Return Lee Point to the Care of Larrakia People

A collage of photos from our movement including young people wearing the t-shirts and holding our signs, Aunty June Mills delivering our petition to the NT government, Senator Lidia Thorpe receiving our Federal petition, Kat and Suki of the NT Greens meeting with us

We all have special places we care for. For Larrakia people, we are especially connected to the places that hold our Creation Stories, where our Ancestors are buried, our places of Healing and Ceremony and the Sacred Lands we’ve cared for - for generations.

People who created the colony of Australia stole, extracted resources, and built their wealth from these special places. As a result, Aboriginal people have been prevented from protecting and nurturing our ancestral lands, life-giving forests and sacred waterways. Today, many of these places are damaged - which impacts all of us.

Lee Point in Darwin is one of these special places. Lee Point is a sacred area of Larrakia Dreaming, Ceremony and history that is currently under threat of being destroyed by Defence Housing Australia to build 800 houses for the military and First National Real Estate O'Donoghue's profits.

With trees older than the colony of Australia, Lee Point is a beautiful coastal bushland teeming with life, song and Spirit. For millennia, Larrakia people have cared for the lands surrounding Lee Point. Generations of Larrakia families have brought our children to Lee Point to hunt, fish and be with family, to learn who they are and how to care for Country.

Today, Larrakia people are working to protect Lee Point after people in government gave Defence Housing Australia permission to demolish our sacred lands and stop us from passing our culture onto the next generations.

Our goals are to protect Larrakia Country and culture, stop Defence Housing Australia from desecrating our sacred lands at Lee Point and ensure the NT and Federal governments return Larrakia lands to Larrakia people.

For Larrakia people to look after these places based on thousands of years of knowledge, we need Country returned to our care. When this happens our people, Larrakia people, can again fully enact our responsibility and guardianship of the lands we all care about.

BUY A T-SHIRT

Designed by young Larrakia artist, you can support us by buying one of our campaign t-shirts and spreading the word

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MAKE A DONATION

Our campaign is powered by hundreds of volunteer hours, donations and grants. You can keep us going by making a small donation

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Since we began this work to return Lee Point to the care, ownership and protection of Larrakia people, we have collectively:

  • Sent hundreds of emails and made dozens of phone calls to decision-makers urging them to protect this sacred land and stop the clearing of ancient and sacred trees

  • Worked with young Larrakia artist Taleena Lui-Villaflor to design a t-shirt that hundreds of people are wearing to share our message far and wide

  • Distributed flyers and yard signs in key electorates in the Northern Territory 

  • Met with the Deputy Chief of Staff for Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to put the pressure on Labor politicians to do what is right and return Larrakia land to Larrakia people

  • Met with NT Attorney-General and Minister for Parks & Wildlife Marie-Clare Boothby to discuss the return of our sacred and ancestral lands

While the work is far from over, it is important to reflect on and celebrate all that we have achieved together in building the wave of people power needed to return Lee Point to Larrakia people. 

All we want is to be able to care for that land as it has cared for us - for thousands of generations.

This campaign is being led by young Larrakia women from three of the eight Larrakia family groups - Laniyuk (Mills), Sharna Nakata (Batcho) and Cyan Sue-Lee (Cubillo). If you're a Larrakia young person and you'd like to get more involved, please get in touch at laniyuk@returnleepoint.com 🐊