Uluru - Culture and History

In the language of the local Aborigines 'Uluru' is simply a place name which is applied to both the rock and the waterhole on top of the rock. 'Yulara', the resort located 21 km from the base of the rock, means 'crying' or 'weeping' (which is what happens when most people see their accommodation bill) in the language of the local Pitjantjatjara and Yunkunytjatjara peoples.

There is some scientific disagreement about the origins of Uluru. The most widely held theory is that both Uluru and Kata Tjuta are remnants of a vast sedimentary bed which was laid down some 600 million years ago. The bed was spectacularly tilted so that Uluru now protrudes at an angle of up to 85°. The rock is actually grey but is covered with a distinctive red iron oxide coating.

No one is sure when the first Aborigines moved into the area but the best evidence suggests that it was at least 10 000 years ago. The notes on the history of Uluru National Park explain the Aboriginal understanding of Uluru in the following terms: 'In the beginning the world was unformed and featureless. Ancestral beings emerged from this void and journeyed widely, creating all the living species and the characteristic features of the desert landscape you see today. Uluru and Kata Tjuta provide physical evidence of feats performed during the creation period. Anangu are the direct descendants of these beings and are responsible for the protection and appropriate management of these ancestral lands. The knowledge necessary to fulfill these responsibilities has been passed down from generation to generation from the Tjukurpa.' An excellent and more detailed account of the Aboriginal history of Uluru appears in Robert Layton's Uluru: An Aboriginal History of Ayers Rock published by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies in 1986.

The arrival of Europeans in the area was part of the exploration of the centre during the 1870s. Ernest Giles travelled through the area in 1872 and named both Lake Amadeus and Mount Olga. His original names, Lake Mueller and Mount Ferdinand in honour of Baron Ferdinand von Mueller (Giles' benefactor) were changed by the Baron to the names of the reigning King and Queen of Spain.

Giles returned to the area in 1873 but was beaten to Uluru by William Gosse who sighted the monolith on 19 July and named it after the Chief Secretary of South Australia, Sir Henry Ayers. Giles also was the first European to climb the rock which he did accompanied by an Afghan camel driver named Khamran.

The inhospitable nature of the terrain ensured that few whites ventured into the region. Pastoralists were defeated by the lack of water and the only whites to pass through the area were trappers, quixotic miners like Harold Lasseter, and the occasional missionary. The area was declared the Petermann Aboriginal Reserve in the early 1900s and this existed until the 1940s when road access (the first graded road was built in 1948), the possibility of gold in the area, and the tourist potential of Uluru, all showed how fragile the original reserve had been.

Ayers Rock was created a national park in 1950. In 1957 Bill Harney came to the area and in 1958, when the rock was combined with the Olgas to form the Ayers Rock National Park, he was appointed the first official curator. In 1959 a motel lease was granted near the rock and soon after an airstrip was built. In 1976 the Commonwealth Government set up the lease at Yulara and in 1983-84 the old tourist locations near the rock were closed down. In 1985 the title to the rock was handed back to the traditional owners who, in turn, granted the Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service a 99 year lease on the park. Today over 30 local Aborigines work in the park and the Board of Management is dominated by the traditional owners.

Although they are quite close to each other Uluru and Kata Tjuta have quite different geological and human histories. Where Uluru is a sedimentary rock which has been tilted nearly 85°, Kata Tjuta has only been tilted some 20°. They are made of a much coarser sediment and contain quite large pebbles of granite and basalt.

The name Kata Tjuta means 'head' and 'many' in the language of the traditional owners.

Artistically Kata Tjuta is noted for its engravings and its rock piles whereas Uluru is famous for its rock paintings. Both the engravings and the geometric rock piles are believed to have been created by the Spirit Ancestor during the Dreamtime.