Ayer's Rock

Ayer's Rock is the name that is given to the largest rock in the world, which is approximately 500 km from Alice Springs in Australia. It is also sometimes called Uluru, although there is a lot of controversy about whether that is the right word to use. It is a popular tourist spot, being the 4th most popular tourist spot in Australia, with more tourists than residents all year round. Many people go to walk up the rock.

Ayer's Rock or Uluru - which is right?

The rock was originally named Ayer's Rock after a British explorer that discovered it. Later, aboriginals protested it, claiming that it should be called Uluru, based on the aboriginal word for it. This was accepted and hence it became known as Uluru.

However, there are actually 7 different aboriginal groups that claim that Ayer's Rock is a part of their land (their "dreaming"). Each of these 7 aboriginal groups has a different name to Ayer's Rock. Only 1 group refers to it as "Uluru".

Therefore, you are offending the majority of aboriginal people by referring to it as "Uluru". Most of them, other than the 1 group who calls it "Uluru", would prefer for you to call it "Ayer's Rock", because that is at least neutral. For aboriginal groups who do not claim to own Ayer's Rock, they do not care what you call it.

Who really owns Ayer's Rock

As with many central areas, there is a great dispute as to which aboriginal group traditionally owns Ayer's Rock. The same kinds of arguments exist about who owns Alice Springs, or for that matter Sydney or Melbourne. The fact of the matter is that there were no borders in traditional aboriginal life, and hence they overlapped each other quite a lot. A spot like Ayer's Rock, which was a great big rock that they could imagine various great stories about, was important to many people, hence if they went past it in their wanderings, then it belonged to them.

The decision to award Ayer's Rock to Uluru was not based on who had the best argument, but rather it was based on one group arguing that it should be returned to aboriginal people, and that, as a part of it, we should not call it Ayer's Rock anymore. However, the issue is so complex that the Australian government does not want to get into it, and would prefer to just keep it as Uluru and be done with it.

Are you meant to climb Ayer's Rock?

Prior to return to aboriginal ownership, it was perfectly acceptable to climb Ayer's Rock. Since aboriginals took over, there are no great signs that say that it is disrespectful to climb Ayer's Rock. Certainly, there is no dispute that there are some areas in Ayer's Rock that are sacred to various aboriginal peoples, but is there a problem with climbing it?

Historically, aboriginals did not climb Ayer's Rock because it was a very difficult climb and they might fall and die if they tried. It was considered to be very foolish and indeed stupid to climb it. In addition, it was simple enough to walk around it if you wanted to see what was beyond it, as the whole land nearby was flat, so there was no point in climbing it so that you could see.

In other words, you are not in actual fact offending aboriginal people by climbing Ayer's Rock. Many aboriginal people climb it too, and they are not punished for doing so. They simply regard it as pointless and indeed rather stupid to do it. Many people have died while climbing it, even with the safety rails in place.

The whole thing about it being offensive to climb Ayer's Rock is a myth that was put in place primarily to stop people from dying. When closely questioned about it, aboriginals will agree that it is a myth. Nonetheless, since the myth was invented, a lot less people have died, so in many ways it has worked. It has also helped people to discover the things around the rock, as they walk around it, seeing it as aboriginals originally did. This is very pleasing to traditional aboriginal people, who themselves regard that as the best part of the rock.