Cave Clan
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The Cave Clan is a primarily Australian group dedicated to urban exploration. The organization has branches in all capital cities of Australia and associates in other countries. Unlike traditional caving groups they do not limit their activities to natural cavities.
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History
The Cave Clan was founded on January 26 (Australia Day), 1986 by three Melbourne teenagers, Woody, Dougo and Sloth. (most Clan members, and many other urban explorers, are known by pseudonyms). The trio had started exploring together during the summer of 1985.
One pioneer often cited as an inspiration to the Cave Clan's founders was Alf Sadlier, a worker for the Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works who, after building many of Melbourne’s drains in the 1940s and 50s, would leave his name and the date in tar paint before the last section of tunnel was put in place. It was not until mentioning Sadlier in an article in Melbourne’s The Herald Sun (Monday, May 11, p7 – "Tunnel Culture") that Sadlier's sister wrote to the Cave Clan explaining that her brother was in fact a “builder of drains” and not an explorer. He died in the mid 1970s.
In the 1980s, the Cave Clan started leaving messages on sections of tunnels in order to meet other explorers. In the 1990s the Cave Clan used stickers posted around the cities of Australia along with a PO Box. By the late 90s the Cave Clan had established a web site, although new batches of stickers still appear from time to time. It is rumored that the Cave Clan or a member is somehow connected with the proliferation of This Is A Heavy Product stickers around Australia and the world.
Formed in 2005, the Virginian branch of the Cave Clan is the first official North American branch.
Cave Clan activities
The Cave Clan are primarily tunnel explorers. However many members also explore rooftops, abandoned buildings, and towers. The Cave Clan will explore nearly any type of artificially made tunnel or cavity, except sewers.
The Cave Clan's newsletter Il Draino, was in publication from 1989 - 2004. While Il Draino was only available for Cave Clan members, the Cave Clan's other zine, The Cave Clan Magazine, may be found in various alternative and countercultural bookshops in Australia, and includes underground photography.
Safety Issues
The Cave Clan has had a handful of non-tunnelling injuries in the last 20 years [citation needed]. Cave Clan members have made statements discouraging inexperienced youth from going into tunnels. Though the Cave Clan is open to people 18 years and older, they sometimes admit mature minors [1].
When Brian McHugh drowned in a Melbourne drain on December 22, 2000, at the age of 14, it made more people aware of the dangers involved in exploring drains. He and his close friend Ben Lindsay had been in contact with the Cave Clan, but had been deemed too young to join. McHugh did however sign his name with the Cave Clan logo [2]. They continued to explore drains until one summer’s afternoon when a sudden thunderstorm washed the two away. Lindsay managed to clamber to safety after being washed out of the tunnel. Both The Sunday Age (January 2001) and Juice Magazine (#100, April 2001) ran articles about McHugh's death.
The MMBW and other authorities in charge of drains disapprove of the exploration of drain systems and in most Australian states and territories drain exploration is illegal. Nonetheless, the fact that such activity happens on such a relatively large scale in Australia could be seen as an example of the Australian tradition of larrikinism, or paying little heed to authority.
Graffiti
The Cave Clan distances itself from graffiti although there are members who are graffitists. Officially, ‘tagging in drains’ is not tolerated but the Cave Clain newsletter, Il Draino, at one point seemed to condone it [3].
The Cave Clan does accept leaving details of an expedition with a small marker in a plain section of the tunnel or cavity. They also encourage members to put up Cave Clan stickers, mostly above ground, and this is often considered to be a form of graffiti [4].
All new members must first go through a probationary period before agreeing to a list of conditions aimed at keeping the locations they explore in an undamaged condition. [citation needed]
Controversy
The Cave Clan has been accused of homophobia, specifically in relation to targeting certain members and making anti-gay comments in their newsletter, Il Draino [5].
Certain issues of Il Draino also contained personal attacks, threats, and attempts to discredit other urban explorers or "rival" urban exploration groups [6].
The Cave Clan have stated many times that though they have the word Clan in their name, they have no relation to the Klu Klux Klan and are not in any way racist. The Cave Clan produced a number of stickers stating "The Cave Clan say fuck the Klu Klux Klan," which they put up around Melbourne.
References
- ^ http://www.caveclan.org/about.html
- ^ http://www.urbanadventure.org/main/safety/death/article.htm
- ^ http://therealcaveclan.tripod.com/graffiti.htm
- ^ http://therealcaveclan.tripod.com/graffiti.htm
- ^ http://therealcaveclan.tripod.com/antigay.htm
- ^ http://therealcaveclan.tripod.com/harrasment.htm
