A documentary series starring Chris Hemsworth has sparked controversy after the actor and production crew filmed on a sacred Aboriginal site.
The crew of the National Geographic series, Limitless, recorded a cultural ceremony at Wrights Lookout, located in the New England National Park in northern NSW.
Hemsworth is seen shirtless, painted in white ochre and dressed in a red lap-lap as he participates in the ceremony with dancers on the program.
Wrights Lookout is in an area of great cultural and spiritual importance for local Aboriginals and is shared country between the Thunggutti or Djangadi, Anaiwan and Gumbaynggirr people.
Chris Hemsworth is seen painted in white ochre and dressed in a red lap-lap as he takes part in a cultural ceremony with Aboriginal dancers on Wright’s Lookout in northern NSW
Many Indigenous groups warmly welcomed the ceremony, remarking on how it brought together traditional owners from the three nations.
But elders from the Thunggutti mob in Bellbrook have slammed the shoot as disrespectful, claiming they were not advised by the production crew.
‘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 said: ‘This is a community. When you get one person saying “yeah to it”, that’s not right.’
The production company behind the series, Nutopia, said there was extensive consultation with members of all three nations before filming began.
An Indigenous cultural consultant was employed on set to engage with the different mobs.
Thunggutti Local Aboriginal Land Council, Bularri Muurlay Nyanggan Aboriginal Corporation in Coffs Harbour, and Coffs Harbour Local Aboriginal Land Council also provided written approval for the shoot.
Daily Mail Australia does not allege any wrongdoing by Hemsworth or any individual or organisation involved or associated with Limitless.
The ceremony, featured in episode of the National Georgraphic series Limitless, has attracted criticism from certain Thunggutti elders
The ceremony is featured on episode five of the National Geographic series titled ‘Memory’.
It sees Hemsworth taking part in a Welcome to Country acknowledgement before going on a bushwalk with Gumbaynggirr-Bundjalung man, Otis Hope Carey, through the area.
The Hollywood actor then takes part in the cultural ceremony on Wright’s Lookout.
Limitless, which is streaming on Disney+, has Hemsworth exploring life and longevity through different challenges.
