The Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 is legislation passed by Queensland Parliament, commencing in April 2004 to effectively recognize, protect and conserve Aboriginal cultural heritage in the State of Queensland^[2]

A key feature of the Act is its creation of a new legal responsibility or statutory 'duty of care' requiring all people across the State to respect, value and protect the State's Aboriginal cultural heritage, at risk of prosecution and substantial fines should they fail to take all reasonable and practical measures to ensure their activities do no damage^[3]

Overview[link]

In proclaiming this statute, Queensland Parliament^[4]:

• created a statutory duty of care applying to all land users in Queensland, regardless of tenure;

• recognized any pre-existing agreements landholders may have entered into with Aboriginal owners;

• established a register of Aboriginal cultural heritage to be protected, plus database holding information and details of known Aboriginal cultural heritage places

• proscribed fundamental principles requiring areas and objects of significance to Aboriginal people to be protected and managed in accordance with relevant Aboriginal laws, customs or history

• provided for Aboriginal peoples to play an active role protecting Aboriginal cultural heritage by enabling particularly interested groups to form State approved Aboriginal cultural heritage bodies to whom cultural heritage inquires are referred

• provided for land users and Aboriginal peoples to be able to negotiate, agree, enter into, and, if desired, register with the State, cultural heritage management plans proscribing how Aboriginal cultural heritage is to be managed in particular places

• removed an earlier requirement under former Aboriginal cultural heritage legislation that a permit first be obtained before cultural heritage studies or management plans could be undertaken.

Definition of Cultural Heritage[link]

The Act defines Aboriginal cultural heritage as being^[4]:

• any significant Aboriginal area within Queensland;

• any significant Aboriginal object from Queensland; or

• any place within Queensland containing in situ evidence of archaeological or historic significance to Aboriginal peoples prior occupation of the State

A Minister who was responsible for implementing the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 (i.e. then Queensland Natural Resources and Water Minister Craig Wallace) gave example of the kinds of things he believes to be Aboriginal cultural heritage as follows:

"Cultural Heritage relates to significant Aboriginal .. objects and places, or archaeological or historic evidence of indigenous occupation of an area ...These can be rock shelters, carved or scarred trees, engravings, paintings, shell middens, fish traps, grinding grooves, earth and stone arrangements and other artifacts." ^[5]

Statutory 'Duty of Care'[link]

In proclaiming the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003, Queensland Parliament intended to provide 'blanket' statutory protection to ALL of Queensland's Aboriginal cultural heritage, irrespective of whether or not that heritage is known toland users.^[3]

To achieve this end, Parliament created a formal, statutory 'duty of care' by which anyone carrying out any activity on any land (including freehold) anywhere in Queensland is required by law to take:^[3]

"..all reasonable and practicable measures to ensure their activity does not harm Aboriginal cultural heritage".

The risk both individuals and corporations take should they fail to take care, and so damage Aboriginal cultural heritage (even secret or sacred heritage embedded into the landscape unknown to the land user), is legal prosecution (coordinated by Queensland Government's cultural heritage unit), and possible fines of up to $75 000 for individuals, or $750 000 for corporations.^[3]

Coverage[link]

After 4½ years of heritage protection under the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003, the Minister responsible for the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 1993 announced ^[5]:

• the cultural heritage databases holds approximately 23 000 records of known indigenous cultural heritage places

• the State had approved 22 indigenous cultural heritage bodies to assist protect cultural heritage (to whom cultural heritage inquiries are referred)

• for each of 2007–2008 & 2008–2009 the State has made a total of $100 000 per annum in grants available to assist pay some of the costs of studies updating the cultural heritage database, plus some of the operating costs of the approved Aboriginal cultural heritage bodies.

See also[link]

• Ban Ban Springs - First place put on Queensland's Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Register
• Ngarrabullgan - Second place to be put on to Queensland's Aboriginal Cultural Heritage register

External links[link]

• Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 (Qld) Accessed 3 March 2008
• ATNS (Agreements, Treaties, Negotiated Settlements Project Database Entry on Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 (Qld) Accessed 3 March 2008
• Queensland Cultural Heritage Coordination Unit web page Accessed 3 March 2008
• Queensland Cultural Heritage Coordination Unit's (2007) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Heritage Map of Queensland.Accessed 25 February 2009
• Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Water's Summary of the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 (Qld)Accessed 3 March 2008

References[link]

Look up aborigine or aboriginal in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Aborigine or aboriginal may refer to:

• Indigenous peoples
• Aborigines (mythology) in Roman mythology

Aboriginal peoples[link]

• Indigenous Australians
  • Australian Aborigines
    • Tasmanian Aborigines
    • Victorian Aborigines
  • Torres Strait Islanders
• Indigenous peoples of Oceania
  • Pacific Islanders
    • Polynesians
    • Melanesians
    • Micronesians
• Aboriginal peoples in Canada
  • First Nations
  • Inuit
  • Métis people (Canada)
• Indigenous peoples of Europe
  • Celts
  • Germans
  • Scandanavian
  • Caucasian peoples
• Native Americans in the United States
• Native Hawaiians
• Indigenous peoples of the Americas
• Scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in India.
• Guanches of Tenerife, Spain
• Bushmen and pygmies of southern Africa
• Taiwanese aborigines
• Indigenous peoples of the Philippines
• Ainu people of Japan

People in Austrilia are ABORIGINAL!

See also[link]

• Negrito of Asia
• Indigenous peoples of the Americas

External links[link]

• Texts on Wikisource:
  • “Aborigines,” a short story by Anton Chekov
  • "Aborigines". Collier's New Encyclopedia. 1921. 
  • "Aborigines". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. 

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Aboriginal peoples in Canada
First Nations · Inuit · Métis This article is part of a series
History Paleo-Indians Pre-colonization Genetics Integration  · Conflicts First Nation  · Inuit
Politics Crown and Aboriginals Treaties  · Health Policy Royal Commission Indian Act · Politics Organizations · Case law Indian Affairs Canada
Culture Aboriginal cultures Aboriginal personalities
Demographics AB (FN, Métis)  · Atlantic CA  · BC MB  · ON  · QC  · SK Territories  · Pacific Coast
Linguistics Aboriginal languages Inuit languages Indigenous Languages Aboriginal syllabics Inuit grammar
Religions Inuit mythology Traditional beliefs
Index Index of articles Aboriginal · First Nations Inuit  · Métis · Stubs
Wikiprojects Portal Aboriginal Canadian portal WikiProject Indigenous North Americans First Nations Commons · Wiktionary Inuit Commons · Wiktionary Métis Commons · Wiktionary
v t e

National Aboriginal Day is a day recognizing and celebrating the cultures and contributions of the First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples of Canada.^[1] The day was first celebrated in 1996, after it was proclaimed that year by then Governor General of Canada Roméo LeBlanc, to be celebrated on June 21 annually. Most provincial jurisdictions, however, do not recognise it as a statutory holiday.^[1]

Overview[link]

The day of recognition came about after a series of calls for such a celebration. In 1982, the National Indian Brotherhood (now the Assembly of First Nations) called for the creation of a National Aboriginal Solidarity Day to be celebrated on June 21. Slightly more than a decade later in 1995, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples recommended that a National First Peoples Day be designated. Also in that same year, a national conference of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people chaired by Elijah Harper, titled The Sacred Assembly, called for a national holiday to celebrate the contributions of Aboriginal peoples to Canada. June 21 often coincides with the summer solstice.^[1]

National Aboriginal Day is now part of a series of Celebrate Canada days, beginning with National Aboriginal Day, and followed by St-Jean Baptiste Day on June 24, Canadian Multiculturalism Day on June 27, and concluding with Canada Day on July 1.^[1]

External links[link]

• Indian and Northern Affairs' National Aboriginal Day website

• Regina NAD Celebrations Inc website

References[link]