A massive area of Cape York has been handed back to the Traditional Custodians!

 

2,188 square kilometres of land on the eastern side of Cape York, around the Lockhart River region, has been officially handed over to the Uutaanlanu and Kuuku Ya’u peoples. The land will be managed by the Uutaalnganu Aboriginal Corporation and the Kaapay Kuuyun Aboriginal Corporation.

Read more: Daintree Rainforest Has Been Handed Back to the Traditional Custodians

The land handed over is just a small portion of the much larger 79,000km of land currently being contested in the Cape York United #1 claim, a claim that was registered seven years ago by the Traditional Custodians and covers more than half of Cape York. 

Celebrations broke out outside the Supreme Court in Cairns today after the decision was announced. 

‘Today can only happen because of the hard work and determination of a lot of people’ said Justice Debra Mortimer as she handed down the decision. 

‘What a long time you have waited for this … I am sorry it has taken so long,’ she said.

 

Feature photo by Ian Cochrane