CARING FOR THE ANCESTORS Wallaga Lake Aboriginal Cemetery MANAGEMENT PLAN 2015 – 2020 1 2 © 2015. Eurobodalla Shire Council hold the copyright to any publicly FRONT COVER IMAGE: William Murdoch caring for the grave of his great available information. Without written permission information may not aunt, Florence Picalla, who was buried at Wallaga Lake as a baby in 1955. be used for purposes other than those permitted by Australian Copyright Her grave was rediscovered through oral history, archival research and laws. Ground Penetrating Radar [GPR] survey, undertaken as part of this project. Florence’s sisters saw her grave for the first time in their lives, soon after the INDIGENOUS CULTURAL AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS: GPR results were pegged onto the ground in December 2014, more than Eurobodalla Shire Council acknowledges the cultural and intellectual half a century later. property rights of Aboriginal people whose cultural knowledge has been used to guide the management of the Wallaga Lake Aboriginal Cemetery. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The authors would like to thank David and Shannon Hunter, John Healey, Les Gould, Dawn Sims, Cienan Muir, AUTHORSHIP: This plan was written by Susan Dale Donaldson and Sue Linda Albertson, Lisa Videion, Shane Doherty, Glenda Veitch, Doreen Feary in consultation with the Merrimans LALC, members of the Aboriginal Walker, Susan Gillies, Kim Bush, Jesse White, Zoe Morgan, Shane Davison, community and Eurobodalla Shire Council. Cheryl Davison, Jackie Grant, Michelle Wrethman, Laurelle Pacey, Mary Twyford, Pat Raymond, Pam O’Brian, Trevor Robinson, Jackie Taylor, Paul FUNDING SOURCE: The Caring for our Ancestors – Wallaga Lake House, Barina South, Rod Wellington, Justin Hands, Lorraine Naylor, Dean Cemetery Indigenous Heritage Project is supported through funding from Freeman, Harold Harrison, Ken Campbell, Shirley Foster, Jack Hampton, the Australian Government’s Indigenous Heritage Protection Program. Leonie Cameron, Anne Greenaway, the Merrimans LALC board and the Merrimans Local Aboriginal Land Council and the Eurobodalla Shire many Aboriginal people who persisted in bettering the cemetery. Mick Council have also assisted with funding and providing ‘in kind’ support, Darcy, Vikki Parsley and Sonya Naylor have done a great job working as advice and resources for onsite cemetery work. Aboriginal Project Officers marking graves and supporting the community in developing this management plan. Thank you. DISCLAIMER: The authors have made every effort to ensure that the plan and the associated documents are as correct and as comprehensive as possible. We apologise for any omissions or errors. CULTURAL WARNING: This plan contains reference to deceased people. ISBN: 978-0-646-94439-5 3 Introduction ...................................................................................................................6 PART TWO: Management Plan for the Wallaga Lake Cemetery .......... 38 PART ONE: Understanding the cemetery ................................................ 10 1 Vision for the future ............................................................................................. 38 1 Management planning ....................................................................................... 10 2 Values of the cemetery to Aboriginal people .............................................. 40 1.1. Why have a management plan? .....................................................................................................10 3 Threats to the values ............................................................................................ 41 1.2. Background to the plan ........................................................................................................................10 4 Objectives for achieving vision ......................................................................... 44 2. Preparing the plan ................................................................................................ 12 Objective 1: Maintain cemetery grounds and infrastructure in good condition .....44 2.1 Steps in developing the plan ..............................................................................................................12 Objective 2: Individual graves are maintained and cared for ...............................................44 2.2 Community participation ......................................................................................................................13 Objective 3: Establish workable systems for updating, storing and accessing 3. About the Wallaga Lake Aboriginal Cemetery ........................................... 15 cemetery records ................................................................................................................................................44 Objective 4: 3.1 Location ............................................................................................................................................................15 The cemetery is managed as a peaceful, spiritual and historical place, connected to the surrounding environment....................................................................................45 3.2 History ..............................................................................................................................................................17 Objective 5: All existing known graves and possible graves (identified by GPR) are 3.3 Cultural context ...........................................................................................................................................22 protected and acknowledged .....................................................................................................................45 4 The cemetery today ............................................................................................. 24 Objective 6: Cemetery is managed sustainably by the community for ongoing use 4.1 Current management .............................................................................................................................24 as a cemetery .......................................................................................................................................................45 4.2 Who is buried in the cemetery? ........................................................................................................26 Objective 7: Continue to improve knowledge about the history of the cemetery and who is buried there .................................................................................................................................45 4.3 Graves ...............................................................................................................................................................27 Objective 8: Cemetery is managed according to all legal requirements ........................45 4.4 Memorial Wall ...............................................................................................................................................29 Objective 9: Cemetery approach and entrance area is redesigned and upgraded .45 4.5 Geology and vegetation .......................................................................................................................31 4.6. Fences ...............................................................................................................................................................32 5. Actions ..................................................................................................................... 46 4.7. Access and roads .......................................................................................................................................32 6. Review of plan ....................................................................................................... 53 5. Legal framework ................................................................................................... 34 References .................................................................................................................... 55 5.1 NSW Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 ..........................................................................................34 Appendix 1: Burial and death registration check lists .................................. 56 5.2 Eurobodalla Local Environmental Plan (LEP) .............................................................................34 5.3 Heritage registers ........................................................................................................................................34 5.5 Cemeteries and Crematorium Act 2013 .....................................................................................35 4 Figure 1 Cemetery Point, Wallaga Lake, NSW ...................................................................7 Figure 22 Memorial wall - built 2014 ................................................................................ 29 Figure 2 David Hunter undertaking the Ground Penetration Radar Survey Figure 23 Cemetery survey plan showing all graves and possible graves Source: November 2014 ......................................................................................................................... 11 Healey (2015) [MAP INSERT] .................................................................................................. 30 Figure 3 Steps in developing the plan .............................................................................. 12 Figure