Heritage: in whose hands? a regional university's link to its community's traditional culture

As a regional university, the multi-campused Southern Cross University1 has as a key part of its raison d'être the serving of its region. For a newer university (established 1 January 1994) this has meant a focus upon new opportunities—on shared work towards offering all better 'futures'. It has also meant a selective, even cautious, re-focusing upon certain elements of the region's past. Several threads can be discerned, and following these will help to delineate issues of the nature of these people’s heritage and traditional culture, and so of ownership and of their obtaining and offering generous community service.