The Cultural Significance of Uluru

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are warned that the following article may contain images of a deceased persons.

Uluru aerial view. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, 2008.

Uluru, the towering red sandstone monolith, is a place of great cultural significance for Aboriginal peoples nation-wide. The traditional owners of Uluru and the surrounding Country are the Yankunytjatjara and Pitjantjatjara people, also known as the Anangu. For the Anangu, Uluru is so much more than just an ancient rock, it's a living cultural landscape that holds many sacred sites and stories. The Anangu believe that this landscape was created by ancestral beings, and that they are the direct descendants of those beings. As such, protection and management of Uluru and the surrounding lands is an intrinsic part of Anangu responsibilities. Through caring for Country, the Anangu are able to keep their Aboriginal culture and stories alive (Red Centre, 2022). 

The long fight to protect Uluru

Since the European discovery of Uluru, this sacred Indigenous site has been mistreated in many ways. European settlers originally named the rock Ayers Rock after Sir Henry Ayers, the Chief Secretary of South Australia at the time. Despite being declared as a national park in 1950, the tourism boom and climbing of the rock damaged many sacred sites. Over decades, the Anangu expressed their concerns to the government. It was in 1985, after more than 35 years of campaigning, that the Anangu were finally recognised as the Traditional Owners of the park. In 1987, Uluru was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which was later extended to encompass the whole park. Then, in 1993, the official park name was changed to the culturally respectful name, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park (Parks Australia, 2021).

The Anangu fought long and hard to protect Uluru so that both the cultural integrity and health of the Country could be preserved. Their last fight to protect Uluru involved stopping people climbing the rock face of Uluru. The Anangu have always believed climbing Uluru is a violation of the Tjukurpa, which is the Anangu's belief system that governs the relationships between Aboriginal people, and the way in which they interact with the land and other animals. It was in 2019 that the trail to the top of the rock was finally permanently closed (National Museum Australia, 2021).

If you would like to learn more about Uluru, check out our previous post The Iconic History of Uluru’s Traditional Land and Place Name Repatriation.

The Tjukurpa of Uluru  

Uluru walking tours. Courtesy of Inspiration Outdoors, 2022.

Uluru is the site of many Tjukurpa stories that feature Anangu's ancestors. For Anagu, the Tjukurpa is a foundation of life and has many meanings. Note that some Indigenous peoples refer to their foundational period as 'the Dreamtime'. It is believed that in the beginning the world was a featureless place until the ancestral beings emerged and travelled across the land, creating landmarks such as Uluru. The rock's caves, cliffs and fissures represent the physical evidence of the ancestral spirits' time on earth. To this day, the Anangu have a spiritual and cultural connection to Uluru and Tjukurpa that is very strong (Red Centre, 2022).

Currently, there are over 40 sacred Aboriginal sites around Uluru and 11 Tjukurpa trails featuring the sites associated with Uluru's Tjukurpa stories (Red Centre, 2022). If you have the chance to visit beautiful Uluru, we highly recommend taking a walk along one of these trails with a guide. You can learn more about the ranger led walks here.

Sacred rock paintings

Along with oral forms of storytelling, rock paintings are key way in which important cultural knowledge and stories have been passed down through the generations for tens of thousands of years. Uluru is world famous for its amazing rock paintings. The rock art and countless petroglyphs around Uluru's caves have many layers of symbols and figures painted on top of each other because these are sites that have been used as a part of Anangu education for thousands of years. Uluru's caves are like a classroom blackboard that a teacher has used to illustrate a lesson, and only those who attend the lesson can fully decipher the notes left behind. Since these special paintings are done in natural pigments, the art is easily damaged. Anangu in the region still perform rituals and teachings in the caves to this day, making new rock art. Today, the local Anangu people work closely with the national park's staff to conserve 80 rock art sites around Uluru (Parks Australia, 2022).

The best way to experience and learn about these inspiring creations is with an experienced local guide. Maruku Arts offers some excellent cave art tours which you can learn more about here.

Maruku Uluru cave art tours. Courtesy of Maruku Arts, 2022.

The sheer physical presence and cultural significance of Uluru make it a landmark like no other on the planet. So, as we enter an era where Uluru is finally protected and managed by its traditional owners, it is so important that visitors continue to be respectful of this sacred site, staying mindful that they are bearing witness to tens of thousands of years of Aboriginal culture.