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Australia hands back sacred land to Aborigines
16:33 GMT, Wednesday, 9 December 2009
--bbc.co.uk--

The government of Australia's Northern Territory has handed back sacred land to a local Aborigine tribe. The Emily and Jessie Gaps Nature Park, near Alice Springs, is significant for the Eastern Arrernte people as they have a strong attachment to the land. The park contains totems of a race of ancient giant caterpillars, to which the people traces its origins. The park will still be open to the public. The authorities have reached over 30 similar land use deals.

The BBC's Phil Mercer in Sydney says the park has great spiritual and cultural significance because it tells the story of how the caterpillars once shaped the land. There are economic benefits to the handover too, our correspondent says. Under a joint management plan, the land will be leased back to the authorities and will continue to be a nature park. The park is already a popular tourist site and some Aborigines work there as tour guides or rangers.

Forty Eighters
-wiki-

The Forty-Eighters were Europeans who participated in or supported the revolutions of 1848 that swept Europe. In Germany, the Forty-Eighters favored unification of the country, a more democratic government, and guarantees of human rights. Disappointed at the failure of the revolution to bring about the reform of the system of government in Germany or the Austro-Hungarian Empire and sometimes on the government's wanted list because of their involvement in the revolution, they gave up their old lives to try again abroad. Many emigrated to the United States, Canada, and Australia after the revolutions failed. Many fought in the American Civil War and Latin American Wars of Independence. They included Germans, Czechs, Hungarians, and others. Many were respected, wealthy, and well-educated; as such, they were not typical migrants. A large number went on to be very successful in their new countries.