Results from the Department of Forensic Medicine in Glebe confirm bones found in Nambucca Heads last week are at least 100 years old and are possibly of Aboriginal descent.
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On Saturday morning, the new property owners met with Nambucca Aboriginal elders to talk and hold ceremony.
Terry Walker and Joanna Lockwood bought the Riverside Dr property in July after seeing it on the market.
“We were intending to move to Nambucca. We’ve been looking forward to it for years,” Terry said.
“We originally wanted to build on the site and give the house away to some very deserving people in Macksville.
“But now, we might just leave the old house there, and do it up.
There will never be any excavation work done there again.
Terry, Joanna and elders from the Buchanan mob met on Stuart Island on Saturday morning for coffee and a chat about the wishes of the custodial elders for the bones and the site on Riverside Dr.
“The elders said to us that all they want to do is put the bones back where they belong and rebury them, and put the midden back too,” Terry said.
“We fully support the custodial community of the Nambucca. We always have and we always will.
“We respect their elders and we will do whatever we can to assist them in being spiritually happy.”
The group then moved to the site where the bones were found, they formed a circle bridging the land and the water and joined hands to connect spiritually with each other, the land and the past.
"This place feels rich with life and tradition and its got so much significance,” Aunty Shaa said.
This place feels rich with life and tradition and its got so much significance.
- Aunty Shaa
“It re-energised the connectedness with my ancestors and the feeling of being so proud to be baga baga bari [clan-land kinship],” Michael Jarrett said.
After the ceremony was over, everyone involved hugged.
“It was just the most moving moment of my life,” Terry said.
“The elders were just so welcoming and accommodating.”
Terry and Joanna would support the custodians to do ceremony on the site in the future.
On Tuesday, the couple met with staff at the Office of Environment and Heritage.
Terry said after that meeting he now feels supported to continue with custodial guidance.