Sacred Aboriginal 'directions tree' bulldozed to make a highway
Aboriginal people and Australian activists are at loggerheads with the Victoria state government after a sacred tree was cut down.
The Djab Wurrung âdirections treeâ was bulldozed by state authorities on Monday to make way for a AU$157m highway duplication.
At least 50 protesters were arrested on Monday night after the tree was felled. According to Victoria police, 40 were arrested for refusing to leave a restricted area and a further 10 were arrested and charged with offences relating to obstructing police.
Activists from the Djab Wurrung Heritage Protection Embassy have camped at the duplication site since 2018 to protest against the destruction of culturally significant trees.
Zellenach Djab Mara, a member of the embassy, told The Age that the tree was planted during a time when each child from the tribe had their own tree. When a child is born, their placenta was mixed with the seed of the tree, and the tree would become the childâs âdirection treeâ.
He described the felled tree as a âvery spiritual tree, very moving and powerfulâ, adding the the Australian government did not have âconsent or jurisdictionâ to remove it from the site.
State authorities defended the removal of the tree and said it had not been designated as a culturally significant tree.
Jacinta Allan, Victoriaâs Minister for Transport Infrastructure, said in a statement: âThe tree that was identified in media reports today, usually referred to as the âFiddleback Treeâ, has been involved in multiple cultural surveys involving Djab Wurrung elders and has not been assessed as being culturally significant.
âIn fact, the tree has been assessed by an arborist as being âmaybe over 100 years oldâ and is highly unlikely to pre-date European settlement.â
She said a âdirections treeâ that was identified was located almost 10 kilometres away from the site and will not be removed.
But Michael Kennedy, a lawyer representing landholders in the area and the protesters, told Australian broadcaster ABC that the tree felled on Monday was culturally significant and accused the state authorities of lying.
So if you liked the Avatar film, maybe you’d appreciate how it feels when your sacred ancestor trees are torn down by the very government who want to Treaty with us. Absolutely gutted and feel the pain of our ancestors right now 😞 pic.twitter.com/sWt3k36jb3
— Lidia Thorpe (@lidia__thorpe) October 26, 2020
He said a report commissioned by VicRoads, which runs the transport network in the state, identified the tree as a directions tree.
âTo say itâs not the directions tree is a lie,â he said. âThis tree is one of the most magnificent trees one could see. Itâs regarded as a spiritual tree and for them just to destroy it⦠itâs just scandalous.â
State premier Daniel Andrews insisted his government had deeply engaged with traditional owners about upgrading the highway at the site, and said legal agreements and settlements had been reached.
âThere has been direct consultation with the 12 families who essentially comprised that traditional owner group. And we have done as we said we would do,â he said.
âThis is a dangerous road. It needs to be built. We promised we would. We have been respectful. Weâve engaged. And weâve been true to the spirit of the agreements that had been entered into.
âIf we waited around to get 100 per cent buy-in on this, if we waited around for an absolute consensus, then that deadly stretch of road would go unimproved and we would see more people dying,â he told ABC.
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