Speaker 1: Welcome to Spotlight Advanced.
Speaker 2: I'm Bruce Gulland and I'm Liz Wadde. Spotlight uses a
Speaker 2: special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people
Speaker 2: to understand no matter where in the world they live.
Speaker 1: This is a story that Australia's native people tell.
Speaker 3: Many years ago. The earth was very different. There were
Speaker 3: no mountains or hills. There was no sea. Then life
Speaker 3: came suddenly. These were the ancestors. They were spirits in
Speaker 3: the form of animals, plants, and people. The ancestors traveled
Speaker 3: across the earth. Because of them, the seas filled with water.
Speaker 3: Where they stepped, hills and mountains appeared. One of these
Speaker 3: mountains grew in the middle of the desert. Many of
Speaker 3: the ancestors lived on this mountain. The local people were
Speaker 3: called the Ananu. They discovered the place and lived by
Speaker 3: it too. Today they call this special place Uluru.
Speaker 1: Today's Spotlight is on this special place, Oolaroo.
Speaker 2: What you have just heard is a story about the
Speaker 2: beginning of the world, told by the Onagnu people. The
Speaker 2: Onagnu are one of Australia's native people. They have lived
Speaker 2: in Australia for almost sixty five thousand years. The land
Speaker 2: is very important to the Onagnu. It is filled with
Speaker 2: their history. They even talk about the land as if
Speaker 2: it were a person. They call it my grandmother or
Speaker 2: my grandfather. For the Onagnu, the place they live is
Speaker 2: not just a place, it is part of who they are.
Speaker 1: Oolaroo is one of the most important places for the Unagnw.
Speaker 1: It is a huge sandstone rock in the middle of
Speaker 1: a flat desert. From the ground to the top, it
Speaker 1: is three hundred and forty eight meters high and it
Speaker 1: is nine point four kilometers around. There are no other
Speaker 1: rocks or mountains around it. It has a dark red color,
Speaker 1: but when the sun shines on Ularu, the rock seems
Speaker 1: to change color. It is beautiful to see. It may
Speaker 1: even seem like magic. The Unagnu believe Ularu is sacred
Speaker 1: or holy. For them, it shows how the world was
Speaker 1: created and it is a part of their beliefs.
Speaker 2: But Oolaroo is not just important to the Onagnu. In
Speaker 2: the sixteen hundreds, European settlers sailed to Australia. After a
Speaker 2: long time, they found Oolaroo. They did not know about
Speaker 2: the Anagnu people and they did not understand the Onagnu religion.
Speaker 2: The Europeans believed Oolaroo was just another very beautiful place.
Speaker 2: Over time European settlers conquered Australia, they called Oolaroo by
Speaker 2: a different name. They called it Ayer's Rock, and many
Speaker 2: of them came to the place so that they could
Speaker 2: see it.
Speaker 1: In nineteen thirty six, people began traveling to Ularu to
Speaker 1: see it. They were tourists. Many of these people wanted
Speaker 1: to climb the rock. At this time, Oolarou was in
Speaker 1: a national park and climbing it became part of visiting.
Speaker 1: Many Australians were very proud of Oolooroo. It was one
Speaker 1: of the most well known places in their country. It
Speaker 1: became one of Australia's national symbols. It was an example
Speaker 1: of what made their country beautiful and special.
Speaker 2: But watching tourists climb Oolaroo was painful for the on Agnew.
Speaker 2: By Australian law, the on Agnew did not own the land,
Speaker 2: but they still believed in their own law. When tourists
Speaker 2: came to climb Oolaroo, they were walking on places special
Speaker 2: to the on Agnew. In a way, the tourists were
Speaker 2: even breaking on Agnew law, and tourists were destroying part
Speaker 2: of the rock. Pamela Taylor is on Agnew. She told
Speaker 2: the BBC.
Speaker 4: Tourists are like insects, like ants. They climb up and
Speaker 4: down every day. Their shoes are scraping away at the rock.
Speaker 4: Little by little, their path is now clear from far away.
Speaker 4: It was not supposed to be like that.
Speaker 1: For many years, the UNAGNU asked people not to climb Oolaroo.
Speaker 1: They put signs at the bottom of the rock to
Speaker 1: tell tourists why it was important, but people continued to climb. Finally,
Speaker 1: the UNIGNW decided that their law should govern Oolaroo. It
Speaker 1: was too important to them. The UNAGNU talked with the
Speaker 1: Australian government. They wanted their land back. In nineteen eighty five,
Speaker 1: they received their land, but they agreed to manage the
Speaker 1: land with the government.
Speaker 2: But the honorednew also wanted to stop people climbing Oolaroo.
Speaker 2: The government did not know what to do. Many people
Speaker 2: did not want to stop the climbing on the rock,
Speaker 2: and tourism brought in a lot of money. Some people
Speaker 2: believed the Unagnew could even benefit. Maria Blias is a
Speaker 2: reporter for Northern Territory News. She writes that it is
Speaker 2: difficult to make money in that area.
Speaker 5: She says, creating jobs for the an Annu can only
Speaker 5: be positive. It would bring a lot of money to
Speaker 5: people who need it. We could address safety issues from
Speaker 5: the climb, and we could employ more guides so that
Speaker 5: people obey an annew law. I can only see a
Speaker 5: chance to make a lot of money that we should explore.
Speaker 1: But the Unagnew believe closing the climb will not drive
Speaker 1: people away. They say it will make Ularu more interesting.
Speaker 1: They plan to teach people about their culture. They want
Speaker 1: to tell tourists stories about Ularoo. Sammy Wilson is the
Speaker 1: board chairman of the Uluru Katajuta National Park. He told
Speaker 1: the Conversation.
Speaker 6: Visitors do not need to worry that there will be
Speaker 6: nothing for them with the climb closed. There is so
Speaker 6: much else in the culture here. We have a lot
Speaker 6: to offer in this country. There are so many other
Speaker 6: smaller places that are culturally interesting that we can share.
Speaker 6: Instead of feeling disappointed, tourists can experience the place with
Speaker 6: the Anangu. They can enjoy that they learned so much
Speaker 6: about our culture.
Speaker 2: And telling people about their culture has done a lot
Speaker 2: for the Aignu. The Onagnu could not close the Oolarou
Speaker 2: climb at first, but they began telling people about their
Speaker 2: culture and this started to change people's minds. Tourists began
Speaker 2: to respect the Onignu and they stopped climbing Oolaroo when asked. Then,
Speaker 2: in twenty seventeen, the Onignu asked to close Oolaroo again.
Speaker 2: They argued powerfully for their rights. Many other people joined
Speaker 2: the Onagnu, and this time the national park where Oolarou
Speaker 2: sits agreed. The decision made some people angry, but Oolarou
Speaker 2: closed the climb in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 1: Do you think it was right to close Oolaru to
Speaker 1: climbing or do places like this belong to everyone? You
Speaker 1: can leave a comment on our website or email us
Speaker 1: at Radio at Radio English dot net. Can also comment
Speaker 1: on Facebook at Facebook dot com slash Spotlight Radio.
Speaker 2: The writer of this program was Dan Chrisman. The producer
Speaker 2: was Michio Ozaki. The voices you heard were from the
Speaker 2: United Kingdom, the United States, and New Zealand. All quotes
Speaker 2: were adapted for this program and devoiced by Spotlight. You
Speaker 2: can listen to this program again and read it on
Speaker 2: the internet at www dot Radio English dot net. This
Speaker 2: program is called Oolaroo, a special.
Speaker 1: Rock visit our website to download our free app for
Speaker 1: Android or Apple devices. We hope you can join us
Speaker 1: again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye that