginal Land

For over 65,000 years the coastal Mirning People have acted as caretakers for the sacred land along the sea that forms a rainbow arch from near Point Culver in Western Australia to near Streaky Bay in South Australia, and submerged country now beneath the waves. Their home includes the Nullarbor Plain, ancient Mallee woodlands and the seas of the Great Australian Bight. 

Today, this area is in danger of being forever lost if The Mirning People do not prevail in a legal court case to obtain the official Native Title for their eastern sea. That designation would provide the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians have rights and interests to their sea that derive from their traditional laws and customs, and enable them to protect it for generations to come.

Land and Sea

The Great Australian Bight is one of the world’s greatest marine centers of biodiversity, full of deep-water nutrients. This is the area where the southern right whales tend the calves. It is a sanctuary where the whales rest and find refuge. For the Mirning, it is a living university and museum from which to learn, and most of all—home.

The pristine seas, nullarbor plain and mallee woodland are integral to the Mirning natural heritage. As stewards of this land and sea, they protect totemic waterholes, animals and plants, as well as sacred sites. This is a significant cultural landscape within their sacred ecology.

It addition to the natural resources it cultivates, this is a very spiritual place for the coastal Mirning, where they teach future generations how to connect with country.

Legal Support

Your donation helps cover the costs of solicitors, junior counsel and senior counsel to represent the Mirning during the trial.

Expert Assistance

Your donation pays for professional archeologists and anthropologists who have extensive knowledge about the land and sea, and will be called upon to provide testimony during the court proceedings.

Administrative Necessities

Your donation funds archive retrievals, photocopying of records, transcripts and other associated basic administrative expenses.

Mirning Sand Dunes
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