#aboriginal artifacts

The century-old kayak has spent decades locked away in the vaults of the Vatican Museums, its driftwood frame still holding together, though the fragile sealskin cover is partly tattered. Out of sight for generations, the vessel carries the stories of Western Arctic communities, its sleek, delicate form a witness to Inuvialuit hunts of seals, walrus and whales — and now, to a long-awaited act of reconciliation between the Roman Catholic Church and Indigenous communities in Canada. After complex negotiations, the kayak and other Indigenous artifacts are finally set to return home, a powerful symbol for communities whose children suffered in Catholic-run residential schools.

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Excerpt from this story from EcoWatch:

In the expansion of its iron ore mine in Western Pilbara, Rio Tinto blasted the Juukan Gorge 1 and 2 — Aboriginal rock shelters dating back 46,000 years. These sites had deep historical and cultural significance.

The shelters are the only inland site in Australia showing human occupation continuing through the last Ice Age.

The mining blast caused significant distress to the Puutu Kunti Kurrama traditional land owners. It's an irretrievable loss for future generations.

Aboriginal cultural heritage is a fundamental part of Aboriginal community life and cultural identity. It has global significance, and forms an important component of the heritage of all Australians.

But the destruction of a culturally significant Aboriginal site is not an isolated incident. Rio Tinto was acting within the law.

In 2013, Rio Tinto was given ministerial consent to damage the Juukan Gorge caves. One year later, an archaeological dig unearthed incredible artefacts, such as a 4,000-year-old plait of human hair, and evidence that the site was much older than originally thought.