Foreword
Ngaut Ngaut is one of Australia’s very special places. The Aboriginal people of the Mid Murray, Riverland and Mallee value Ngaut Ngaut as a place of great cultural significance. It is a place intimately tied to our Dreaming, a place where the “old people” lived and a place that preserves the environment. It is also a place that demonstrates our ongoing connection to our country and provides us with a sense of belonging. Our community values Ngaut Ngaut as a place where we can teach our children about their culture. We also acknowledge that Ngaut Ngaut tells stories about the development of archaeology in Australia and the role that this site plays in educating non-Indigenous Australia and the world about the deep and dynamic past of all Indigenous Australians. My father, the late Richard Hunter, former chairperson of the Mannum Aboriginal Community Association Inc., developed Ngaut Ngaut as a cultural tourism site. His hope was that the tours conducted by community members would help Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people gain a better understanding of each other. He is greatly missed by his family and the broader community. The work we have undertaken as part of our case study with IPinCH, and all related projects, was conducted to further my father’s aim to promote cross-cultural understanding through education, and all interpretive products have been designed to complement the cultural tours conducted by the Mannum Aboriginal Community Association Inc. In particular we wish to expand the general public’s knowledge about Ngaut Ngaut to include the cultural aspects of the site that we value, in addition to the more widely known archaeological history. We feel that it is important the public understands the diversity and complexity of our culture, and it is for this reason that we share stories relating to group boundaries, Dreamings, oral histories, totems and rock art, just to name a few. These stories tie us to the land and river and all that they provide.
--- Isobelle Campbell – October 2014 Chairperson of the Mannum Aboriginal Community Association Inc.
