Elders from the Tiwi Islands have asked federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to make a special declaration to stop Santos laying a gas pipeline in the Timor Sea.
Six Tiwi Islanders, including senior Jikilaruwu elder Molly Munkara, have written to Ms Plibersek asking her to protect underwater cultural sites under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection (ATSIHP) Act.
Ms Munkara holds the stories of her people, which have been passed down by her ancestors.
"The seabed is part of the country that I must speak for and protect," she said.
"If Santos puts that pipeline where it has said, it will destroy our sacred sites and our ancient burial grounds.
"This will impact our spirituality and destroy our health, our home and our lives."
Santos has announced that it intends to begin work on the pipeline as part of the Barossa gas project as soon as Wednesday, despite being aware of Tiwi concerns that it will traverse an area of significant underwater cultural heritage.
Over the past few months, Tiwi people have made their concerns known to Santos as part of a separate process overseen by the offshore regulator NOPSEMA, which in January required work on the pipeline to stop until Santos had completed an underwater cultural heritage assessment.
Tiwi traditional owners won a Federal Court bid last year to throw out a drilling approval at the multimillion-dollar gas field, 265km northwest of Darwin.
But in its September quarter update last Thursday, Santos maintained it was on track to open Barossa on schedule.
Despite awaiting approvals, the company revealed its plans to begin installing underwater gas pipelines this year after an independent expert concluded there were no specific "underwater cultural heritage places" along the route.
The Tiwi community rejected this, saying it will cause significant harm to ancient Tiwi burial grounds, songlines and other sacred ancestral sites.
Larrakia and Tiwi traditional owners have also been lobbying banks and super funds, asking them to leverage their investments in Santos to convince the company to walk away from the Barossa project.
Tiwi people have now appealed to Ms Plibersek to exercise her powers to grant urgent protection over the area.
If the minister makes a declaration under the ATSIHP Act, Santos would be prevented from taking any steps that would contravene that declaration.
Alina Leikin, special counsel with the Environmental Defenders Office said the Tiwi people have asked Ms Plibersek to grant urgent protection to try and ensure that their sacred areas, and the spiritual beliefs and ways of life associated with them, are protected.
"This is a step our clients take very seriously but, given the importance of the cultural heritage at risk, it is a step they feel they must take to protect and preserve their precious cultural heritage," she said.
The department of climate change, energy, the environment and water said it was considering the short-term emergency application for protection of Tiwi cultural heritage from the impacts of the Santos Barossa Gas Project.
A spokesperson said the minister will consider the other applications once the short-term emergency application is resolved.
