Chris Hemsworth and Nat Geo slammed for shooting at sacred site
NEW SOUTH WALES: Chris Hemsworth's documentary series has stirred outrage after the actor and production crew filmed on a sacred Aboriginal site. 'Limitless', a National Geographic series, filmed a traditional ritual at Wrights Lookout in New England National Park in northern New South Wales.
The 'Thor: Love and Thunder' star is pictured taking part in the event with dancers while shirtless, painted white ochre and wearing a red lap-lap. The Thunggutti or Djangadi, Anaiwan and Gumbaynggirr people all share territory around Wrights Lookout, which is significant to their cultural and spiritual traditions.
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Numerous Indigenous organizations enthusiastically embraced the ritual, praising how it united traditional owners from the three nations. The Thunggutti and Gumbaynggirr tribes on the Mid-North Coast and the Anaiwan tribe from what is now New England welcomed the filming as a historic coming together on the common territory. Les Ahoy, an elder from Armidale who is Anaiwan, called it "fantastic." Elders from the Thunggutti tribe in Bellbrook, however, have denounced the filming as disrespectful and asserted that the production team failed to consult them. "It was very disrespectful to culture...to the Indigenous people in this Country," Thunggutti elder Aunty Ruth Dunn told the Sydney Morning Herald. Thunggutti elder Uncle David Toby reportedly stated, "This is a community. When you get one person saying 'yeah to it', that's not right."
According to the Daily Mail, before filming started, there was a lot of consultation with people from all three countries, according to the production company behind the show, Nutopia. To interact with the various crowds, an Indigenous cultural expert was roped in. The shoot also received written consent from the Thunggutti Local Aboriginal Land Council, the Bularri Muurlay Nyanggan Aboriginal Corporation in Coffs Harbour, and the Coffs Harbour Local Aboriginal Land Council. MEAWW does not allege wrongdoing by Hemsworth or any individual or organization involved in the project.
The ceremony is shown in Episode 5 of the National Geographic show, 'Memory'. Hemsworth participates in a Welcome to Country ceremony before going on a stroll through the area with Gumbaynggirr-Bundjalung man Otis Hope Carey. After that, the Hollywood star attends the native ceremony on Wright's Lookout.
Hemsworth tests his endurance through a variety of tasks in the series 'Limitless' streaming on Disney+. The fifth episode follows Hemsworth and his Gumbaynggirr-Bundjalung friend Otis Hope Carey on a two-day bushwalk. They are shown trekking through deep eucalyptus woodland and riparian rainforest, which is accented by magnificent rock escarpments, waterfalls, and waterholes, allegedly without modern navigational equipment.
