Sacred site protected after State govt purchase

By PETER ROWE

A sacred Aboriginal site will be protected after the NSW Government purchased the Broughton Vale Station, 75 kilometres east of Broken Hill in Far West NSW.

The 31,500-hectare Broughton Vale Station includes the Kukirrka or Burkes Cave, a sacred Aboriginal birthing cave used for more than 2,000 years, and other significant cultural sites containing artworks and engravings.

The cave and a nearby freshwater spring were also used by Burke and Wills during their 1860 expedition from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria, and as a Cobb and Co stopover between Broken Hill and Wilcannia.

Barkandji elder, Feona Bates, said it was important that National Parks purchase places like Broughton Vale as it allows us to look after the place.

“There are men’s and women’s sites on the property, and we need to protect them,” she said.

Fellow elder Dot Stephens said her community had not had access to Burkes Cave for many years.

“When I was told that the Minister had purchased Burkes Cave, I burst into tears,” she said.

The site is a spiritual place, a woman’s site, and it connects our country from Mutawintji to the Menindee Lakes and beyond.”