Fissures in the rock: rethinking pride and shame in the moral terrains of Uluru

Abstract

Joint management strategies of national parks are extending the pedagogical arm of reconciliation. We explore how this process is operating in Uluru–Kata Tjuta National Park. Through our concept of moral terrains, we examine whether the embodied knowledge derived from travelling, witnessing, climbing, walking, touching and being touched by Uluru opens moral gateways between indigenous and non‐indigenous people. Our argument relies upon ethnographic materials derived from semi‐structured interviews conducted around photographs taken by recently returned non‐indigenous metropolitan Australians. Our results explore how moral gateways are either opened or closed through the emotions of pride and shame.