__NOTOC__ Daguragu, previously also known as Wattie Creek by the

Gurindji people The Gurindji are an Aboriginal Australian people of northern Australia, southwest of Katherine in the Northern Territory's Victoria River region. Language and culture Gurindji is one of the eastern Ngumbin languages, in the Ngumbin-Yapa s ...

, is a locality in the

Northern Territory of Australia The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

located about south of the territory capital of Darwin and located about south-west of the municipal seat in

Katherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and Catherina, other variations are feminine Given name, names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria ...

. Daguragu community is situated on Aboriginal land held under perpetual title; it was also formerly a

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

until its amalgamation into the

Victoria Daly Shire The Victoria Daly Regional Council is a local government area in the Northern Territory of Australia. The shire covers an area of and had a population of 3,138 in June 2018. History In October 2006 the Northern Territory Government announced ...

on 1 July 2008. As of 2006, Daguragu Community Government Council provided "municipal and other services to the township and surrounds of

Kalkarindji Kalkaringi (formerly Wave Hill Welfare Settlement, also spelt Kalkarindji ) is a town and locality in the Northern Territory of Australia, located on the Buntine Highway about south of the territory capital of Darwin and located about south ...

(formerly known as Wave Hill Welfare Settlement) and to Daguragu, a community settled on land under the ''

Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976 The ''Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976'' (ALRA) is Australian federal government legislation that provides the basis upon which Aboriginal Australian people in the Northern Territory can claim rights to land based on traditi ...

"''. The total council area was about . Kalkaringi was within a gazetted township area, with the land being leasehold under the auspices of the

Northern Territory Government The Government of the Northern Territory of Australia, also referred to as the Northern Territory Government, is the Australian territorial democratic administrative authority of the Northern Territory. The Government of Northern Territory wa ...

. Daguragu's boundaries and name were gazetted on 4 April 2007. It is named after the Aboriginal community located within its boundaries where in 1975, then Prime Minister

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...

presented the title to the land granted to the

following the events of the

Wave Hill walk-off The Wave Hill walk-off, also known as the Gurindji strike, was a walk-off and strike by 200 Gurindji stockmen, house servants and their families, starting on 23 August 1966 and lasting for seven years. It took place at Wave Hill, a cattle stati ...

in 1966. As of 2020, it has an area of . Daguragu Community was amalgamated into the Victoria Daly Shire on 1 July 2008. Daguragu is located within the federal division of Lingiari, the territory electoral division of Stuart and the local government area of the

Victoria Daly Region The Victoria Daly Regional Council is a local government area in the Northern Territory of Australia. The shire covers an area of and had a population of 3,138 in June 2018. History In October 2006 the Northern Territory Government announced ...

. The

2016 Australian census The 2016 Australian census was the 17th national population census held in Australia. The census was officially conducted with effect on Tuesday, 9 August 2016. The total population of the Commonwealth of Australia was counted as – an incre ...

reported that Daguragu had a population of 242 people of whom 233 () identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.

Heritage sites

The Wave Hill walk-off route was listed on the

Northern Territory Heritage Register The Northern Territory Heritage Register is a heritage register, being a statutory list of places in the Northern Territory of Australia that are protected by the Northern Territory statute, the ''Heritage Act 2011''. The register is maintained b ...

on 23 August 2006 and on the

Australian National Heritage List The Australian National Heritage List or National Heritage List (NHL) is a heritage register, a list of national heritage places deemed to be of outstanding heritage significance to Australia, established in 2003. The list includes natural and ...

on 9 August 2007. There are also seven other associated sites on the National Heritage List, of which five are in the Kalkaringi area and two within Daguragu.

2020 Wave Hill native title

native title Aboriginal title is a common law doctrine that the land rights of indigenous peoples to customary tenure persist after the assumption of sovereignty under settler colonialism. The requirements of proof for the recognition of aboriginal title, ...

claim was lodged in 2016 by the

Central Land Council The Central Land Council (CLC) is a land council that represents the Aboriginal peoples of the southern half of the Northern Territory of Australia (NT), predominantly with regard to land issues. it is one of four land councils in the Northern Te ...

on behalf of the

traditional owner Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...

s, as there were mining interests in area covered by

Wave Hill Station Wave Hill Station, most commonly referred to as Wave Hill, is a pastoral lease in the Northern Territory operating as a cattle station. The property is best known as the scene of the Wave Hill walk-off, a strike by Indigenous Australian w ...

's pastoral lease. On 8 September 2020, the

Federal Court of Australia The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court of record which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indic ...

recognised the native title rights of the Gurindji people to of the Wave Hill Station, allowing them to receive royalties as compensation from resource companies who explore the area. Justice Richard White said that the determination recognised Indigenous involvement (Jamangku, Japuwuny, Parlakuna-Parkinykarni and Yilyilyimawu peoples) with the land "at least since European settlement and probably for millennia". The court sitting took place nearly south of Darwin, and descendants of Lingiari and others involved in the walk-off celebrated the determination. The owners will participate in the mining negotiations and exploration work, from which royalties may flow in the future, which may allow people in the Kalkarindji and Daguragu communities to create their own businesses. Just as important is the right to hunt, gather, teach and perform cultural activities and

ceremonies A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin '' caerimonia''. Church and civil (secular) ...

, and allow the young people to connect with their land.

Heritage sites

2020 Wave Hill native title

See also

References

Further reading