Fact Sheet - Womens Site
According to oral tradition there was a women's ceremonial site not far from the Gummingurru site. This site is believed to be located at the end of Otto's Road approximately 1.5km from the main campsite (roughly the same distance as Gummingurru but on the opposite ridge). It is probable that this site was similar in function to Gummingurru, but was only accessible to women; it may also have contained stone rings or other stone arrangements
Photos: Approximate location of the Woman’s Site on Otto’s Road. |
The site has recently been threatened by development activity and it is likely that any physical evidence has been destroyed. The evidence for the site's existence comes from Aboriginal oral tradition as well as from two of the local residents.
Mrs Steinberg was married to one of the first settlers in Highfields. Her husband recalls that there was a women's site on the western edge of Highfields. Marlene Franke is the daughter of an original settler her father remembers seeing the women running down from Otto's Ridge to the creek to hide from white settlers. Both of these families have a long association with the area and have streets named after them.
Photo: The River |
Under the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 (Qld), a lack of physical evidence for a site's existence does not imply that the site is insignificant, nor does it reduce the need for the site to be protected.