Chairman of the Juukan Gorge Legacy foundation Burchelle Hayes was recently presented an art piece depicting the sacred Juukan Gorge site four years after its destruction by Rio Tinto.
The artwork, created by artist Owen Parry, showed the Juukan Gorge in its original state before it was destroyed, emphasising the profound consequences of the devastation on the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura (PKKP) people and humanity more broadly.
The display will be prominently shown at the Juukan Gorge Legacy foundation office, serving as a visual reminder of the sacred site the PKKP peoples have lost.
"It's a great piece of work that Owen has committed to, it's been a long time coming as well" said Mr Hayes.
"We had to go through the right approval process and to look some of the public art work that Owen was able to take on…and create such a wonderful piece of art and then to gift that to the foundation is fantastic.
"From the destruction of Juukan Gorge it certainly has had an impact across not only the Puutu Kunti Kurrama but also the wider community as well."
Artist Mr Parry's creation was inspired by a photograph for which he obtained permission from the PKKP community. He utilised metal to sculpt the terrain of the region, and inscribed the names of Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura on the edge of the canvas.
"This is another version of just having another photograph and that's all they have of course and this takes it to a 3D level," he said.
"Which inspires a lot more feeling rather than a flat 2D photography and hopefully people can get a bit more reference and resemblance to what it used to look like."
Mr Parry found deep spiritual significance in presenting the display to Mr Hayes, as he experienced a profound sense of loss for the Elders while creating it.
"It was a case of reinventing and recreating that very meaningful place to the custodial group, it was something I felt a bit of heart putting into it and to get it out is a bit satisfying," he said.
The Juukan Gorge Legacy foundation was established after Rio Tinto destroyed the cave which had been used by Indigenous people for at least 40,000 years and retained strong cultural significance to the people of that area.
The destruction of the cave was approved under section 18 of Western Australia's notoriously racist and one-sided Aboriginal Heritage Act of 1972. The Act was subsequently replaced by a new law, which was then rescinded after a backlash and an amended version of the 1972 Act was returned.
The United Nations recently raised its concerns about the current WA Aboriginal heritage protection system, arguing it may breach the prohibition of racial discrimination and Indigenous people's rights under international law.
"We wanna make it a positive legacy created from the devastating event on our country, the The Puutu Kunti Kurrama people will never heal from that destruction, it's like that forever and we wanna make sure that never happens again," Mr Hayes said.
"We are tirelessly working with mining opponents including Rio Tinto so that we are able to through our co management process have a greater understanding of what impact mining will have on our country.
"But giving us ourselves the Traditional Owners the level of comfort that we and our sites will be preserved and protected.
"We are not opposed to mining, we have publicly said that, we just want to make sure not only do we have a seat at the table, but that we have a voice around that table to speak our minds and when we say no, a no is a no for us."
