Nitmiluk

Nitmiluk National Park lies in the Northern Territory, some 244 kilometres south-east of Darwin and 23 north-east of the town of Katherine, and its northern boundary adjoins Kakadu National Park. Its central feature is Nitmiluk Gorge, a deep gorge cut by the Katherine River into ancient sandstone over millions of years, made up in fact of thirteen linked gorges with rapids and falls between them. During the dry season, from April to October, the waters settle and travelling by canoe or boat is the usual way to visit. In the north of the park are the Edith Falls, or Leliyn.

The area was protected as a reserve in 1962 and became Katherine Gorge National Park in 1963. The Jawoyn land claim was lodged in 1978 and set off a bitter confrontation with part of the non-indigenous population of Katherine, who feared the gorge would be closed to the public. On 10 September 1989 the land was returned to the Jawoyn, who immediately signed a 99-year lease to the Northern Territory government to manage the park jointly and renamed it Nitmiluk, "place of the cicada dreaming" in the Jawoyn language.

It was, after Uluru in 1985, one of the first Australian cases in which an indigenous people recovered ownership of their territory while it kept its status as a national park, and it has been cited as the best-negotiated lease agreement in the country. The Jawoyn Association takes part in planning, employment and the interpretation of cultural heritage, and tourism is today one of the main Jawoyn employers. The landscape carries a strong ceremonial charge: Bolung, the rainbow serpent, and Nabilil, the creator being whose death gave rise to the river, both reside here. The Jatbula Trail follows the route travelled by generations of Jawoyn between the gorge and Leliyn, and bears the name of Peter Jatbula, a decisive figure in his people's struggle for land rights.