Fresh evidence threatens bridge
The Australian
27Aug 98By ANDREW McGARRY
NEW anthropological evidence backing Aboriginal claims of "secret women's business" could lead to another ban on construction of the Hindmarsh Island bridge, it was claimed yesterday.
The evidence, contained in a new study, had the potential to be the "matinee jacket" of the Hindmarsh Island case, according to the author.
Anthropologist Diane Bell said her 700-page study found there was an ongoing oral tradition and strict rules among the Ngarrindjeri women, who protested against the building of the bridge, claiming the Hindmarsh Island was a sacred site. Her study found the Ngarrindjeri women had good reason to restrict the knowledge of their traditional beliefs, in what became known as "secret women's business", she said.
"I think back to another Royal Commission, the finding of a matinee jacket at the foot of Ayers Rock, which focused our attention on the Lindy Chamberlain case. Will Ngarrindjeri Wurruwarrin occasion a re-opening of the royal commission? (into Hindmarsh Island)" Professor Bell said.
"If there was another inquiry I would be obligated to (give evidence on behalf of the Ngarrindjeri women) – I have been entrusted with these stories."
The South Australian Government said it had to take notice of new information, but remained committed to building the $6.4 million bridge.
The claim of secret women's business, a belief opposed by another Aboriginal group, sparked a four-year saga including a royal commission and four inquiries.
Lawyer for the Ngarrindjeri people, Stephen Kenny, said yesterday he had been instructed to ask South Australian attorney-general Trevor Griffin to reconsider an authorisation under the State Heritage Act allowing work on the bridge to begin. Mr Kenny said the original authorisation had been flawed, because it was not able to consider evidence contained in Ngarrindjeri Wurruwarrin, the study by George Washington University's Diane Bell.
"It is people's stories now supported by historical evidence written by white men, basically, which has been the complaint all along – that we couldn't prove the stories were true," Mr Kenny said.
"We've now been able to turn that around with time, time we didn't have before the royal commission – for example, I met these women a week before the start of it (the royal commission), that's hardly the time to start doing historical research."
© News Limited 1998
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