For many years the advice to visitors has been that the Traditional Aboriginal Owner's of Uluru would prefer people not to climb because of Uluru's cultural significance.
The climbing path is about 1.6km long and can be dangerous. The first part has a chain to hold onto but it is a very difficult climb. 35 people have died climbing Uluru (many due to heart attacks). The climb takes about two hours to complete.
The Uluru climb is often closed due to strong winds and high temperatures.
The Aborigines, like the Christians, had their own stories that explained the origin of the world, themselves and all that make up the world that provided Aboriginal people with a strong and close association with the land for thousands of years. These stories gave unity and purpose to Aboriginal societies in the past and are important today in maintaining their identity. During the Dreaming, ancestral spirits came to earth and created the landforms, the animals and plants. The stories tell how the ancestral spirits moved through the land creating rivers, lakes and mountains. Today we know the places where the ancestral spirits have been and where they came to rest. There are explanations of how people came to Australia and the links between the groups throughout Australia. There are explanations about how people learnt languages and dance and how they came to know about fire.
The Aboriginal dreamtime story of The Rainbow Serpent
Aerial view of Uluru
Ayer's Rock Dreamtime Creation Story
In the creation period, Tatji, the small Red Lizard, who lived on the mulgi flats, came to Uluru. He threw his kali, a curved throwing stick, and it became embedded in the surface. He used his hands to scoop it out in his efforts to retrieve his kali, leaving a series of bowl-shaped hollows.
Tjati tries to retrieve his kali
Unable to recover his kali, he finally died in this cave. His implements and bodily remains survive as large boulders on the cave floor.
The Bell-Bird brothers, were stalking an emu. The disturbed animal ran northward toward Uluru. Two blue-tongued lizard men, Mita and Lungkata, killed it, and butchered it with a stone axe. Large joints of meat survive as a fractured slab of sandstone.
Mita and Lungkata's Emu Meal
When the Bell-Bird brothers arrived, the lizards handed them a skinny portion of emu, claiming there was nothing else. In revenge, the Bell-Bird brothers set fire to the Lizard's shelter. The men tried to escape by climbing the rock face, but fell and were burned to death. The gray lichen on the rock face is the smoke from the fire and the lizard men are two half-buried boulders.
The Body of Lungkata
Click on this link below to create your own bunyip!
Pastel red to burgundy and spinifex to gold We've just come out of the Mulga where the plains forever roll. And Albert Namatjira has painted all the scenes, And a shower has changed the lustre of our land. And it's raining on the Rock, In a beautiful country, And I'm proud to travel this big land, As an Aborigine.
[Chorus] And it's raining on the Rock What an almighty sight to see, And I'm wishing on a postcard that you were here with me.
Everlasting daisies and a beautiful desert rose Where does their beauty come from heaven know. I could ask the wedge-tail but he's away too high, I wonder if he understands it's wonderful to fly.
[Chorus]
It cannot be described with a picture, The mesmerizing colours of the Olgas. Or the grandeur of the Rock Uluru has Power!
[Chorus]
So what did you think of this upbeat Aussie song? Comment on this post and tell us your thoughts. You could even try to make up a creative poem or even a cool song if you have some spare time to show to the rest of the class!
Six species of native mammals are known to have been living near Uluru; according to recent surveys there are currently 21. Aṉangu, the Aboriginal people of Uluru, acknowledge that a decrease in the number has implications for the condition and health of the landscape. Moves are supported for the reintroduction of locally extinct animals such as Malleefowl, Common Brushtail Possum, Rufous Hare-wallaby or Mala, Bilby, Burrowing Bettong and the Black-flanked Rock-wallaby.
The bat population of the park comprises at least seven species that depend on day roosting sites within caves and crevices of Uluru and Kata Tjuta.
The park has a very rich reptile fauna of high conservation significance with 73 species having been reliably recorded. Four species of frog are abundant at the base of Uluru and Kata Tjuta following summer rains.
Aṉangu continue to hunt and gather animal species in remote areas of the park and on anangu land elsewhere. Hunting is largely confined to the Red Kangaroo, Bush Turkey, Emu and lizards such as the Sand Goanna and Perentie.
Thorny Devil
Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park flora represents a large portion of plants found in Central Australia. A number of these species are considered rare and restricted in the park or the immediate region. There are many rare and endemic plants in the park.
The growth and reproduction of plant communities rely on irregular rainfall. Some plants are able to survive fire and some are dependent on it to reproduce.
Flora in Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park can be broken into the following categories:
Punu – trees
Puti – shrubs
Tjulpun-tjulpunpa – flowers
Ukiri - grasses
Trees such as the Mulga and Centralian Bloodwood are used to make tools such as spearheads, boomerangs and bowls. The red sap of the bloodwood is used as a disinfectant and an inhalant for coughs and colds.
There are several rare and endangered species in the park. Most of them, like Adder's Tongue ferns, are restricted to the moist areas at the base of the formation, which are areas of high visitor use and subject to erosion.
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands.The Anangu people are the Aboriginals who live in the central Australian desert, near Uluru. The language of the Anangu is Tjukurpa and Pitjantjatjara.
The Anangu say "Tjukurpa is our law, culture, history, and our world view all bundled into one. Our ancestors have lived around Uluru (Ayers Rock) for many thousands of years, maintaining Tjukurpa, the law of the ancestors. Our grandparents taught us our Tjukurpa, just as their grandparents taught them. Tjukurpa is the foundation of Anangu life."
The Anangu believe their spiritual feelings live inside Ayer's Rock.
It is important that all Australians preserve and value Uluru just as our Indigenous Australians do.
Aboriginal dancing near Uluru
Pitjantjatjara word definitions:
Anangu – Aboriginal person arn--ahng--oo
Uluru – Ayers rock oo -- loo – roo
Tjukurpa – creation law djoo--kurr--pa
Mala – Rufous Hare Wallaby mahr--la
Kantju – water hole at Uluru kahrn -- djoo
Mutitjulu – water hole at Uluru moor-ti--djoo--loo
Uluru is famous for it's amazing range of colours. The colour changes have more to do with the effects the earth’s atmosphere has on the sun’s rays than with the geological make-up of the rock. When the sun is low in the sky the atmosphere acts as a giant prism, splitting the sun’s rays into a colour spectrum.
A video showing the changing colour of Ayer's Rock
The light reaching Uluru (and also the nearby Kata Tjuta National Park) near sunrise and sunset is mainly from the RED end of the spectrum and its reflection from the rock gives the spectacular colour. The reddish-brown colour of the rocks and surrounding sands enhance these effects.
Uluru's range of colours
HOMEWORK: Have a look above at the following video about the colours of Uluru.
What have you learnt from this video?
What sorts of colours can Uluru change to? What is the natural colour of the rock? You might have to use the internet to research this answer. Type your answers in a comment to Miss Ingram & Mrs Zomer on this post.
Hello Grade 4's, Isn't this video of Uluru brilliant! Your aboriginal paintings were astounding and we were very impressed with all of the bright colours and fabulous ideas.
Uluruis a massive sandstone rock in central Australia that is sacred to the Aborigines of the area, who are known as the Anangu (Pitjantjatjara people).
Uluru is the traditional name for the rock, Ayers Rock is the name given by European explorers in 1873 after the South Australian Premier at the time, Sir Henry Ayres. Uluru is considered one of the great wonders of the world and one of Australia's most recognizable natural icon.
A Video about the history of Uluru
Uluru is located in the Northern Territory, central Australia. It is situated in the Kata-Tjuta National Park, which is about 340km away from Alice Springs.
Uluru stands 346 metres high and has a circumference of 8 kilometres.
It is a bare rock with no vegetation, trees or plants so this makes it very mysterious and beautiful. Uluru is often called a monolith, but is in fact an inselberg, which is a hard rock remainder of a mountain after the softer part has eroded away. An inselberg is an isolated hill or small mountain that stands out from a surrounding flat plain. The word means 'island mountain'. The temperature in Uluru can reach up to 46 degrees celsius.
Sun at Uluru
Anangu cave paintings at Uluru
Aerial view of Uluru
The base of the rock however is nourished by rain runoff from Uluru and is a fertile oasis of water pools, rich greenery and a variety of wildlife.
Ayers Rock contains a variety of interesting cracks, canyons, caves and natural formations, all of which the Anangu attribute to the activities of ancestral beings at the creation time. The shallow caves at the base of the rock contain ancient carvings and paintings. These paintings tell the story of Dreamtime, the Aboriginal story of how the world was formed. Preserving and protecting these paintings are vital to respecting Aboriginal's culture.
Click on the link above to do a quiz about Uluru from what you have learnt so far. Good luck!
Hi Grade 4,
We hope you are enjoying learning about Uluru! If you have any problems with the homework below or have any questions, comment on this post and Mrs Zomer or Miss Ingram will reply back and help you.
HOMEWORK: Create your own Aboriginal dot painting about something that is special or meaningful to you. This might be a picture of your family, your pets, your favourite activity, favourite animal or landscape. You may like to include pieces of nature, such as bark from trees or fallen leaves. You can use paint, finger-paint, textas and pencils. What do you think about respecting and preserving Aboriginal' paintings?
