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The Ngaut Ngaut Interpretive Project: Providing Culturally Sustainable Online Interpretive Content to the Public
The Ngaut Ngaut rock shelter was the first “scientifically” excavated site in Australia in 1929, but it has much deeper meanings for local Indigenous people.
In conjunction with the other River Murray and Mallee Aboriginal people, the Mannum Aboriginal Community Association Inc. (MACAI) shares stewardship responsibilities with the State of South Australia for this iconic place, known as Devon Downs in the archaeological literature.
Many Indigenous groups around the world are struggling to come to terms with the issues an online environment poses to the presentation of the Indigenous past and cultural present. Much online information concerning Ngaut Ngaut is viewed by MACAI as incomplete or inaccurate at best, and overtly wrong and offensive at worst. This IPinCH case study aimed to address the issue of a lack of culturally sustainable[1] interpretive content online through a community-based approach to the production of interpretive materials. As such, the content produced by this project incorporated approved expressions of community perceptions of tangible and intangible aspects and values of a significant cultural landscape. This case study, which was jointly undertaken by the Mannum Aboriginal Community Association Inc. (MACAI) and Dr. Amy Roberts, focused on the interpretation of the Ngaut Ngaut heritage complex in South Australia.
[1] The term “culturally sustainable” is used to refer to the production of materials that are deemed by the community to do no harm and which at the same time allow the community to share and impart useful and essential information to the public and other community members.
In 2014, a long-standing conflict over Grace Islet, a well-documented Coast Salish burial islet on the south coast of British Columbia, reached a boiling point as the landowner began construction of a private residence on this important cultural site.
The diversity of the world’s cultures, both past and present, is one of the key attractions of travel. Governments, the tourism industry, and communities work hard to create unforgettable cultural products and experiences.
Many Indigenous groups around the world are struggling to come to terms with the issues an online environment poses to the presentation of the Indigenous past and cultural present.
Erin Hogg, IPinCH fellow and PhD student at SFU, chats with Isobelle Campbell, Chair of the Mannum Aboriginal Community Association, and Amy Roberts, Senior Lecturer at Flinders University, about their IPinCH-supported project in South Australia.
In conjunction with the other River Murray and Mallee Aboriginal people, the Mannum Aboriginal Community Association Inc. (MACAI) shares stewardship responsibilities with the State of South Australia for this iconic place, known as Devon Downs in the archaeological literature.
FINAL PROJECT REPORT: The Ngaut Ngaut Interpretive Project — Providing Culturally Sustainable Online Interpretive Content to the Public
