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Snowmelt

Snowmelt
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Aug 15, 2016
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Perth, Western Australia
“Mining company was given permission to blast Juukan Gorge cave, which provided a 4,000-year-old genetic link to present-day traditional owners”

Commercial imperatives matter
is the true stamp for what has happened here. A narrow purpose indeed.

In Australia, we have “Sorry Day” in NAIDOC Week, which is 5th July to 12th July this year. But as I research this event which happened in Western Australia on 24th May, 2020, I feel more than sorry. It is gut-wrenching to be part of a dominant culture that has pursued its goals so ruthlessly. Perhaps it is just the continuation of a tradition the Annunaki (Asimoss) have been doing for hundreds of thousands of years on our planet and others, but in the days of the reveal we let our blindfolds slip from our eyes.

Our state capital city, Perth, which is my home, runs on the engine of mining companies exploiting our mineral resources in our large state, most notably in the Pilbara region, in north-western Australia (about 300km inland from Karratha, which is a port on our northwest coast). We have a fly-in/fly-out culture for better or worse, which allows the mining employees and supporting industries to have rotational stints in our remote and isolated zones, whilst maintaining their families in the metropolitan city.

rio tinto company banner.jpg
Rio Tinto_helmet.jpg


One of those global mining companies, Rio Tinto, which we host in our city, recently did the abhorrent act of blasting two sacred Indigenous sites for the cold expedient of making more room at their Brockman 4 Iron Ore mine site. The caves were blasted over a weekend (and remember, regional COVID lockdowns were in place in this state, so there would have been very few people in the vicinity of the mine or Tom Price, the nearest town).

This has been widely reported in global news, and here are links to reports in The Guardian newspaper, and also Ancient Origins website.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/may/26/rio-tinto-blasts-46000-year-old-aboriginal-site-to-expand-iron-ore-mine

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/27/a-sacred-site-showing-46000-years-of-continual-occupation-and-its-completely-legal-to-blow-it-up (First Dog on the Moon cartoon – highly recommended to click on this link)

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jun/05/rio-tinto-blames-misunderstanding-for-destruction-of-46000-year-old-aboriginal-site

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/may/31/rio-tinto-apologises-to-traditional-owners-after-blasting-46000-year-old-aboriginal-site

https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-general/aboriginal-rock-shelter-0013771

Juukan Gorge cave_2.jpg Jukaan Gorge cave_3.jpg

The location of the Rio Tinto Mine and the Juukan Gorge in the Hamersley Ranges, Pilbara, Western Australia is about 60km from Tom Price, also close to the Karijini National Park (outside COVID times, a great tourist drawcard). The Juukan Gorge cave sites (two) had been the site of human interaction and use for at least 46,000 years, and in fact, had continued occupation including through the last Ice Age (last glacial period circa 11,700 years ago, ending with the Younger Dryas period). The Juukan Gorge caves had been used as a campsite by indigenous people (Kurrama people) within living memory of their elders.

First Dog on the Moon cartoon posted Wednesday 27th May (3 days after incident) makes this statement: “You with your skyscraper boardrooms full of Indigenous art, you can fund all the scholarships and Indigenous pathways to success that you want – none of that changes that at the heart of what you do lies cold, white disdain for anything other than profit.”

His cartoon includes a bubble indicating “Oldest Living Culture on Earth” with a bundle of sticks of dynamite right beside it.

His cartoon also names the nameless Rio Tinto executives: Simon Thompson – Chairman; J.S. Jacque – CEO; Jakob Stansholm – CFO. These people need to be named. Although the blasting was backed by legal permissions, the crime of being ethically and morally blinkered has happened here.

The executive directly responsible for the blasting act, Mr Chris Salisbury (Chief Executive, Iron Ore) completely astonished me when I heard his cop out:

“We can’t keep looking backwards,” Salisbury told interviewer Hamish Macdonald. “We want to repair our relationship with traditional owners.” He, however, said that the company had “accepted accountability”. (My comment: corporate speak in action.)

Chris Salisbury Rio Tinto.jpg
Chris Salisbury, Chief Executive - Iron Ore, Rio Tinto Australia

Jared Field, McKenzie Fellow at University of Melbourne, School of Mathematics and Statistics (of aboriginal descent) stated: “Our universities fail stupendously when they don’t teach ethical and moral responsibility.” @JM_Field5

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/05/rio-tinto-blasting-a-sacred-aboriginal-site-should-make-scientists-ask-am-i-being-a-good-ancestor

Rio Tinto had recent consultations (in March this year) with representatives of local indigenous groups, and cannot therefore exculpate themselves using the excuse of ignorance of the significance of the heritage sites.

The current Western Australian Aboriginal Affairs Minister (state government) Mr Ben Wyatt said he was unaware of the blasts or concerns prior to the incident. To be ignorant while holding such a sensitive position in this land peppered with historic and valuable sites of aboriginal heritage beggars belief.

In fact, the company has said their relationship with the PKKP people (Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura Aboriginal Corporation) goes back three decades. The devastating loss and depth of grief felt by Burchell Hayes, a local PKKP spokesman, was so great, he felt scared to break the news to his family elder, an aunt, fearing her reaction. He said the loss is “soul destroying”.

Whilst the heritage status of the site was in place for many years, the true age of the site was discovered in 2014, by an archaeological team led by Dr Michael Slack, which gave their report to Rio Tinto in 2015. This was no doubt part of due diligence on the part of the company to fund this survey, but it’s a shocking aberration that the findings were ignored. In that one survey, over 7,000 artefacts of human use of the caves were collected, including tools and grinding stones, and thousands of bones from middens (rubbish tips which build up over centuries when people eat and discard their waste in a pit or midden). The finds included sacred objects, including a plait of human hair coming from the heads of more than one individual, and proven by DNA testing to directly relate to the living descendants in the area today. This find was dated at 4,000 years old. The finds were kept at the nearby Brockman Ore mine site, however, after the blasts Chris Salisbury at first dismissed the importance of knowing their whereabouts, only coming back with the information they were kept at the mine, later. One of the things that added great significance to the heritage value of the Juukan Gorge cave site was that it had a flat floor, allowing a build-up of some metres of fine sand to accumulate over thousands of centuries, which could therefore be more easily sifted for artefacts by archaeologists. Other heritage sites in the area routinely strike rock base at 30cm depth.

Archaeology dig in 2014_Juukan Gorge cave.jpg

In 2015 after receiving the archaeological survey report, Rio Tino funded a documentary film called Ngurra Minarli, meaning “Our Country”. Incredibly, the double standard appears to fall on deaf ears.

Consent for the caves’ destruction to increase the mine site was given by the then Minister for Aboriginal Affairs in 2013, one year before the archaeological survey updated the known history of the site. This was based on outdated but still legal legislation from 1970s (Aboriginal Heritage Act) which has already been under government review since 2012. Obviously people in government departments who hold responsibility to protect and secure these sites have not acted quickly enough to makes changes to the legislation, allowing this act of destruction to be carried out quietly while people’s attentions were distracted by COVID 19 issues worldwide.

Revised legislation which was already drafted but not yet concluded will provide options to appeal or amend agreements (made historically before the high value and significance was recognised) that allowed for destruction of heritage sites. The new legislation would also allow for mutual consent between parties, which would shorten legal processes (similar to mediation).

Protestors outside Rio Tinto.jpgProtestors outside Rio Tinto Perth head office.jpg

People in Perth ignored COVID-19 social distancing to protest the act of destruction outside the Perth city offices of Rio Tinto. As usual the impacts of corporate greed and corporate blindness to human values go deep throughout society – white and black, First Nation, Indigenous, and everyone else.

Personally, I want to make my protest, but do not believe large gatherings or public groups in dissent are appropriate right now, therefore I have made this post in the hope that readers here can inform themselves. I stand with the disenfranchised, the downtrodden, and the people hurting on this issue.

Aboriginal protestors in Perth.jpg
 
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therium

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Nov 1, 2018
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Gah. This is imbalance. There must be balance in all things. We can't suck all the resources of the world dry and expect to still be able to live here without major problems. Many aquifers used for drinking water are already poisoned by fracking waste chemicals pumped into the fracking wells. These chemicals then spread through the aquifer. One aquifer in Michigan is about 200 miles wide by 300 miles long (north/south).

Seek balance.
 
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Linda

Sweetheart of the Rodeo
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Jul 20, 2016
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WTH - kudos to the person who named them - no need to stay in shadows if what they are doing is Ok, right? I had to read this twice because I just could not grasp this level of graft, greed, and ability to think annihilation is just fine.
 
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Pucksterguy

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Jul 28, 2016
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Nothing new. These folk are cabal. They tried to eradicate the natives here too. All for profits. Until they get booted they will continue on devastating the planet.
 
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Snowmelt

Snowmelt

Snowmelt
Staff member
RT Supporter
Board Moderator
Aug 15, 2016
5,325
13,885
Perth, Western Australia
Gah. This is imbalance. There must be balance in all things. We can't suck all the resources of the world dry and expect to still be able to live here without major problems. Many aquifers used for drinking water are already poisoned by fracking waste chemicals pumped into the fracking wells. These chemicals then spread through the aquifer. One aquifer in Michigan is about 200 miles wide by 300 miles long (north/south).

Seek balance.
You're so right. In my paid job, I worked in the oil and gas sector, administratively supporting them while they introduced fracking into this country. So I have first-hand eye-balled what goes on. I am so glad I never accepted a position with Rio Tinto or BHP Iron Ore here in WA - jobs that are pegged as the creme-de-la-creme. In fact, (no-one has told me this except my higher self) but I can understand the spiritual reason why I could no longer continue in these types of industries - ever - meaning, the door to employment with them slammed shut on me and has stayed shut for five years plus, now. I could no longer ride that slippery slope and still do the amount of internal growth that I need as a forerunner.
 

Pucksterguy

Elder Entity
Jul 28, 2016
1,992
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Who cares about history? BOOM!

Once it is gone, it is gone. Cannot be rectified.
These types of things are very deliberate to destroy the past, they also prohibit future use so one cannot return to it.
 
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Snowmelt

Snowmelt

Snowmelt
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Aug 15, 2016
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Perth, Western Australia
OK, I've just heard some very strong information (no pun intended) on a Zoom interview including Steven and Evan Strong - the main protagonists bringing the Uluru Ceremony on 21st December to the rest of the world.



It's not loading due to an Adblocker. So type in the normal Facebook address then add this to the url: watch/live/?v=3487850927977833&ref=watch_permalink

(Hint: the normal Facebook address is https://www.facebook.com/)

It is at the 46.00 minute mark. (All of the interview is fascinating, pertaining to the ceremony, but this information is specifically about the destruction of the Juukan Gorge cave site, earlier this year - per this thread.) Steven Strong maintains that the Cabal/Deep State knew the significance of the Caves it destroyed in relation to the Pleiades! The Aboriginal tribes of the area knew it as the Cave of the Seven Sisters!
 
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