Drodzy Członkowie i Sympatycy
Następny nasz Biuletyn wydany w sierpniu 2004 dostępny jest _pod tym_ linkiem.
Propozycja zmiany nazwy Kosciuszko National Park zawarta w planie rozwoju i zarządzania opracowanym przez Aboriginal Working Group (2004 Draft Plan of Management Kosciusko National Park) wymaga naszej natychmiastowej akcji.
Oto wyciąg z tego dokumentu
(opracowany przez A. Dziubińskiego i z jego komentarzami [ pochyłym druk drukiem i kolorem ] ), zaś komentarze dotyczą treści wyszczególnionej czerwonym kolorem:
„This plan was prepared under NSW National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 to provide a framework of objectives, principles and policies to guide the long-term man agement of the broad range of values contained in the park.This framework will be translated into a suite of specific actions to be undertaken by the National Parks and Wildlife Services and other organizations during the life of this plan. The plan will determine on how the Park is managed for the next 20 years”
„In 2001 the NSW Government announced that it would undertake a detail review of the 1982 Kosciusko National Park Plan of Management”
„An independent Scientific Committee was established to provide advice to the Service on the value of the Park. This committee was asked to advice on natural, cultural, recreational, economical and social values of the Park”
„Community Forum was established in 2002 as an advisory group to assist in preparing the draft plan. This forum is made up of twenty one members”
[ There is no representative from the Polish community ]
Aboriginal Working Group was formed in 2002. This group identified key issues to be considered in the plan and strategies for addressing those, such as cooperative park management, heritage protection, and interpretation,employment opportunities and ways of acknowledging and celebrating Aboriginal people’s connections to the mountains. Members of the group prepared a statement which is part of the plan.
This statement on page iv reads: … we have a living, spiritual connections with the mountains…our people traveled from many directions over long distances to gather peacefully on the mountains for trade, ceremony, marriages, social events and to settle differences… These travel routes continue to be used and spoken today…
[ then it goes into apolitical statement ]
… European governance disrupted and destroyed our traditional ways. We were removed away from our country, and many people were herded onto missions…
[ and so on… this has nothing to do with the management of the Park…
The drat Plan is a 300 pages document dealing with all aspects of the Park life: Recreation, Areas of Exceptional Natural and Cultural Significance, Restoration and Protection, Park Zoning… and an Implementation Plan.]
A oto części Planu najistotniejsze dla polskiej społeczności w Australii.
Kosciuszko National Park with 690.425 ha is the largest national park in NSW. Was established in 1944. Currently there is one registered native title claim on behalf of Ngunawal people, covering a small area of the northern part of the park
[On page 21 under Key Desired Outcomes in the section Cultural values it clearly states ] :
The park is dual named and places in the park are named, where appropriate, with Aboriginal names
[ On page vii under Regional land management:]
“Naming” projects, including an investigation of Aboriginal names for places and dual naming of the park
[ There is another statement which says: Employment strategies for Aboriginal people are developed and implemented.
That could well mean there will be more Aboriginal people in the Park management, committees and general staff.
On page 88 under Policies and Actions, point 3, it reads]:
Undertake a Naming Project in cooperation
with relevant organizations to:
Retrieve and record Aboriginal names for landscapes features and the flora and fauna of the park.
[ On page 89 under Aboriginal Involvement, point 19, reads]:
As a symbolic means of recognizing Aboriginal people’s traditional connections to the area, support the dual naming of the park with an appropriate Aboriginal name.
[In the plan Implementation, Schedule 8, under paragraph 7.1.4.3 it says]:
Undertake a park naming project in cooperation with relevant organizations. Priority of implementation: high.
[ It does not say whether Polish organizations are relevant or not … I suppose the only organizations which are relevant are the Aboriginals.
In the plan Implementation, Schedule 8, under paragraph 7.1.14.19 it says ]:
Support dual naming of the park. Priority of implementation: high.
[ It does not say whether Polish organizations are relevant or not…I suppose the only organizations which are relevant are the Aboriginals.
In the plan Implementation, Schedule 8, under paragraph 7.1.14.19 it says]:
Support dual naming of the park. Priority of implementation: high.
[ In Chapter 7 People and the Landscape, on page 73, there is information about explorers ] :
„European exploration of the area commenced in the 1820's. Although the Polish zoologist, John Lhotsky, ventured into the Snowy Mountains in 1834, it would be another six years before Europeans trekked up into the highest country.
Steward Ryrie climbed above the tree line early in 1840, to be followed shortly afterwards by a second Polish explorer, Count Paul Strzelecki. Initially led by two Aboriginal guides, Strzelecki ascended and named the highest point in the mountains after the Polish general and patriot Thaddeus Kosciuszko in the March of that year”
The Draft plan is on exhibition from 17th of May till 17th of August 2004;
Comments should be forwarded to:
Kosciuszko National Park Plan of Management Review
Parks and Wildlife Division
Department of Environment and Conservation
PO Box 733
Queanbeyan NSW 2620
E-mail: kosciuszkopom@npws.nsw.gov.au
Submissions are very important as they have to be review and final plan approved by NPWS Regional Advisory Council. Final approval rests with the NSW Minister for the Environment.
What Polish Community should put into its submission?
1. No consultation had been done with the Polish community, which has lengthy, deep and emotional connection with the Park and Snowy Mountains. As it is stated in Chapter 7, People and the Landscape, on page 73.
„European exploration of the area commenced in the 1820s. Although the Polish zoologist, John Lhotsky, ventured into the Snowy Mountains in 1834, it would be another six years before Europeans trekked up into the highest country. Steward Ryrie climbed above the tree line early in 1840, to be followed shortly afterwards by a second Polish explorer, Count Paul Strzelecki. Initially led by two Aboriginal guides, Strzelecki ascended and named the highest point in the mountains after the Polish general and patriot Tadeusz Kosciuszko in the March of that year”
We have been attracted to these mountains since very early years of European settlement. The Snowy Mountains were and still act like a magnet to a wide range of Polish people: scientists, explorers, painters, artists, bushwalkers, skiers, visitors… It is the beauty, climate, the snow and the environment of the mountains which make us feel at home. We feel part of these mountains as we are mountain people in our hearts. We feel Aborigines of this mountains and the Park.
2. Geographical names are not just labels on maps or road signs, they express aspects of a history that might be forgotten by later generations. They reveal patterns of settlement, exploration and migration and reflect outside influence to our history. Geographical names are also tools for navigation and location. They should be clear, definite so that physical features can be easily identified. The proposal of the plan to dual name the Park does not provide any explanation of the significance and meaning of the second name. The only reason to Dual name the Park is political: it has to be an Aboriginal name.
„As a symbolic means of recognizing Aboriginal people’s traditional connections to the area, support the dual naming of the park with an appropriate Aboriginal name”.
3. NSW Government supports dual naming of places but it does also support protecting our heritage and the Kosciuszko name itself is an Australian icon, it is part of our history, it is our heritage. Polish community will submit documents to place the name of the Park, Kosciuszko National Park and other places named after Kosciuszko and Strzelecki on the heritage list to protect them from future tempting with it for some political gains or to get some sympathy from certain pressure groups.
4. Geographical names should not be dictated by trends, fashion or to suit current political system, pressure groups or a dictator The Management of the Park have the intention to dual name the Park to go well with the current political trends.
5. Polish community has been totally ignored in the process of developing the Draft Plan of the Management. It is long before the planning process started that the management of the Park secretly removed historic commemorative plaque tess from the Mount Kosciuszko. It replaced them with a plastic one and changed the wording on it. They say that long before Strzelecki climbed and named the Mountain there were some Aborigines and Sheppard visiting it. These remarks are derogatory in nature. Maybe there were…there are no prove of it. „Maybe there were some visitors on the Moon before Americans…but there is no prove of it, it is them that conquered it…maybe there were some visitors on Mount Everest before Hilary but there is no prove of it was Edmund Hilary who first climbed it”. These remark are derogatory in nature.
A respect should be given when respect is due but it is so hard for the current management of the Park to appreciate the great discovery of Paul Strzelecki. Information is manipulated and there are evident signs that current management wants to change the history of Australia. European settlement is described as „invasion”. Management of the Park should manage the Park not to manipulate the proud history of European settlement in this country.
It is against the current Park management Policy to promote one community or a group at the expense of others. And this is happening right now.
6. We will urgently approach the NSW Government to appoint an Australian with a Polish background to the NPWS Committee. We also call on equal treatment of our community with Aboriginal and provide employment opportunities within the Park and its management.
7. We demand that the current plan to dual name the Park be halted and remove from the list of implementation items. We demand that proper consultation be undertaken with the traditional custodians of the mountains: the Polish community.
8. There are numerous un-named geographical features in and around the Park and we will support naming them with a suitable people’s names regardless of their race, religion or, political affiliation. The only criteria to be applied when naming new features should be people’s involvements in the live, support and advancement of the Park and the region.
Alex Dziubinski
Od siebie chcę dodać, że istotnie, Strzelecki i grupa podróżujących z nim miała dwóch aborygeńskich przewodników, ale nie wykazywali oni najmniejszej chęci wdrapywania się na niedostępne wierzchołki gór i nawet kiedy wyraźnie im polecono rozłożenie obozu w dogodnym dla Strzeleckiego miejscu, kierowali się własnym zmysłem praktycznym i rozbili obóz w pobliżu wody, niżej.
Ta historia podważa tezę ważności szczytu Kościuszki dla Aborygenów w przeszłości. Ani nie był to dobry punkt orientacyjny w terenie, ani miejsce na obozowisko, ani miejsce, gdzie można było znaleźć żywność!.
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Zarząd Mt Kosciuszko Inc. opracowuje list, który zostanie wysłany do Dept of Environment and Conservation.
Zachęcam naszych członków do wysyłania własnych listów protestacyjnych utrzymanych w formie „submission”.
Drugą część Biuletynu 04/2004 Mt Kosciuszko Inc. można przejrzeć _tutaj_