Before you get naked, have you checked if you are you on sacred land? (Patreon)

I have a story I want to share with you.

I recently went swimming at a waterhole which was a sacred women’s place for the Aboriginal Dharawal people. We respected the land by doing an acknowledgment of country and then went for a skinny dip. We had an amazing day, connecting to the land and our naked bodies but after we had left we caught wind of a few whispers of it being disrespectful to be naked in these sacred waters.

Of course I took immediate responsibility and did my research. I couldn't find any information on this particular location but I did find something else that caught my attention.

"Playboy model who stripped at sacred mountain says 'Maoris aren't Indigenous'"

"Woman Filmed Dancing Topless on Uluru Causes Outrage in Australia"

"'Buff on the Bluff' craze on culturally significant Bluff Knoll leads WA tour operator to call for nude photo ban"

These headlines all have one thing in common, they were said to have disrespected the traditional owners of the land.

The little research I found, it says aboriginals were known to embrace nudity but that doesn't mean we should when we step onto sacred sites. 

Even though we are fighting to have nudity normalised, and enjoy life in the bluff, a small amount of respect goes a long way. I'm not sharing this with you to project my shame or to tell you that you've done something wrong but instead share this new knowledge and education of mine.

So next time you want to go for a skinny dip or celebrate the summit of a hike by stripping off for a photo, just check that you are not on sacred indigenous land.