So you have a "connection to country"

even though you have never been to the area in question?

I have no doubt at all that there are people who feel a very strong "connection to country" - the region in which they were born.  I know people like myself who also feel a connection to the country our ancestors came from. I felt that connection before I had ever been there. There are people I know who are refugees who long to go "home" even though the country they were born in is not the one it now is.

But I wonder about the "connection" felt by others, or which is claimed to be felt. There have been some stories in the media recently about developments being halted because people who claim Aboriginal heritage say that their culture is in danger of being destroyed or has been destroyed. One "connection" is a development outside our territorial waters. The complainant has never been there but she apparently "talked" to some whales and they told her they did not like it.  The courts have upheld the complaint and a billion dollar development will not go ahead for now. There will likely be an appeal. (Let it be said here that I would prefer the whales to be left in peace but I wonder about anyone who claims to talk to whales.)

There were some sand dunes in this state which were removed in order to make an access route. The access is required for a number of reasons but the complainants claim it is country which has particular significance for them and should not have been disturbed. One of the complainants admitted to someone I know (and who is working on the issues) nobody in their family had ever visited the area in question.

Burial grounds are more difficult. They have found one in a new housing development. Work was going smoothly, houses had been built and plans approved until the remains were found. At first it was claimed they were the site of a "massacre" but that has been shown not to be the case. Now the "descendants" of those buried there are claiming the land cannot be built on because the spirits will be disturbed. They say there will always be trouble, that the place will always be unhappy if the site is disturbed. It is only the recent discovery of these remains which have brought about these claims. Until now there have been no problems encountered with building on what is now claimed to be a "sacred" site.

 Those claiming all these things are making demands. They are being heard. Their legal fees are being paid by others. They have a voice.

Look at the photographs of some of these people and I wonder how some of them can claim to be "Aboriginal". Why do they feel so strongly about these things but not so strongly they have not visited the area in question and do not know about what is there? There are no fences there but it seems they want to erect one.