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CTV News
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Local archeologist studying Indigenous rock art shares stories from elders in new book
Brad Himour's new book is about rock art in southern Alberta and southeastern B.C. and the meaning behind them according to Indigenous elders. Brad Himour spent 15 years collecting photos and stories behind Indigenous pictographs for his book, Forgotten Dreams: A New Look at Ancient Rock Art Sites. He's an archeologist who has spent a lot of time working with Indigenous peoples and says he's always been interested in their storytelling prowess, verbally or through rock art. 'The goal with the book was really to work together collaboratively with Indigenous elders and have them speak to the cultural meaning and cultural significance of Indigenous rock art sites in their own words,' he said. 'The educational aspect was really why the elders were excited to participate; they would like their knowledge passed on to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth.' Himour learned that in southern Alberta and southeastern British Columbia, there are more than 3,000 pictograph sites. 'A lot of those locations, people returned to every year,' he said. 'Really, that tie to the landscape and those places on the landscape, like a natural spring for water or for hot springs, places like that were all part of the cultural way of life for Indigenous people.' Himour says while there are similarities in the messages recorded on the rocks, there are various ways of telling them by the many Indigenous cultures. 'There's 200 Indigenous languages in Canada (and) there's probably 200 Indigenous traditions about who can make the rock art site and what the protocol was and what the sites mean,' he said. 'So, we found there's just an incredible diversity among Indigenous people in terms of their storytelling.' Himour says many of the rock paintings were made by mixing a red or orange mineral called ochre that's ground into a fine powder. It's then mixed with bear or deer grease and applied to a rock face. It's a combination that's endured for thousands of years. 'In some ways, pictographs are threatened; they're really starting to fade from the memory of the people as well as fading on the landscape,' he said. 'So, we thought it was important to record the knowledge of these elders that had incredible cultural knowledge and be able to provide something educational that could be passed on to future generations.' Himour learned by talking to Indigenous elders that some pictographs are directions that include how long it will take to get somewhere, while others serve as a warning. 'There's a rock art site near the Historic Cochrane Ranche site,' he said. 'It's of a Blackfoot shield-bearing warrior, and one of the elders said, 'That's our way of saying we're here; this is our territory,' and so that was purposely left on the landscape so that anyone travelling through that territory knew that they were in Blackfoot Confederacy territory.' Himour says he's hopeful readers will gain a new appreciation for the rich Indigenous history in the area but also respect the artwork. 'All of these pictograph sites are protected either by provincial or federal legislation,' he said. 'So, we really ask people to go ahead and visit the sites and see them on the landscape; it's an amazing experience, but just make sure to leave them as you found them.' You can learn more about the book at
SBS Australia
14-07-2025
- General
- SBS Australia
Murujuga has been placed on the World Heritage list, but pollution concerns remain
More than a million pieces of ancient rock art have secured World Heritage status in a bittersweet listing for Traditional Custodians, scientists and environmentalists, who are fearful nearby industrial activity is damaging the engravings. The Murujuga rock art landscape on the Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia was listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as a heritage site late last week after intense lobbying by the federal government. Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt was accompanied to the UNESCO meeting in Paris by representatives from the Western Australian government and Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation (MAC). Murujuga contains the world's largest, densest and most diverse collection of petroglyphs, a type of rock art where the design is carved into the surface of the rock. Some are estimated to be more than 50,000 years old. They depict animals, plants and human figures and are visible due to the colour and contrast between the removed varnish layer and the underlying brighter weathered rind of the host rocks. The site was put forward to UNESCO for World Heritage listing in 2023, but the application was referred back in May over concerns nearby acid emissions, including those from Woodside's Burrup gas hub, were degrading the art. The peninsula in northwest WA near Karratha is home to two gas plants, a fertiliser plant and iron ore and salt export facilities. Senator Watt recently gave provisional approval for the Woodside North West Shelf project on the peninsula, which includes the Karratha gas plant, to continue operating until 2070. Custodians celebrate listing, while concerns remain over pollution Raelene Cooper, Murujuga custodian of the Mardudhunera people and founder of Save our Songlines, has been in Paris with other First Nations leaders pushing for Murujuga to be listed as a World Heritage site, but with the explicit intention of ensuring any listing comes with strict conditions to sufficiently manage industrial impacts on the site. 'My family and community have worked for many years for World Heritage protection for Murujuga's ancient rock art," she said. 'This is a momentous day for our old people and our future generations, to have Murujuga's outstanding universal heritage values recognised by the world. 'Our rock art tells the stories of our people, and maintains our Songlines and bloodline connection to our ngurra (Country)." Ms Cooper said while she was overjoyed about the World Heritage listing, she was deeply concerned about the pollution from surrounding heavy industry. Part of the government's lobbying efforts involved removing protections suggested by UNESCO's independent advisory body ICOMOS in May from the final approval. 'Fertiliser plants are still being built around our sacred sites and polluting gas plants will emit toxic acid on our rock art for another 50 years," she said. "But comments from World Heritage Committee members today send a clear signal to the Australian Government and Woodside that things need to change to prevent the ongoing desecration of Murujuga by polluting industry. "Global scrutiny will now be applied to what is happening at Murujuga. We will continue to fight for protection for this very special place, and the world is now aware of what we are up against.' Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, which represents the collective voice of the Ngarda-Ngarli (Traditional Owners and Custodians), said they were elated to see the Murujuga Cultural Landscape recognised. 'While today's inscription is recognition of the hard work that MAC has put in ... over the past two years, more importantly, it is recognition of the way our ancestors have managed this extraordinary landscape for over 50,000 years," said MAC Chair Peter Hicks. "World Heritage is the mechanism we will use to continue to do what we have always done: protect our culture for all future generations." But Ben Smith, Professor of Archaeology (World Rock Art), at the University of WA, said that unless pollution is drastically curbed, the rock art is at risk of serious degradation. "While I celebrate Murujuga receiving the well deserved status of being listed as a World Heritage site, the nature in which the Australian Government handled the scientific findings on industrial impacts on Murujuga during this process reveals the extent to which they will go to play down the impacts of our gas industry," he said. "The scientific data clearly demonstrated the advanced weathering of the Murujuga petroglyphs from heightened levels of certain airborne pollutants from the nearby Woodside gas processing facility, yet we saw this repeatedly dismissed by different levels of government, with graphs and data being manipulated to back up the narrative that no conditions were required for the listing. "One only hopes that Murujuga's listing as a World Heritage Site spurs the government to no longer shirk their responsibility to conserve and protect this globally significant rock art site, and we see proper measures put in place to stop the polluting gas industry from degrading our First Nations cultural heritage." Foundation of culture Ngarluma woman Samantha Walker wrote to the nominations unit at the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and the director of evaluation unit at ICOMOS, urging the WHC to list Murujuga as a world heritage site with specific recommendations to have independent bodies monitor and manage industrial pollution at Murujuga. "Murujuga is more than just rock art – it is who we are," she wrote. "Murujuga contains Songlines and stories that define our identities as First Nations people, connecting us to our Elders and people that have walked before us. "Murujuga is the foundation of our culture. "The health of Murujuga is the health of my people and the ngurra (Country) is crying out for help." Ms Walker said Murujuga is sacred, but also has a dark history due to colonisation and the Flying Foam Massacre of 1868. "That history of colonisation is being continued on by the way that government allows multi-billion-dollar industries to operate on Murujuga without having to obtain free, prior and informed consent or listen to the people whose Country this is," she said. Ms Walker also expressed her alarm at the Environment Minister's provisional approval to extend the lifetime of Woodside Energy's North West Shelf gas plant to 2070. "It is unfathomable to imagine the French Government approving industrial pollution at the site of the 17,000 plus year-old Lascaux cave paintings . "Why is there not more global outrage that Minister Watt and the Australian Government have given provisional approval for 40 more years of pollution that is damaging the 50,000 plus year-old Murujuga rock art on our Country?" Environmentalists were also concerned the Woodside project extension could cause further damage. 'The world is now watching," Australian Conservation Foundation chief executive Kelly O'Shanassy said. "The onus is on the Australian government to make sure the values recognised by UNESCO are not jeopardised by ongoing industrial pollution." As part of the immediate inscription, the Australian Government will provide a state of conservation report for consideration in 2027. Murujuga will become the second place in Australia recognised on the World Heritage List solely for its First Nations cultural heritage, following the listing of Budj Bim in 2019 . Senator Watt said it had been a great privilege to support the Traditional Owners and Custodians of Murujuga, who have protected the landscape for more than 50,000 years. 'The Australian Government is strongly committed to World Heritage and the protection of First Nations cultural heritage – and we will ensure this outstanding place is protected now and for future generations,' he said. A Woodside spokesperson said the company had been a "proud supporter" of the World Heritage nomination and assessment process and they looked forward to continuing to work closely with MAC on the continued protection and management of this globally significant area. UNESCO added several other sites to its list, including the Xixia Imperial Tombs in China and the Faya Palaeolandscape in the United Arab Emirates.
SBS Australia
14-07-2025
- General
- SBS Australia
Australia insists industry and rock art 'can coexist' after heritage listing of ancient site
Murujuga, a peninsula in north-west WA near Karratha, contains the world's largest collection of rock art engravings. Environment Minister Murray Watt recently gave provisional approval to an extension of a nearby gas and oil project. There are concerns the project could seriously degrade the Aboriginal rock art engravings. Environment Minister Murray Watt says the recent World Heritage listing of an ancient Indigenous rock art site will not influence the government's final decision about an extension of a contested gas project in the area. Murujuga, a peninsula in north-west WA near Karratha, contains the world's largest collection of rock art engravings, known as petroglyphs, with some of its one million pieces estimated to be more than 50,000 years old. It's also home to two gas plants, a fertiliser plant and iron ore and salt export facilities. In May, Watt gave conditional approval to an extension of oil and gas production company Woodside's North West Shelf project to 2070. The project, Australia's largest gas and oil development, includes Woodside's Karratha Gas Plant, adjacent to Murujuga on the Burrup peninsula. There are concerns that the project's continuation and subsequent pollution will cause significant damage to Indigenous rock art in the area. 'Industry can coexist with rock art', Watt says On Monday, when asked if the site's World Heritage listing could influence the final decision on the Woodside extension, Watt said it wouldn't. "No, it won't apply to any decisions that are currently underway or that have happened previously", Watt told ABC's RN Breakfast radio program. Murujuga contains the world's largest collection of rock art engravings, known as petroglyphs. Source: Supplied / Save Our Songlines The environment minister said the decision meant any future development in the precinct would need to comply with World Heritage rules. He also said that it was clear "industry can coexist with rock art". "I said that we would be applying strict conditions, and preservation of the rock art was central to my decision [to provisionally approve the North West Shelf extension] when I made that a few weeks ago," Watt told ABC. "But I guess this is also a way of keeping future governments and future industry honest, to make sure that it does have this extra layer of protection against any inappropriate development in the future." Watt visited UNESCO'S headquarters in Paris ahead of the listing, saying it would ensure stronger legal protections for the more than a million pieces of rock art. The site was previously put forward to UNESCO for listing in 2023, with the application referred back in May this year. In its decision to list Murujuga, UNESCO recommended that both state and federal government address concerns that nearby acid emissions — including from Woodside's Burrup gas hub — were degrading the art. But it stopped short of implementing recommendations by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) — an advisory body which offers guidance to UNESCO on heritage sites. The association had recommended that the World Heritage listing be deferred until Australia detailed how it would eliminate "harmful acidic emissions that currently affect the petroglyphs". There are concerns that nearby acid emissions are degrading the rock art at Murujuga. Source: Supplied / Save Our Songlines The government responded by saying the recommendation was driven by "factual inaccuracies", and successfully argued concerns would be met and that Murujuga should be heritage-listed immediately. Mardathoonera woman and Murujuga traditional custodian Raelene Cooper, who was at the UNESCO meeting, welcomed the World Heritage listing but criticised the removal of recommended protections, including halting industry expansion. "Today, Australia rewrote the World Heritage listing in the interests of the gas industry," she said. "Global scrutiny will now be applied to what is happening at Murujuga," Cooper said. "You cannot have industry and culture coexist. It's never happened. It never works." Shortly after Watt granted provisional approval to the North West Shelf extension, Cooper launched legal action to try and protect the site. Mardathoonera woman and Murujuga traditional custodian Raelene Cooper said Australia had rewritten the World Heritage listing in the interests of the gas industry. Source: AAP / Dan Himbrechts The Greens welcomed Murujuga's World Heritage listing on Friday but warned that the world was watching and urged Watt to reconsider the draft approval. "UNESCO had warned that Woodside's gas plant threatened the longevity of the rock art prior to the listing, but Minister Watt successfully lobbied other nations when he should have simply rejected Woodside's climate bomb extension in the first place," Greens leader Larissa Waters said in a statement. The nomination process was driven by the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation (MAC) on behalf of Traditional Owners the Ngarda-Ngarli. MAC chair Peter Hicks said on Friday it had been an "Indigenous-led process" in partnership with state and federal governments, thanking them for undertaking their roles "without undermining Indigenous decision-making within the process". Could industrial pollution damage rock art? Last month, a study out of Germany's Bonn University said the industrial emissions from the facilities cause lower pH and higher acid levels in the local rainwater and on the rock surfaces. "The rock varnish on petroglyph-bearing rocks from Murujuga is highly likely impacted by local industrial pollution, with weathering rates most likely already accelerated due to the lower pH of the rainwater," the study said. — With additional reporting by the Australian Associated Press.
ABC News
13-07-2025
- General
- ABC News
Murujuga gets World Heritage listing
The ancient rock art of Murujuga, on Western Australia's Burrup peninsula, will be recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site after the federal government intervened to get a long-term campaign for listing over the line. Despite the outcome, some traditional custodians still hold concerns for the future of the over one million petroglyphs.
ABC News
13-07-2025
- General
- ABC News
Traditional custodians celebrate Murujuga win
In Western Australia's Pilbara region, traditional custodians of Murujuga are celebrating its World Heritage Listing. The Murujuga Cultural Landscape has the densest known concentration of rock art engraving in the world, some dating back 50 thousand years. It is also home to major gas and fertiliser plants and some fear the conditions attached to the World Heritage Listing won't do enough to protect the rock art.
