Uluru: Reclaiming Creation Stories

Heart and Soul

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that the following program contains images and voices of people who have died.

From next year tourists will not be allowed to climb Uluru in the Australian outback. It comes after years of campaigning by the owners of the site, the Anangu Aborigines.

The Anangu date their origins back 60,000 years and claim a deep and ancient link between the rock and their spirituality. Climbing has violated that, they say; it's like tourists clambering over temples or sacred remains. For them the rock has played a big part in their ceremonies and rites of passage. Rebecca Henschke meets the Anangu to hear just how strong a role Uluru plays in their Dreamtime stories passed on from their ancestors which provide the basis for their spiritual lives and uncovers her own family connection to the rock.

Photo: Pamela Taylor, an Anangu elder and a traditional owner of Uluru Credit: BBC