(in Aboriginal belief) an area of spiritual significance where mythological beings may cause illness, especially to those disturbing or profaning the area.
to the traditional owners, these places are known as sickness country and are considered sacred
Example sentencesExamples
These days, they refer sorrowfully to their land as the sickness country.
Much of this region is known to them as sickness country, and they say that people who disturb the place will become unwell.
The issues here are complicated, because much of the ore is located in an area known to the local people as sickness country.
To these people, it's known as sickness country, pockets of land not fit for regular habitation.
The country from which the uranium came from was known as sickness country, and people who camped there would sicken and die if they lived there for any length of time.
Sickness country is an area of the Upper South Alligator Valley of special importance to the native people who own the land.
The creator of sickness country—the god Bula—lies dormant under the ground and will be disturbed by mining.
When we read of sickness country, there's an idea that that place for Aboriginal people is so strong, that if you go there, and you're not entitled to, you will get sick.
The sickness country contains high levels of arsenic, mercury, and lead, but in particular there seems to be a correlation between the major spiritual sites and uranium deposits.
The country was a sacred site connected to other major sites within what they called the sickness country, a recognition of the rich uranium deposits in the area.