Teaching Heritage - Investigating Aboriginal Heritage

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Exploring values is central to investigating Aboriginal heritage. When we discuss Aboriginal heritage are we talking about values ascribed by heritage practitioners – and applied through assessments of significance – or are we focusing on shared values in the community towards aspects of Australian culture and environment? Or, are practices in Aboriginal heritage a meeting ground for both perspectives?


	Australian Heritage Commission (AHC) policy guidelines for investigating Aboriginal heritage

In Investigating Aboriginal heritage, the meanings of heritage held by indigenous Australians act as a starting point for students to identify the values of others and to clarify their own values. The objective is one of working towards an appreciation of cultural identity and the shared heritage of all Australians.

In 1996 the New South Wales State Government broadened its heritage brief to include items of significance to Aboriginal people.

What is meant by Aboriginal heritage? Defining Aboriginal heritage was the first step in the process. The NSW Heritage Council’s definition of includes two distinct types: Aboriginal sites, those places with evidence of Aboriginal occupation; and Aboriginal places, those places of contemporary, spiritual or mythological importance according to Aboriginal culture or custom, but which have no physical remains.

Evelyn Crawford, an indigenous member of the NSW Heritage Council, has identified State Government initiatives to assist Aboriginal people to manage their own heritage as a significant move towards recognising Aboriginal heritage. Grants are made available through the Heritage Assistance Program (HAP) to fund conservation projects involving local Aboriginal groups. Collaborative management practices are viewed as part of the reconciliation process.


	Accessing the views of Aboriginal people is an essential starting point in investigating indigenous heritage: a visit to an Aboriginal heritage place or site will ideally involve Aboriginal people in roles of guide and mentor. National Trust approach in Parramatta Park and NPWS approach at Willandra

Some groups that can be accessed for information – or invited to participate in student-initiated heritage projects or discussions – include:

Traditional owners or custodians
Local indigenous community members
Local, Regional, State or Territory Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Land Councils
Native Title organisations
Indigenous Heritage officers
State or Territory offices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs and sites authorities
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission Regional, State or Territory offices
(from Protecting Local Heritage Places, Australian Heritage Commission, pp 12–13)

Aboriginal people commonly express the significance of sites and places in creative ways. Students can look at videos, songs, displays and artworks to gain perspectives on Aboriginal heritage.