Uranium mining has operated on Mirarr land for more than 25 years. Mirarr opposed the establishment of uranium mining on their lands, and continue to oppose further development of both the Ranger and Jabiluka uranium mines.

Many Mirarr do not read or write. Mirarr established Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation, an incorporated body, to assist them to manage a balance between sustainable development and traditional practice on their land, and to direct income from mining royalties towards the establishment and maintenance of outstation infrastructure and essential services.

Mirarr Country

The term “Traditional Owners” is of recent European coinage. Anthropologists have traced Mirarr connection to their country to at least 40,000 B.C. Mirarr have been the custodians of their country since time immemorial.

There are no strict lines or borders between Mirarr country and the estates of neighbouring Aboriginal clans. Mirarr country encompasses the Ranger and Jabiluka Mineral Leases, the mining town of Jabiru and parts of Kakadu National Park, including the wetlands of the Jabiluka billabong country and the sandstone escarpment of Mount Brockman.

In accordance with customary law and tradition, Mirarr are guided in exercising their right to speak for country by their obligations and responsibilities to other Bininj affected by Mirarr decisions about Mirarr country. Bininj have strict obligations to prevent the destruction of country and desecration of sites.

Mirarr have successfully claimed nearly all of their traditional country under the Aboriginal Land Rights (NT) Act 1976, and therefore hold beneficial freehold title to their country via the Kakadu and Jabiluka Land Trusts. Unfortunately the township of Jabiru was excised from the area owned by the Kakadu Land Trust in the late 1970’s. As a result, Mirarr have lodged a common law Native Title Claim over the township of Jabiru and surrounds.

The parts of the Mirarr estate occupied by the uranium mines have been leased by the Commonwealth Government to a mining company, and the parts that are within the boundary of Kakadu National Park are leased to the Commonwealth Government agency, Parks Australia, and managed under a joint management agreement with other affected Bininj clans.

Mirarr Language and Culture

There are many languages spoken by different Aboriginal groups in Australia. Mirarr speak an average of three Aboriginal languages plus English. Of these languages the Gundjeihmi language is the dominant tongue.

Mirarr believe that they have a responsibility to teach traditional law and responsibility for country to future generations. Aboriginal people hold ceremonies which include dance and song as part of cultural activity that portrays and reinforces traditional relationships with country, family and other clans. Aboriginal people have a kinship system of relationships using skin names. These skin names identify responsibilities in social and family relationships.

There are areas of Mirarr land which are sacred. These are known as sacred sites and require Mirarr protection. They are the places where ancestral creation beings journeyed, acted and rested. Many sites have restrictions on access. If sacred sites are disturbed, Mirarr believe that there will be fatal and cataclysmic consequences for all people living in the region.