On 6 June 2006 the Groote Eylandt archipelago was declared an Indigenous Protected Area. At the time, research by linguists and anthropologists proved that songlines, crucial to the survival of the Anindilyakwa People’s re-incarnationist culture, crisscrossed the sea between Groote and the mainland.  Many sacred sites exist in that particular seascape and are known by name.

Having already secured a mining exclusion zone, the ALC has been buoyed by notification indicating the likelihood of a National Heritage Listing of these seascapes and is now looking to secure Native Title rights over the seas to the west of Groote Eylandt.

This is the first time spiritual and ceremonial connections over the sea have ever been seriously considered a matter for national heritage recognition and potentially national recognition under the Native Title Act 1993 (Cwlth).  The ALC is working closely with the Groote Archipelago’s legal representatives on Native Title, the Northern Land Council, in order to secure ground-breaking, positive, legal recognition.

Other research projects, including a project to conduct baseline studies of the marine ecosystem, biosphere and aquatic morphology; and research by archaeologists into traditional rock art, burials and Macassan sites, are ongoing.