February Report To

Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy

NORTHERN REGION SUSTAINABLE WATER STRATEGY

CULTURAL HERITAGE

VALUES ASSESSMENT

Gaps Analysis

February 08

Report to DSE

By Megan Goulding, Petra Schell and Melinda Albrecht

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy

PO Box 509 North Carlton, Victoria 3054 Phone/Fax: 03 9380 6159 Mobile: 0409 145 489 [email protected]

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy

Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis

Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy

Table of Contents

Introduction ...... 5 Project Methodology ...... 5 The Studies Analysed ...... 6 Field Investigations/Workshop Proceedings: ...... 6 Policy Documents: ...... 7 The Study Area ...... 7 Summary of Indigenous Values Associated with Water ...... 8 Summary of Indigenous Issues Associated with Water Management ...... 13 Gaps Analysis ...... 21 Recommendations ...... 22

Appendices

Appendix 1 Jackson, S (ed) 2006. Recognising & protecting Indigenous values in water resource management ...... 24 Appendix 2 Weir, J 2006. Making the connection between water and sustaining Indigenous cultural life...... 40 Appendix 3 Glenbar, W & Milward, K 2007. Report on the VEAC Indigenous Community Consultation Workshops ..... 43 Appendix 4 McFarlane, B 2004. The National Water Initiative & acknowledging indigenous interests in Planing ...... 55 Appendix 5 Murray Darling Basin Commission. 2003. Report to the Murray Darling Basin Commission – Indigenous response to the Living Murray Initiative ...... 61 Appendix 6 Morgan, M, Strelein, L & Weir, J. 2004. Indigenous rights to water in the Murray Darling Basin ...... 76 Appendix 7 Victorian Catchment Management Council, 2006. A VCMC position/perspective paper on Indigenous engagement in Victoria ...... 80 Appendix 8 Department of Sustainability and Environment. 2007. Indigenous partnership framework, 2007-10 ...... 83 Appendix 9 Department of Land and Water Conservation 2000. Guidelines for assessing the impacts of water sharing plans on Aboriginal peoples – DLWC staff guidelines ...... 86 Appendix 10 CRM Grid ...... 90

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy Introduction

The Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) is currently in the process of developing a Sustainable Water Strategy (SWS) for the Northern Region of Victoria. The Northern Region SWS will outline how climate change and other risks will affect water security across the region over the next 50 years. It will provide the direction and actions required to secure water supplies for homes, farms, businesses, industry and the environment. As part of the development of the SWS, DSE is seeking community feedback on a range of options for managing the uncertainty of water security in the long term.

An important aspect of the community engagement process is to seek a better understanding of the value that Indigenous communities in the Northern Region place on water. DSE recognises that Victorian Indigenous people have for many thousands of years been involved in sustainable management of the land and waters of their Country. Country is central to Indigenous peoples’ culture and identity. The health of waterways and land is therefore an important dimension of Indigenous cultural interest.

Building on the principles of the DSE Indigenous Partnership Framework that commits to greater involvement of Indigenous communities in the management of the natural environment, the DSE’s Office of Water is commited to engaging with Indigenous communities about future natural resource management initiatives, and in particular water management. One of the objectives of the Sustainable Water Strategy project is to better understand and capture the Indigenous cultural values associated with water in the Northern Region. The completion of a cultural values assessment will occur concurrently with the engagement of Traditional Owners and Indigenous groups as part of the NRSWS engagement program.

Project Methodology

This report is designed to provide DSE Office of Water with an analysis of the level of previous engagement with Indigenous people relating to water values in the Northern Region and to identify any gaps in this engagement. The main tasks are to:

• Undertake a gaps analysis of existing documentation for the northern region regarding Indigenous values associated with water and issues of specific relevance to the development of the NRSWS; • Provide advice on the documentation and expression of Indigenous values associated with water in the Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy.

In this report publications that relate to identification and management of Indigenous cultural values associated with water in the Northern Region of Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia (ostensibly the Murray Darling Basin region), have been reviewed (this analysis has also included several policy documents that focus on ways of

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy engaging with Indigenous people about natural resource management). The analysis has been broken up into the following components:

• Detailed overview of the methodology and scope of each report/investigation (reproduced stand alone as appendices) • Summary of documented Indigenous values associated with water as outlined in each resource document • Summary of documented Indigenous issues associated with water management as outlined in each resource document • Analysis of the gaps arising out of the studies in terms of their canvassing of Indigenous interests in water and water management in the study area • Recommendations regarding ways of addressing current gaps.

The detailed overviews of each report have been included as Appendices 1-10.

The Studies Analysed

The studies that have been examined for this project comprise outcomes of field investigations, workshop proceedings and policy documents. The field investigation and workshop documents primarily focus on Indigenous water values and issues in Victoria although those investigations that relate to the Murray Darling Basin naturally take in communities in South Australia and NSW:

Field Investigations/Workshop Proceedings:

• Glenbar, William and Karen Milward. 2007. Report on the VEAC Indigenous Community Consultation Workshops

• Jackson, Sue (ed). 2006. Recognising and protecting Indigenous values in water resource management – a report from a workshop held at CSIRO in Darwin, NT 5-6 April 2006. CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Northern Territory.

• McFarlane, Bardy. 2004. The National Water Initiative and acknowledging indigenous interests in planning.

• Morgan, Monica, Lisa Strelein and Jessica Weir. 2004. Research Discussion Paper – Indigenous rights to water in the Murray Darling Basin. Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Canberra.

• Murray Darling Basin Commission. 2003. Report to the Murray Darling Basion Commission – Indigenous response to the Living Murray Initiative.

• Victorian Catchment Management Council, 2006. A VCMC position/perspective paper on Indigenous engagement in Victoria.Victorian Catchment Management Council

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy

• Weir, Jessica. 2006. Making the connection between water and sustaining Indigenous cultural life. Social and Institutional Research Programme

Policy Documents:

• Department of Land and Water Conservation. 2000. Guidelines for assessing the impacts of water sharing plans on Aboriginal peoples – DLWC staff guidelines. Department of Land and Water Conservation, Sydney.

• Department of Sustainability and Environment. 2007. Indigenous partnership framework, 2007-2010 • Department of Victorian Communities, Cultural Resource Management Grid Maps by Catchment Management Authority.

The Study Area

Figure 1 shows the study area in northern Victoria. Bordered to the south by the Great Dividing Range, the study area extends along the Murray River as far as the border with South Australia.

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy Summary of Indigenous Values Associated with Water

Sue Jackson (ed). 2006. Recognising and protecting Indigenous values in water resource management – a report from a workshop held at CSIRO in Darwin, NT 5-6 April 2006. CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Northern Territory.

• Indigenous people have distinct cultural perspectives on water • Indigenous people have important attachments to water • Water is important to Indigenous people’s identity • Water is a sacred and elemental source and symbol of life in the belief systems of Indigenous people • Indigenous people have environmental knowledge and this extends to water • Indigenous people have custodial responsibilities to manage inter-related parts of their customary estates • Water plays a significant part in the Indigenous customary economy • Water is important to Indigenous people’s economic well being • The culture of Indigenous people of the Murray region is embedded in the river system • The Murray River sustains Indigenous people as well as birds and animals • The river provides Indigenous people with bush tucker and medicines • Indigenous people’s environmental philosophy is holistic; water is connected to the rest of country • The term ‘country’ encompasses land, water, sky, stars, ancestral pathways, minerals, people and social relations

Jessica Weir. April 2006. Making the connection between water and sustaining Indigenous cultural life. Social and Institutional Research Programme

• The River Murray sustains Indigenous peoples’ cultural and economic lives • Indigenous people fish, collect bush foods and medicines, collect grasses for basket weaving at the River Murray • The River Murray is important to Indigenous people as a place of continuing cultural practice and education of their children and grandchildren

William Glenbar and Karen Milward. 2007. Report on the VEAC Indigenous Community Consultation Workshops

• Water is part of the fabric that connects Indigenous communities to the environment • The wetlands and River provide Indigenous people with resources for cultural practices and artefacts

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy • Specific sites within the River area underpin Indigenous peoples’ identity and expression • The River is important to Indigenous people for fishing and the continuation of traditional ways • The river area is where Indigenous people teach the young people about traditional ways

Bardy McFarlane. 2004. The National Water Initiative and acknowledging indigenous interests in planning.

• Indigenous peoples’ cultural, spiritual, economic and social relationships rely on each other for their continued existence and well-being • Throughout the Murray Darling Basin water has been central to the Indigenous peoples’ economy and culture • Indigenous people have occupied and maintained attachments to the riverine area for over 30,000 years • Water is a sacred source of life, identity, rights and responsibilities under Indigenous law • Water is inseparable from the land on which Indigenous people live • In many Indigenous Dreaming stories, water creatures created and inhabit waterholes, the ocean, tidal creeks, springs and rivers • There is a creation story associated with the River Murray, relating to the giant cod • Indigenous water sites are sources of life, and the regeneration of life • Water sites are frequently conception sites • Water sites are often at the heart of a person or group’s country • Association with a particular water source provides one of the prime markers of Indigenous individual identity; and the collective identities of Indigenous groups

Murray Darling Basin Commission. 2003. Report to the Murray Darling Basin Commission – Indigenous response to the Living Murray Initiative.

• Water is central to the custodial responsibilities of Indigenous Nations in the Muray Darling Basin • Water provides Indigenous people with identity and spirituality • The river system is integral to Indigenous song-lines and creation stories • The river system can be the source of totems for groups and individuals • The Murray Darling Basin contains many places of significance – Dreaming stories, songs, tribal traditions, burials, mounds, initiation sites, men’s and women’s places, ceremonial grounds, meeting and gathering places • The Murray Darling Basin is rich in relics and artefacts, middens, ochre grounds, camping sites, ovens, scar trees that relate to past occupation

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy • The river system is a source of food - fish, yabbies, mussels, eggs, seeds, animals and plants, fibre, water, medicine and other types of sustenance • The river system provides Indigenous people with commercial opportunities in eco-tourism, cultural tourism, native nurseries and seed collection • The river is a place of healing for Indigenous people • The river provides a sense of balance and relief from stress and sickness • The river has social significance and connects Indigenous nations • The river system provides recreation for Indigenous people • The whole river system, not just components, is important to Indigenous people • The river sustains country and nurtures families • The river is a source of cultural education for Indigenous youth • The river creates opportunities to put young Indigenous people in touch with their culture and move away from the cycle of alcohol, drugs, domestic violence and sexual abuse • The river is important for future generations of Indigenous people • The river provides history and culture, continuity and connection

Monica Morgan, Lisa Strelein and Jessica Weir. 2004. Research Discussion Paper – Indigenous rights to water in the Murray Darling Basin. Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Canberra.

• As the first peoples of the Murray, Indigneous people have a unique set of rights in relation to the custodianship of the Murray and related eco-systems • Indigenous people are part of the social community ties to the Murray River • Indigenous rights to onshore waters are part of a holistic system of land and water management • Indigenous communities value the Murray River for hunting, fishing and foraging • Cultural heritage sites exist along the Murray River and require protection • The River is an integral part of the identity of Indigenous people • The Murray River is a place of recreation for Indigenous people • The Murray River provides Indigenous people with economic opportunities

Victorian Catchment Management Council, 2006. A VCMC position/perspective paper on Indigenous engagement in Victoria.

• Indigenous peoples look upon the land as their mother; they derive everything from it that they need to survive • The waterways are the lifeline of Indigenous people • Fish, swans, ducks and reeds are all life sustaining sources of food for Indigenous people • Indigenous peoples travel the waterways and write songs about their travels

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy • The holistic interconnection between people and the environment is the essence of Indigenous peoples’ culture, spirituality and life

Department of Land and Water Conservation. 2000. Guidelines for assessing the impacts of water sharing plans on Aboriginal peoples – DLWC staff guidelines, Department of Land and Water Conservation, Sydney.

• Indigenous cultural values and knowledge can encompass all types of water bodies from wetlands, swamps and floodplains to rivers • Wetlands, swamps and floodplains are important areas used by Indigenous people for food, medicines and other resource collection • Indigenous people can derive social and economic benefits from water • Indigenous recreation and health may be related to water • Indigenous community community character, vitality may be related to water. • Flooding and drying of wetlands, swamps and floodplains for regeneration of foods and medicine may be important to Indigenous people.

DSE Indigenous partnership framework, 2007-2010

• As the original custodians, Indigenous people continue to have sovereignty over their lands and waters • Indigenous people identify and assert their rights and responsibilities through their association with a particular place, including water

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy Box 1 Summary of Indigenous Heritage Values Associated with Water, Northern Victoria

• Indigenous people have distinct cultural perspectives on water • Water is a sacred and elemental source and symbol of life in the belief systems of Indigenous people • Water is an integral part of Indigenous country • Water is a related to rights and responsibilities under Indigenous law • Water plays a significant part in the Indigenous customary economy • Water is important to Indigenous people’s physical and economic well being • Water is important to Indigenous people’s identity and sense of belonging • Water provides important resources • Water is the source of life and regeneration • Rivers and waterways connect Indigenous groups/nations • Water is used by Indigenous people for recreation • Water sustains country and is important in sustaining future generations of Indigenous people • Water provides an historic connection with ancestors • Waterways are used by Indigenous people for travel • The river is a place of healing for Indigenous people • The river is vital for the cultural practice and education of future generations of Indigenous people • The river system is integral to Indigenous song-lines and creation stories • The river is the source of totems for groups and individuals • The river area contains many places of significance to Indigenous people such as Dreaming stories, songs, tribal traditions, burials, mounds, initiation sites, men’s and women’s places, ceremony grounds, meeting and gathering places • The river area is rich in Indigenous artefacts, middens, ochre grounds, camping sites, ovens, scar trees • The river provides Indigenous people with commercial opportunities in eco- tourism, cultural tourism, native nurseries and seed collection

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy Summary of Indigenous Issues Associated with Water Management

• Upstream activities such as dams, mining, agriculture and tourism have detrimental effects on estuarine and inshore fisheries • Negative impacts on the river affect Indigenous people’s lives • Environmental changes bring about social changes amongst Indigenous communities such as loss of ecological and ritual knowledge • Indigenous people want to exercise custodial responsibilities to manage inter- related parts of their customary estates • Indigenous people are not able to fulfil cultural responsibilities through water management activities due to detrimental changes to the environment • There is a need for collaboration between Indigenous peoples, other stakeholders and government agencies; develop partnerships with researchers to exchange knowledge and to solve problems • Indigenous traditions relating to water can escape the attention of scientists and resource managers • Indigenous peoples’ knowledge of the ecological properties and functions of water could be useful when environmental assessments are undertaken, to better understand environmental change and ways to adapt to environmental pressures • New water policy and funding arrangements need to identify, acknowledge and incorporate the interests, traditions and social organisation of Indigenous people • Indigenous people need to be more involved in water resource decisions and management processes • The traditional owners along the Murray River have lost much and want more water flow • Indigenous people want resource security • The drop in water levels of the River Murray could expose culturally sensitive Indigenous sacred sites and burial grounds • Indigenous people believe the concept of an environmental flow is very limited; environmental flow does not address the relationships between traditional owners and their country • The use of ‘cultural flow’ to ensure a specific allocation is made to protect Indigenous peoples’ priorities • Indigenous people believe in a holistic world where country, life and water are connected; cultural values do not mean that there is necessarily any conflict with economic values • The Barmah forest is dying because of damage to surrounding wetlands

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy • Wetlands are a source of life - Indigenous people have suggested the word ‘nurseries’ instead of ‘wetlands’ • Indigenous people provide information on sacred sites and other areas and should have the intellectual property rights over that information • Water has become so expensive that Indigenous people are missing out on opportunities to generate income and health • Indigenous people see Memorandums of Understanding as a first step to an agreement which is formal and binding with water catchment authorities • Indigenous people hope to get resources and arrangements from MOUs to manage country • The Murray River catchment is not well cared for • The rivers in the system have been dammed with locks and weirs and these have become polluted • Only 2 % of the Murray’s river flow gets to the mouth • Water quality has dropped with high sediment loads making the water cloudy • Indigenous people cannot spear fish in the muddy waters of the Murray • Indigenous people cannot pass on their experiences and their knowledge to their children • The water released from dams into rivers is too cold or polluted for species that live and breed in the river • There are two cranes working 24 hours a day to remove sand from the mouth of the Murray and prevent it from closing up • Six million dollars is spent on dredging the Murray River mouth every year • Nine species of fish have been lost in the last 10 years • Two-thirds of the Coorong, an internationally known Ramsar site, are irreparably damaged • The birdlife is suffering. Pelicans are moving to Lake Eyre to breed because the Coorong is too salty • Indigenous people recognise that there is a need for capacity building and management skills within Indigenous groups to manage water • Indigenous people want to share their knowledge about wetland and water issues and to form alliances across Australia • There is a lot of competition for water from industry groups • There is not enough water to sustain flood levels for birds breeding in rivers

Jessica Weir. April 2006. Making the connection between water and sustaining Indigenous cultural life. Social and Institutional Research Programme

• Fishing, collecting bush foods and medicines and collecting grasses for basket weaving are difficult to do now • Indigenous Elders are unable to pass on to Indigenous youth their traditional practices and knowledge • Traditional owners feel that their cultural practice is threatened by loss of resources

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy Victorian Catchment Management Council, 2006. A VCMC position/perspective paper on Indigenous engagement in Victoria.

• Importance of engaging with traditional owners on their own terms • Aside from the Victorian Catchment Management Council there are currently no Indigenous people appointed to Victorian CMA Boards

William Glenbar and Karen Milward. 2007. Report on the VEAC Indigenous Community Consultation Workshops

• Indigenous people believe that a greater management focus should be given to water • Water provides the fabric for Indigenous communities and environmental connections • Indigenous people could provide local knowledge about water flows, flora and fauna biodiversity, and traditional Indigenous land management practices in natural resource management • Indigenous people’s participation in natural resource management is hampered by a lack of administrative capacity • Importance of non-traditional Indigenous people and their knowledge • Issue of intellectual property rights and dispute resolution • Indigenous people would like formal agreements in place with public land management agencies including professional development/training options, work placements, scholarships, traineeships, jobs, service contracts and consulting fees • Indigenous people need bush tucker access and traditional hunting and gathering rights in all public land • Access to specific sites relates to Indigenous identity and expression • Indigenous people would like businesses to grow bardi grubs and native fish through aquaculture, worm culture and grub culture • Indigenous people believe in restoring the natural water course • Traditional owners in the area should have a greater say in Indigenous land management of the river area • Siphoning off the artesian basin is causing inland salinity problems • Indigenous people have identified that environmental flushes cause problems with native fish and wildlife • When big industry comes to country towns they draw on the water resources; many of the little industries suffer • Water for environmental flow has been traded to big industry and sold off • Indigenous people would like to get information about water allocations for big industries; for what period of time and at what cost • In the Albury catchment area all the native tree species were removed and replaced with pine plantations; big industry has come in and taken away all the gum trees in the area

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy • Indigenous people would like more transparency in the arrangements of environmental flows and use of water by industry • Water flow needs to be managed properly by the local Indigenous and non- Indigenous communities • Issues with access to the river at the Munatunga Mission; people cannot get to the river to fish and do their cultural practices • Large pumps in the river are impacting on the environment • Lake Tyrell; issues with the almond tree roots sucking up too much water • Maintaining the health of the river bed needs to be discussed • Traditional owners should get a percentage from the permits that are issued for camping, fishing, accommodation, timber cutting, and logging • The Barmah Lake is the only natural lake left along the Murray River. It is no longer the big ‘supermarket’ for the flora and fauna and for Indigenous people that it once was

Bardy McFarlane. 2004. The National Water Initiative and acknowledging indigenous interests in planning.

• The closure of the Murray mouth, and the associated loss of biodiversity, threatens the identity and way of life Indigenous people • Indigenous communities would like to participate in the commercial water industry

Murray Darling Basin Commission. 2003. Report to the Murray Darling Basin Commission – Indigenous response to the Living Murray Initiative.

• Indigenous people want a healthy, free flowing and alive river system • Indigenous people want the natural cycles restored, the river restocked and revegetated • Indigenous people want access rights so they can continue cultural practice, traditional fishing and hunting • Indigenous people and Nations should be recognised and respected for what and who they are – sovereign entities in their own country • The river system must be treated with respect, as it is the lifeblood of the country • If the river is in poor health, it can not provide spiritual, cultural, economic and social benefits to Indigenous people • As the health of the river declines, Indigenous culture is eroded and diminished • Traditional owners are devastated at loss of native fauna and flora and pollution of the river • For Indigenous people, cultural and spiritual values are linked inextricably to environmental values • The management of the river system must be a whole landscape approach, including all tributaries of the River Murray

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy • There are complex inter-relationships that must be recognised between seasons, river flows, fish, plants and animals of the River Murray • Indigenous people believe that the mouth of the River Murray should be open • Indigenous people want native fauna and flora returned to the river and introduced species such as carp and willow trees eradicated • Loss of traditional food sources and reduced commercial opportunities have meant a drop in the standard of living and greater reliance on welfare of Indigenous people • Indigenous people want to be actively involved at all levels of management of natural resources throughout their traditional lands • Cultural Heritage Management Plans should be developed between government and Indigenous Nations with custodial responsibilities for the river system • The CHMPs should have the force of law • CHMPS should reflect the inter-relationship between environmental values and spiritual and cultural values • Cultural, environmental and social values should be given equal status with economic values when policy and management decisions are made • Water allocation should be available to each Indigenous Nation to exercise their custodial responsibilities to care for the river system • Natural flows and cycles should be restored to the river system • Traditional knowledge should be recognised for the contribution it can make to resource management and as an Intellectual Property Right • Traditional Owners should have access to significant sites and areas to continue their cultural practice • Indigenous people want more involvement to protect and care for the river • Indigenous people want protected areas placed along the rivers to allow fish and other aquatic life to recover from over fishing • Indigenous people want speedboats confined to certain areas, as they have detrimental effects on the river • Flows should coincide with breeding seasons • Water is not always used efficiently • Water used by industry should be re-cycled and not allowed to pollute the river system

• The Murray Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations (MDRIN) want a healthy, living river with natural flows and cycles • The MDRIN want athe Murray River to continue to sustain communities and preserve unique values

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy • Management of the scarce water resources of the Murray River must take into consideration the inherent rights of the Indigenous Nations to these water resources and the surrounding ecosystem • failure to return health to the river has a disproportionate impact on the relationship of Indigenous peoples’ with the Murray as it is linked to their cultural and spiritual identity and their status as first peoples of the Murray River • Indigenous people want more involvement in policy and decision-making, and environmental management of water • Indigenous people should be responsible for water allocation • Water allocation rights can mean inclusion in the water trading environment for economic development opportunities, or for achieving cultural and environmental objectives by allocating water for cultural or environmental flows • Indigenous people should be involved in co-management of water resources and the natural and cultural heritage of the Murray • Indigenous owners and local Indigenous communities should be included in river management processes • Rather than being limited to consultation, Indigenous peoples require substantive involvement in policy and decision-making, as well as direct involvement in environmental management • Indigenous people want the following rights and interests that arise from Indigenous ownership and custodial responsibilities recognized in relation to water: access land and waterways; use and enjoyment of the natural resources; hunting, fishing and foraging; and protection of cultural heritage and identity • Indigenous peoples require adequate access to use and enjoy waters • Cultural knowledge of the Indigenous people needs to be considered in catchment management practices • Indigenous people would like to share their traditional knowledge • Indigenous people want to control access and use of their knowledge • Lack of legislative recognition for Indigenous interest in water needs to be addressed • Indigenous people should share in the economic benefits resulting from the use of their traditional lands, resources and knowledge

• Aspects of Indigenous communities that relate directly with water, such as recreation, infrastructure and health, should be documented • Aspects that are less obviously related to water, such as community character, vitality and well being may also be documented • The way in which water is shared may have impacts on Indigenous people in impact areas beyond ‘direct use’, such as appropriate flooding and drying of wetlands, swamps and floodplains for regeneration of foods and medicines

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy • The ways in which Indigenous communities relate, directly and indirectly, with water resources, need to be identified • Aspects of Indigenous communities that are connected with or dependent on water resources and the way in which they are shared, need to be identified • Groups within the Indigenous community whose rights, goals and interests are positively assisted by the way that water is shared, need to be identified • Issues of equity within Indigenous communities that are affected by water management and sharing, also need to be identified • Groups within Indigenous communities who may be vulnerable to changes in the way that water is shared also need identification

DSE Indigenous partnership framework, 2007-2010

• It is difficult for Indigenous people to make positive changes without having effective management structures in place • Indigenous communities recognise that they often lack formal management skills and experience • Indigenous people are unequal partners when dealing with government and industry • Establishing an equitable relationship with Indigenous people may require different processes and resources to ensure participation is meaningful

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy

Box 2 Summary of Indigenous Heritage Issues Associated with Water Management, Northern Victoria

Cultural Practice and Water • Indigenous people are not able to fulfil cultural responsibilities to manage water and associated country • The drop in water levels of the River Murray could expose culturally sensitive Indigenous sacred sites and burial grounds • Traditional owners feel that their cultural practice is threatened through lack of resources and lack of access to water; they cannot pass on their experiences and their knowledge to their children • If the river is in poor health, it can not provide spiritual, cultural, economic and social benefits to Indigenous people • Indigenous people need bush tucker access and traditional hunting and gathering rights in all public land including parks • The decline in the health of the river system has led to a decline in the economic position of Indigenous people

Future Water Management Practice • New water policy and funding arrangements need to identify, acknowledge and incorporate the interests, knowledge, traditions and social organisation of Indigenous people • There is a need for collaboration between Indigenous peoples, other stakeholders and government agencies; develop partnerships with researchers to exchange knowledge and to solve problems • Indigenous people need to be more involved in water resource decisions and management processes • Indigenous people’s participation in natural resource management is hampered by a lack of administrative capacity and management skills • Water needs to be used more efficiently by industry • Indigenous people want a healthy, free flowing, alive river system • Indigenous people believe that the mouth of the River Murray should be open • Indigenous people want the natural cycles restored, the river restocked and revegetated

Indigenous Cultural Knowledge • Indigenous people provide information on sacred sites and other areas and should have the intellectual property rights over that information • Indigenous traditions relating to water are often overlooked by scientists and resource managers

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy Gaps Analysis

The papers reviewed for this project have produced a comprehensive list of Indigenous peoples’ values and issues relating to water policy and management. This overview has been undertaken in part to identify where there may be gaps in information collected and in the methods deployed for collection of that information from Indigenous groups in the region. Gaps and opportunties identified are as follows:

Gaps in Consultation to Date

Some of the Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy region traditional owner groups did not seem to have been represented in the workshops held as part of the data gathering exercises for a number of the reports analysed. Those groups who appear not to have been consulted directly to date are the:

• Ngintait • Nyera Nyera • Latji Latji • Tati Tati • Dja Dja Wurrung • Bangerang • Dhudoroa • Way Wuro peoples

The views of these different groups will provide DSE with a more comprehensive appreciation of the water values and issues that are of interest Indigenous people in the Northern Region.

Documenting Spatial Interests

The documents reviewed did not present maps showing the country of groups consulted. The issue of traditional group boundaries is a vexing one as these are frequently in dispute and there can be considerable overlap where there is lack of agreement between groups. Nevertheless, it might be useful to generate a visual representation of the different groups’ spatial interests in Northern Victoria. This would provide DSE with a better understanding of where different group interests extend over waterways and wetlands and intervening country.

There is also a paucity of information in the documents reviewed about specific places/areas of particular concern or interest to Indigenous people in the study area. Where this information has been provided it is a useful guide to the specific nature of management issues (for example, specific information on places of interest and concern in the Yorta Yorta workshop documentation in the Report on the VEAC Indigenous Community Consultation Workshops).

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy Water in Indigenous Culture – An Overview

Despite the detailed “lists” of values and information documenting the importance of water to Indigenous people, no one paper really draws together a narrative or comprehensive overview of the place of water in traditional and contemporary Indigenous cultural practice. It would be very useful to draw this together in a single coherent document so that natural resource managers might obtain a better appreciation of the function of water in Indigenous culture, both past and present. Such an overview would then set the platform for the better understanding and acting on the aspirations of Indigenous people for improved involvement in water management and in improved health of country and in sustaining healthy communities.

Exploration of Common Ground: Indigenous and Non‐Indigenous Values & Interests

There is often significant common ground between Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups with regards land management issues. It may be a useful exercise to explore the shared values, concerns and aspirations in the Northern Region as a way of strengthening the community message to government about improved water management.

Exploration of Case Studies where Indigenous People have Been Successfully Involved in Water Management Issues

The engagement that has occurred to date with Indigenous people with interests in water management in the Northern Region has tended to focus on the negative aspects of government engagement – or lack of engagement – with Indigenous groups on the issue of water. It could be a useful exercise to pull together case studies where there have been positive models of engagement with Indigenous communities as a way of exploring models of a way forward.

Models for a Way Forward

In order to progress the findings of the data collection processes carried out to date, that is the values and issues that Indigenous people have raised in relation to water management, it will be important to start working on realistic models for improved engagement with Indigenous stakeholders and implementation of strategies to better manage water values.

Recommendations

1. Address Gaps in Consultation to Date ‐ Ensure that any further Indigenous community engagement processes relating to water management in the Northern Region involve the following groups:

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy • Ngintait • Nyera Nyera • Latji Latji • Tati Tati • Dja Dja Wurrung • Bangerang • Dhudoroa • Way Wuro peoples

2. Documenting Spatial Interests ‐ Where appropriate, map the areas of Indigenous group interests across the Northern Region.

3. Mapping Values/Interests ‐ Where appropriate, work with Indigenous groups across the Northern Region to map specific places/areas of particular concern or interest that relate to water values and water management.

4. Overview of Water in Indigenous Culture ‐ Consider drawing together a narrative or comprehensive overview of the place of water in traditional and contemporary Indigenous cultural practice..

5. Explore Common Ground: Indigenous and Non‐Indigenous Values & Interests ‐ Consider documenting the shared values, concerns and aspirations of Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities in relation to water and water management in the Northern Region.

6. Develop Case Studies where Indigenous People have Been Successfully Involved in Water Management Issues ‐ Pull together case studies where there have been positive models of engagement between land managers and Indigenous communities over water management.

7. Models for a Way Forward ‐ Start working on realistic models for improved engagement with Indigenous stakeholders and implementation of strategies to better manage water values.

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy

APPENDIX 1

Jackson, S (ed). 2006. Recognising and protecting Indigenous values in water resource management – a report from a workshop held at CSIRO in Darwin, NT 5‐6 April 2006. CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Northern Territory

Key Summary

Format: Two day workshop

Project/Process: Component of the CSIRO and Northern Land Council (NLC) research project ‘Addressing Indigenous cultural requirements in water allocation Planning’

Where & When: Held at the CSIRO in Darwin, NT in April 2006

Aim: Aimed to explore what Indigenous managers of water resources in northern Australia could learn from other regions where Indigenous involvement in water planning has been developed.

Participants: Murray Lower Darling Indigenous Nations (MLDIN), the Miriwiung Gajerrong people of the east Kimberley, the Daly River Aboriginal Reference Group, the Northern Land Council, the Kimberley Land Council and the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority NT, Marcia Langton, University of Melbourne, CSIRO.

This two-day workshop focussed on the issue Indigenous cultural values and management of water resource. A principle aim was to explore “what Indigenous managers of water resources in northern Australia could learn from other regions where water has been developed” (Jackson: 5). A broader aim of the workshop:

…was to investigate the means of addressing Indigenous cultural requirements for water in planning processes underway in the Daly River region…The project team (CSIRO and NLC) recognised that Indigenous people in the Daly River region had been previously disenfranchised from ecological research and environmental planning and that information exchange is essential if Indigenous people are to participate effectively in water planning (Jackson: 5).

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy An outcome of the project was to “investigate the means of addressing Indigenous cultural requirements for water in planning processes underway in the Daly River region” (Jackson: 5). Case studies from around Australia were presented as a way of focussing discussions on the implictions for water policy and management.

Workshop participants came from the Northern Territory, Western Australia, Queensland, South Australia, the ACT and Victoria (Jackson: 5) The Murray Lower Darling River Indigenous Nations (MLDRIN) and Jessica Weir represented Victorian/NSW views at the workshop.

What follows are summaries of three of the five presentations given at the workshop. These particular presentations were chosen because of their relevance to Indigenous issues with water in southern Victoria.

Paper 1 Sue Jackson: Indigenous cultural values and water resource management: workshop overview and introduction (pp 6‐24)

Objectives of workshop:

The following list of objectives was prepared for the workshop:

• To have a good discussion about water issues • For northern Australian Aboriginal groups, especially from the Daly River, to hear about the experiences of other groups, e.g. from the Murray Darling, and vice versa • To think about environmental policy, especially water management, and how it can work for Indigenous people • To talk about the words ‘cultural values’, how they are being used and whether they reflect Indigenous values • To talk about rivers and water reforms: what worries people about the changes and are there opportunities, or good parts, to the changes • To talk about ways Indigenous people can document their values, promote them and be involved with governments and other groups e.g. catchment management groups.

Focus of workshop:

There was a strong focus placed on the Daly River situation, where water might be used in significant quantities for farming over the coming years. Many members of the Daly River Aboriginal Reference Group attended. However, there was also great interest in looking at what northern Australia can learn from other regions where water management has been developed, and invitations to the workshop were extended to various Indigenous

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy groups. Representatives from the Murray Lower Darling Indigenous Nations and the Miriwiung Gajerrong people of the east Kimberley attended the workshop, and the organisers were confident that there would be issues of interest to people examining development and environmental management options in the Daly River area, including NT government resource managers. These interstate participants were keen to share their experiences, to discuss their ideas, and form links with Indigenous groups interested in the management of land and water throughout Australia (Jackson: 7)

Participants broke into smaller groups to discuss the following:

• Representative structures • Framework and policy • Economic development • Future research

Concerns about water resources:

Some of the issues about water resources discussed at the workshop included concerns about the limited ability of the current knowledge base to inform decisions and to avoid the potential impacts of development. Certain tropical rivers, such as the Ord River in the Kimberley region of Western Australia and the Burdekin and Fitzroy Rivers of Queensland have already been substantially altered. There is potential for detrimental effects from upstream activities such as dams, mining, agriculture and tourism to be felt on estuarine and inshore fisheries, especially through their impact on nutrients and pollutants.

Social pressures to provide regional development opportunities and economic pressures for agricultural enterprises seeking to expand or relocate from southern Australia are driving development of water resources in the north (Hamilton and Gehrke 2005). Under these kinds of development scenarios the relative abundance of northern freshwater resources is of considerable economic value...(Jackson: 9).

Indigenous communities across north Australia are quick to identify numerous environmental threats and social problems associated with environmental change, increasing demand for water resources and changing environmental managementsystems (see Jackson and O’Leary 2006; Whitehead et al 1999). Loss of ecological and ritual knowledge amongst communities is a social change that confronts possibly every Indigenous language, clan or family group, compounding a sense of urgency for initiatives that assist people to care for river and wetland country.

Their strong and enduring interest in the diverse and relatively intact riverine and riparian systems motivates Indigenous communities to undertake management activities, thereby fulfilling cultural responsibilities. In addition, Indigenous communities express a desire to collaborate with government agencies and

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy stakeholders; and to develop partnerships with researchers to exchange knowledge and solve identified problems. (Jackson: 9-10)

Importance of water to Indigenous people:

Indigenous people hold distinct cultural perspectives on water that relate to identity and attachment to place, environmental knowledge, resource security, and the exercise of custodial responsibilities to manage inter-related parts of customary estates (Jackson: 10). In the belief systems of Australian Aboriginal peoples, water is a sacred and elemental source and symbol of life in the belief systems of Indigenous Australian peoples and also plays a significant part to the indigenous customary economy.

Indigenous systems of customary law dictate that traditional land-owners have a substantive role in land and water management and resource regulation. Hence, Indigenous people expect to participate fully in management decisions. New water policy and funding arrangements arising from the Natural Heritage Trust and the National Water Initiative need to identify, acknowledge and incorporate the diverse interests of Indigenous people, as well as their distinct forms of social organisation (e.g. land tenure systems) and resource governance systems (Jackson: 11).

Neglect of Indigenous interests in water policy and management and strategies to address this neglect:

Indigenous people have historically been marginalised from water resource decisions, with large scale water resource developments have overlooking the social and economic impacts on Indigenous communities, and few contemporary management processes adequately involve Indigenous people (Jackson: 11). There have been some recent examples where steps have been taken by water resource agencies to consider Indigenous interests in water allocation planning, such as in the Ord River region of Western Australia, and the Daly River region of the Northern Territory. This involvement is important as many traditions relating to water can escape the attention of scientists and resource managers, who rely solely on measurable physical evidence. Indigenous knowledge of the ecological properties and functions of water could be useful when environmental assessments are undertaken, to better understand environmental change and adapting to environmental pressures (Jackson: 11).

A further consideration in the water reform process relates to matters of procedural justice: the need for effective Indigenous participation in the newer land and water management activities, such as integrated catchment management and water resource planning (Jackson 2005). In the past few years a number of resource management mechanisms have been adapted to recognise cultural values. There is now the concept of an environmental value or beneficial use under the National Water Quality Management Strategy... Others include the notion of a ‘cultural flow’ emerging from contributions to the Living Murray Initiative from the Murray Darling Basin’s Indigenous Nations (Morgan 2003 et al) and New

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy Zealand’s Cultural Health Index designed to accommodate Maori measures of river health (Tipa and Teirney 2003). These emerging initiatives need to be evaluated to ensure they are adequately addressing the needs of Indigenous people to pursue their own water use plans, to participate equitably in multi-stakeholder processes and derive benefits from changes to the water sector (Jackson: 12-13).

Information from workshop:

A number of Aboriginal people from the Daly region are aware of the damage done to southern river systems over the course of European occupation of this continent. For instance, when talking about the health of the Daly River, Biddy Lindsay, a Malak Malak elder, said that the Murray was ‘dry’. Biddy said ‘I’ve seen from TV from NSW, him dry’ (Jackson 2004). Interest has been expressed in learning more about what has happened in NSW and elsewhere, and in particular, in talking to other Indigenous groups about how they have been affected and their responses.

There are significant differences in the institutional issues and environmental conditions facing Indigenous communities in the Murray Darling region of Australia and the northern tropics, not least the current rates of consumption of water resources. ANU student Jessica Weir highlighted one of the key contextual differences affecting environmental flow allocation decisions between northern and southern Australia:

It is very difficult to talk to Governments about returning water to the river. When traditional owners talk to government about cultural values down south it is different to up here in the north because in the Murray people are asking for their water back, whereas in the Daly the water is still there. The traditional owners in the Murray are very often talking what they have lost. They talk about getting water back (Jackson: 14).

In the Murray Darling Basin, support has been provided to the Murray Lower Darling River Indigenous Nations (MLDRIN) to develop a coherent response to the challenges posed by years of neglect of Indigenous interests and the strong competition for water resources. The notion of a ‘cultural flow’ has been developed to ensure a specific allocation is made to protect Indigenous priorities. Under this proposal each Indigenous Nation can give their allocation of water to the environmental flow or use it for economic development opportunities (Jackson: 14).

Matt Rigney, Chairman of the Murray Lower Darling River Indigenous Nations, spoke at the workshop. His presentation revealed how much had been lost or impaired in southern Australia, highlighting for the participants from north Australia what can be learnt from these examples, and how to act accordingly. Matt Rigney told of the extensive environmental impacts and the possible damage to Indigenous burial grounds:

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy We have burial grounds where the old people remain. If we don’t look after our religious, spiritual and cultural values the water level in the Murray will be allowed to drop to such low flows that it will expose our old people’s remains to the rain and sun. These burial grounds are vulnerable to damage and they need protection (in Jackson: 15).

John Gilmour, a director of the NT Department of Natural Resources, Environment and the Arts, reminded the workshop of the differences between the north and south, and raised the challenge for northern resource managers and communities:

When I go to meetings down south they talk about how they need to give water back to the environment. All the water and land is allocated and the discussion is about how to return water to the environment. We’re not in that position. In the Murray Darling it’s too late – we don’t want the same thing happening in the Daly. We need to know how much water can be used, how much is available? (in Jackson:15).

Definition of cultural values:

Matt Rigney identified the need to talk further about what is meant by the term ‘cultural values’ and how it translates across cultures:

We often talk about cultural values. What does ‘cultural values’ of water mean for Aboriginal people? (in Jackson: 17)

Jackson points out that there are no official water quality guidelines for cultural and spiritual values, unlike other environmental values.

Jessica Weir spoke about the limitation of key water management concepts, such as an environmental flow, from the perspective of Indigenous people in the Murra Darling region:

If you are a Mutti Mutti elder you can’t rely on the environmental flow to look after your country - your values aren’t behind those decisions… An environmental flow doesn’t know whose country it is, what language group. A cultural flow is about the relationship between the traditional owners and their country. The environmental flow doesn’t know those relationships (in Jackson: 17).

These matters of language, environmental philosophy, and classification within resource management were discussed throughout the workshop, revealing how important cultural and political processes are in influencing the way the world is conceived and acted upon. It reminds us of the need to reflect on how European or Western cultural ideas about nature, hunter-gatherer societies and economic development affect Indigenous people’s ability to express their needs and aspirations (Jackson: 17-18).

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy Marcia Langton and Peter Whitehead offered alternative ways of talking about cultural values. According to Peter Whitehead:

In my view, ‘cultural’ literally means anything that people believe or do to cope with their world and each other and is transmitted from generation to generation through learning… It is necessary to present a view of what is important for your well being rather than try and determine or segregate your values and views into cultural or economic or environmental categories. Most bureaucrats like to put things in boxes. Your view could build on your existing concerns about water or it could be made more comprehensive. You could present a more complete view using whatever images and issues give the strongest and clearest picture. This broader and stronger statement becomes the core from which particular concerns, like water, are drawn (in Jackson: 18).

Marcia Langton suggested abandoning ‘cultural’ and referring instead to Indigenous values, a term that can embrace issues which many resource managers tend to exclude from the category of value called ‘cultural’:

When people talk like that about water they are implying their resource management rules and practices. If you are on the coast you can’t take fresh water fish on the coast and gut them. A big cyclone will come if you break those rules. People share between salt and fresh water groups.

Thinking about cultural values and the way this term is used it, may be better to call them Aboriginal values and not cultural values (in Jackson: 18).

Indigenous values:

The importance of water to Indigenous people’s identity as well as their economic well being was often referred to during the workshop. Philip Goodman said:

Our culture is really important to us. Our culture sits in the river system… We believe the river provides for us properly, and for birds and animals. If something did happen, it’s our life: it provides bush tucker for us traditional owners (in Jackson: 18).

Indigenous people’s environmental philosophy is often described as holistic. For instance, the term ‘country’ encompasses land, water, sky, stars, ancestral pathways, minerals, people and social relations. However, in many resource management contexts, cultural values are narrowly defined and many assumptions about Indigenous societies affect how the term is interpreted by resource managers and stakeholders (Jackson: 19). An example of this is in the initial Daly River catchment planning process conducted in 2004, attention was given to sacred sites and cultural heritage but no action was taken to incorporate Indigenous people’s interests in and potential contributions to environmental research and economic activity (Jackson: 19). The NT Government now intends to

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy address Aboriginal people’s desire to explore economic opportunities from water use and agricultural development in the Daly, according to Peter Whitehead of NTRETA.

Marcia Langton asked workshop participants to consider how key words such a ‘cultural values’ can limit the terms of the debate:

The discussion needs to be wider than cultural values because of the way that economic values and cultural values are separated. In the non-indigenous world, economics and culture are treated differently, or separately. Should we be putting economies on the table within the ‘cultural’ values scope? What about cattle grazing, economic development, infrastructure for living? The rush to development doesn’t seem to be taking into account that Aboriginal people want a balance isn’t that in itself an Aboriginal value?

Cultural values doesn’t mean that there’s necessarily any conflict with economic values. They can be compatible like Margie’s example shows. The technocratic thinkers don’t see that. We have to find ways of point that out. Some scientists can’t see that contemporary Aboriginal culture has an economic component. An Aboriginal value is that people live on their land and continue to do so with their children. The history of the Daly River people has been entangled with economic development (in Jackson: 19).

Margie Daiyi of the Northern Land Council’s Executive explained how, in her country of the Finniss River region, her family had to re-establish an economic foundation through pastoralism before being able to deal with the weed infestations affecting the wetlands. Margie Daiyi sees no inherent conflict between the economic and cultural values held by her and her family:

When you talk about culture and economics. We had nothing. We had a big problem with mimosa. My uncles are from pastoral backgrounds. Their big dream was to own their own station. They needed to control mimosa. We’ve achieved land management and economic use. After we got our land back, we had a plan to run a station, but we needed money to build up the enterprise, to manage the land and to get rid of the mimosa. Now we have the land and our culture and stories.

Sacred sites were revealed after the mimosa was removed. You couldn’t see these places and now you can get there. I take my son there and we can name these places again: before they were invisible. People can achieve it if they’ve got the commitment and dedication (in Jackson: 19-20).

Other issues:

Taking account of Indigenous modes of decision-making and forms of political representation takes time and requires expertise within the non-Indigenous sectors or parties to a process. The workshop learnt of the efforts of the many Indigenous Nations in the Murray Darling Basin to form their own representative structure

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy (MLDRIN) through which they would engage and negotiate with the Murray Darling Basin Commission and Ministerial Council. The mechanism or framework to guide future relationships between indigenous and non-Indigenous resource managers and governments is the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding. Matt Rigney said:

On the 23rd March 2006, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed with the Murray-Darling Basin Commission. It is a small platform for us to open the door a little wider (in Jackson: 21).

Paper 2 Matt Rigney: The role of the Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations (MLDRIN) in protecting cultural values in the Murray Darling Rivers (pp 25‐30)

MLDRIN was formed in 1999 after the Yorta Yorta Native Title claim for part of the region was unsuccessful. The YortaYorta decided to meet with all the Aboriginal Nations from along the Murray River. We now have ten Nations of Aboriginal people in the Confederacy that we call MLDRIN (These are the Wiradjuri, Yorta Yorta, Taungurung, Wamba Wamba, Barapa Barapa, Mutti Mutti, Wadi Wadi, Latji Latji, Weragaia, and Ngarrindjeri (Weir 2006))… On the 23rd March 2006, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed with the Murray-Darling Basin Commission (Rigney: 25).

Values:

What does ‘cultural values’ of water mean for Aboriginal people? Maybe the paradigm needs to be changed a little, so that religious and spiritual aspects are included within cultural values. We have to talk more about our spiritual and religious values. We as Aboriginal people don’t have policies on land and water - we are following those of the governments. So we said ‘we are going to develop our own charter, policies and programs and see where the government can then fit in with us’ (Rigney: 26).

Issues:

The MOU gives us a small opportunity to look at six ecological assets identified by the Living Murray program . There are the six significant areas identified by the Murray Darling Basin Commission including the Barmah forest. This forest is dying because of damage to major wetlands. We don’t want to call them ‘wetlands’; that’s a white fella word. We want to call them ‘nurseries’. We need to change the thinking.

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In 1981 the Murray River mouth closed up for the first time. No water flowed out to the sea. There was no estuary; mixing of salt water and fresh water, no water coming down (Rigney: 27).

Strategies:

A flagship project with CSIRO is researching Indigenous values of water with the Ngarrindjeri down at the Coorong. There are intellectual property rights over reports, as we are providing the information on these sacred sites and other areas and we have the intellectual property over that information. We say ‘you can’t use this information unless traditional owners give their permission’.

There is also the National Water Initiative that will impact on people all across Australia. MLDRIN thinks it is a God-given right to have air and water; it’s a basic part of human rights. Water rights are now a tradeable commodity; so water is now a major moneyspinner for landowners. The government has turned water into a money-spinner. It’s become so expensive that Aboriginal people are missing out on the opportunities from water. Aboriginal people are missing out on generating income and health.

That’s why we are looking to MOUs and legally binding agreements with catchment management committees. MOUs are a first step with a view to an agreement which is formal and binding with water catchment authorities. We hope to get resources out of these agreements and arrangements to manage our country (Rigney: 28).

Problems with water management in the Murray:

The management of water is not taken care of well in the Murray. They have dammed up our rivers in the system with locks and weirs. These become polluted. There are:

• stagnant waters • weirs and irrigation locks • crop dumping of oranges; a lot of water has gone into their growth, then they • are dumped if prices are low.

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy Under The Living Murray document, in August 2003, the state governments committed $500 million to buy back 500 gigalitres of water. To date, they haven’t bought back one litre but there’s a lot of water trading going on.

It is outrageous what has happened to our waterways in this country.

Nine species of fish have been lost in the last 10 years and two-thirds of the Coorong, which is an internationally known Ramsar site, are irreparably damaged. Six million dollars is spent on dredging the Murray River mouth every year.

The birdlife is suffering too. For example, pelicans are moving to Lake Eyre to breed because the Coorong is too salty (Rigney: 29).

Ways to address these problems and things to think about:

We have some small Aboriginal licences to water and some Aboriginal people are considering whether they should lease out water licenses to farmers.

What we need is capacity building. There is a need for capacity building and management skills amongst our people.

We also want to work with all out brothers and sisters across the country. You have so much to give. We have to maintain rock-solid that our value of water is totally different to that of the white fellows. Water for us is for religion, and spiritual and cultural values (Rigney: 29).

…If we can help you out, there is no doubt in our minds that you can help us out. We want to form alliances right across Australia. We are the science people, we know where the bush tucker is, where the medicine is, and when to hunt. We know the cycle of most of the things that happen in our country; fish breeding times, crustaceans, where the swan eggs are.

If there’s not enough water coming down the river the swans don’t lay their eggs. They need the water in the season when they lay.

What the government has been doing is all about money. It’s not about maintaining the people (Rigney: 30).

Paper 3 Jessica Weir. Cultural flows in the Murray‐Darling Basin (pp 31‐41)

Issues:

Annual diversions from the Murray are over 10 000 gigalitres from a total storage capacity of around 5 000 gigalitres. Only 2 % of the Murray’s river flow gets to

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy the mouth nowadays. There are now two cranes working 24 hours a day to remove sand from the mouth of the Murray and prevent it from closing up (Weir: 31).

…The changes that have occurred have been seen and felt in the past fifty years. Dams were built in the 1930s. Matt Rigney can no longer drink the water that he drank as a child. Water quality has dropped with high sediment loads making the water cloudy, you are not able to see into the water. You can’t spear fish. There are now only 10% of native fish left and it is very difficult to see them because the water is so muddy. This river system used to be like your Daly – there were yabbies, turtles and fish (Weir: 32).

Monica Morgan (a Yorta Yorta woman who helped establish MLDRIN) told Jessica Weir how her elders taught her that when the duck weed comes down the river it is time to go up to the lakes to collect the swan eggs. Now the duck weed does not come down. Water comes in the summer now, not the winter, because farmers need the water in the summer. The water use for irrigation is a reverse of how the water used to flow. All of this has happened in a short time. People cannot pass on their experiences and their knowledge to their children (Weir: 32).

Values and issues:

It is current government policy to return water to the rivers. This is to be done by setting environmental flows. The MLDRIN speaks to the government about a cultural flow. Environmental flow is about plants, animals, water quality – the health of the river. The environmental flow is what the Government is trying to buy back from the farmers. Compared to the amount of water used for irrigation, it is only a small amount (Weir: 33).

There are 2 key elements of cultural flows that relate to: • Identity, and • Self-determination

MLDRIN have found that there are problems with the adequacy of the environmental flows, as well as the assumption that they will protect Indigenous interests.

Some of these issues include:

• Water is released from dams into rivers but the water is too cold or polluted for species that live and breed in the river. This causes fish kills and yabbies to crawl up tree trunks out of the water because they can’t live in the river anymore.

• The environmental flow is trying to replicate the natural flow but there is a lot of competition for water from all the industry groups. For example, there is not enough water to sustain flood levels for birds breeding in rivers (Weir: 34).

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy Some of the issues of environmental flows in relation to how the traditional owners wish to look after the country include:

• Environmental flows don’t distribute water to countries sensibly or fairly. One country may get water but another doesn’t. An environmental flow does not know whose country it is, what language group. A cultural flow is about the relationship between the traditional owners and their country. The environmental flow does not know those relationships (Weir: 34).

Issues with definitions and concepts:

The Government think that environmental flows and cultural flows are separate, whereas traditional owners are thinking about a holistic world where country, life and water are connected. The problem is that the Government is likely to place their understanding of culture in a smaller box – it is dance and language, etc, not about the environment (Weir: 35).

MLDRIN members have spoken to me about how at first they didn’t realisethese differences in their negotiations with government about ‘natural resourcemanagement’. They thought ‘natural resource management’ meant ‘caring for country’. Now, they talk about how the language used by government controls and regulates what they are trying to say. There are different intellectual traditions behind the same words, being spoken at the same negotiation tables about water management (Weir: 35).

How to address some of these problems:

An understanding of the different assumptions made by the different intellectual traditions is needed at the water management negotiation table. The government needs to learn from the traditional owners about cultural flows, but they also need to learn about their own western knowledge traditions. The MLDRIN members argue that the current bad health of the Murray River is a failure of the western knowledge tradition which has separated ‘nature’ and ‘culture’ or ‘nature’ and ‘humans’ (Weir: 36).

For the traditional owners, their arguments about the cultural flow require a paradigm shift in how the Murray River is understood, otherwise the cultural flow will just become part of the western knowledge tradition, and will lose its meaning. This is also an opportunity for the traditional owners to have more self-determination at the negotiation table. With more self-determination to care for country, the traditional owners do not have to always be interpreting their different knowledge traditions for government. Traditional owners have responsibilities to care for country, so this self-determination is an important part of their identity (Weir: 36).

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy Paper 4 Margie Daiyi. Cultural values and economic development: finding the balance (pp 42‐50)

This paper relates to the Daly River but it raised some interesting issues that could also be experienced by Indigenous people in southern Australia.

Thoughts and issues:

In the past Aboriginal societies had their own vibrant economy. Land holding groups were linked through institutions that facilitated trade and exchange systems. These were both secular and sacred. The river was the focal point for all groups. Ongoing trade and exchange ensured that all groups had access to the river and its resources. Such complex social organisation was necessary so all groups could survive the sometimes harsh dry seasons no matter how far from the river.

Cultural practice has adapted to changing conditions but the Daly River landscape was and still is a living cultural landscape.

How do we define ‘cultural landscape’? How do I as a traditional owner make you the non-indigenous, understand what this means?

Well, I think it’s reasonably straightforward: it’s like the suburbs, like Casuarina, Nakara and Malak in Darwin. All of these different places, similar but slightly different and interconnected by paths and roadways. Except, in the Aboriginal context these pathways are invisible unless you are from that society.

I am aware that in recent years much dialogue and planning has gone into the sustainable use of the region’s many and diverse natural resources, particularly its water source.

Determining the “How’s” and “Why’s” and best practices to utilise these resources in a sustainable manner will no doubt be the significant factor in all discussions. We must always remember to not only think of today, but tomorrow as well.

The history of agriculture and development of the Daly region created a great deal of trauma for Aboriginal people, and in recent years they have been excluded from decision-making processes in the region.

Today, as we view it, there are three key questions to be answered in relation to the continued development and sustainable use of the Daly River region. These questions are:

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy • How do we achieve an NRM management partnership for the catchment where Aboriginal people have real input and a real stake in management control?

• How do Aboriginal people participate in and benefit from any new development?

• How do Aboriginal people find a balance between economic development and their cultural values? (Daiyi: 45).

Ideas and solutions:

The Daly Aboriginal Reference Group (the ARG) has considered these questions over the twelve months and drafted a management framework for the Daly region . These are some of the key points:

• The matter of sustainability is a long term project. The involvement of the ARG will need to be ongoing, and not merely extended over a two- year period.

• Work with the government will need to continue to strengthen existing institutional arrangements and the functions of the ARG. And the ARG should be recognised as a decision making power, and not one existing merely for the ‘rubber stamping’ of programs.

• All development in the Daly River region should be based on Ecologically Sustainable Development principles and the principles set out in the ARG Management Framework.

• Moreover, equitable partnerships with government, business and research institutions will need to be developed, as will strict controls and compliance through on-ground enforcement and legislative review.

• Entrenched zoning systems will assist in the creation of adequate buffer zones, closed areas, and river bank access.

• Work will also need to be conducted at the high policy level with government to improve and strengthen any existing or new policy or legislation.

Aboriginal people will manage their own cultural practice and heritage – what is required is a management framework backed by legislative and on ground controls. This framework will set out how we relate to Government.

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy In the period 2002-2004, the Daly River region produced over $40 million in revenue.

With the region generating revenue such as this, it is vital that Aboriginal people are invited to participate, not only for the cultural knowledge they possess, but to also become participants in an activity that has a direct impact on their lives and their traditional lands.

As the largest land owning and effected group in the region, it makes sound practical and economical sense to involve Aboriginal people in all developments in the region (Daiyi: 46).

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy APPENDIX 2

Jessica Weir, April 2006. Making the connection between water and sustaining Indigenous cultural life. Social and Institutional Research Programme

Key Summary

Format: Research paper

Project/Process: Reflections on the progress made by Indigenous people in contributing to water management, particulalry amongst the Murray Lower Darling Indigenous Nations (MLDIN)

Where & When: 2006

Aim: To not only describe the gap he way Indigenous interests in water are understood by water managers, but to outline the implications of this lack of progress in engaging Indigenous people in water policy development and models for moving forward.

Participants: Primarily based on engagement with the Murray Lower Darling Indigenous Nations

Background of project – issues and participants

In this paper, Jessica Weir explores the issue of Indigenous understanding, use of, and rights to, water. She also presents some suggestions and strategies to address he fact that water managers have made minimal progress in engaging with Indigenous people about water policy abd management.

Water issues are now a national priority, as evidenced by the development of the National Water Initiative. Despite Indigenous water concerns making an entrance in government thinking in the National Water Initiative, the context of competing claims to a finite resource makes scarce allowance for the rights arguments of Indigenous peoples. Indigenous peoples in southern Australia are further marginalised in water debates by authenticity formulas such as native title which contest the legitimacy of their identity as traditional owners.

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy This research project has only been possible because of a research agreement that was successfully negotiated between myself and the alliance of traditional owners: the Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations (MLDRIN). MLDRIN was formed in 1999 to establish a governance structure for the traditional owners to increase their involvement in the water debates held in broader forums, and to strengthen the capacity of traditional owner groups themselves to engage with water law and policy. MLDRIN is an alliance of ten Nation groups from along the Murray River and its tributaries, currently: the Wiradjuri, Yorta Yorta, Taungurung, Wamba Wamba, Barapa Barapa, Mutti Mutti, Wadi Wadi, Latji Latji, Weragaia, and Ngarrindjeri Nations.

…It also examines how the traditional owners communicate a holistic philosophy about water within a management and policy context that would otherwise separate nature and culture. The intercultural setting within which the traditional owners negotiate has fostered the creation of new concepts in NRM, including the concept of 'cultural flows'. This concept is a communicative device which could be implemented into policy and planning to recognise the culturally different relationship that the traditional owners have with the water.

Key findings of project

…For the traditional owners, country is where they practise and pass on, revive and reclaim, their heritage, their identity, and their spirituality. The massive ecological changes that have occurred along the Murray, the Darling, and their tributaries, have directly impacted on the identities of the traditional owners. For example, going fishing, collecting bush foods and medicines and collecting grasses for basket weaving are all activities that are difficult to do if the fish, bush foods, medicines, and grasses are no longer present. The Elders in particular have seen dramatic changes over their lifetime, because the largest water storages were only built in the last 70 years.

Now, without the life of country that was sustained by the rivers' flow, the Elders are unable to pass on to their children and grandchildren what they learnt from experience when they were young. This makes the traditional owners feel that their cultural practice is threatened. This is experienced as a present-day loss of cultural heritage.

Within this context, the traditional owners seek to protect what has not been destroyed from further damage, and to try to return water to important areas in country. Rather than denying the loss that has occurred, or succumbing to grief over lost connections, the traditional owners acknowledge the loss and are doing something about it. The formation of MLDRIN is a political response by the traditional owners to their desire to care for the river country. The criticisms the MLDRIN delegates make about contemporary water management, and their vision of the cultural flow, throws into relief the models of NRM that currently dominate

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy the rivers, and reveals the exploitative aspects of these models. The traditional owners are speaking of a much more connected appreciation of the rivers, embedded within networks of relationships, and this conception is also where ecologists are already headed in their theorising. By listening to the MLDRIN delegates, we can learn about an alternative relationship with the rivers which respects the life-sustaining flow of water.

Implications for policy

MLDRIN is a grassroots example of how traditional owners have developed a form of representation that can engage with NRM bureaucracies at a broader scale, beyond the Nation group. In the era following the abolition of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, examples of Indigenous governance arrangements such as this one provide a valuable model for other Indigenous peoples and governments to consider as a way of overcoming the inherently complex process of engagement between Indigenous and state governance structures.

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy APPENDIX 3

William Glenbar and Karen Milward. 2007. Report on the VEAC Indigenous Community Consultation Workshops

Key Summary

Format: Report on Community consultation workshops principally in northern Victoria

Project/Process: A series of workshops with Indigenous communities as part of the Victorian Environmental Assessmen Council (VEAC) River Red Gum Forests Investigation.

Where & When: 12 workshops held in March 2007

Aim: Aimed to give Indigenous people the opportunity comment on how they can be more fully involved in the planning, management and decision making processes relating to public land .

Participants: No specific detail available but groups consulted were determined through advice from Native Title Services Victoria

Indigenous Community Consultation Workshops were arranged as part of the VEAC River Red Gum Forests Investigation to give Indigenous people the opportunity to provide comments about how to involve Indigenous people more fully in the planning, management and decision making processes of public land. A series of Indigenous community consultation workshops were held in various locations within the River Red Gum Forests Investigation area. The following workshops were held:

10 March 2007 Echuca (Yorta Yorta Workshop) 14 March 2007 Wodonga 15 March 2007 Bendigo 16 March 2007 Echuca 17 March 2007 Swan Hill 18 March 2007 Barham (NSW) 18 March 2007 Deniliquin (NSW) 19 March 2007 Robinvale 20 March 2007 Mildura 21 March 2007 Berri (SA) 22 March 2007 Shepparton

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy 25 March 2007 Thornton (Glenbar and Milward: 4).

Indigenous people and Traditional Owner group representatives would like to have formal agreements in place with public land management agencies including professional development/training options, work placements, scholarships, traineeships, jobs, service contracts and consulting fees as part of the agreement process (Glenbar and Milward: 2).

Access to public land areas within the River Red Gum Forests Investigation area was also raised as a key issue given that connection to country was still a very strong factor in the lives of many workshop participants. It was strongly indicated that local knowledge about water flows, flora and fauna biodiversity, and traditional Indigenous land management practices on specific pieces of public land would be a key contribution that Indigenous stakeholders could make as part of any future involvement in public land management, planning and decision-making processes.

Other suggestions were put forward:

Indigenous people want legislative changes to allow them permanent access to public land so they can undertake ‘Traditional Cultural Practices’ and, where possible, for agencies to issue Indigenous people with permits for ‘recreational fishing’ etc at no cost – ie for free.

That information workshops be organised so Indigenous people living in the study area could gain a better understanding about the roles and responsibilities of management agencies in relation to public land areas (Glenbar and Milward: 3).

From the perspective of a majority of workshop participants, there did not appear to be anything in place at present which was working when it come to involving Aboriginal people in public land planning, management and decision-making processes.

However, it also appeared that most workshop participants had limited awareness of other agreements being implemented in Victoria. This includes the Wotjobaluk, Jaadwa, Jadawadjali, Wergaia and Jupagalk Native Title Settlement under which the State Government allocated three parcels of culturally significant land totalling 45 ha and funding of $2.6 million over five years to meet costs associated with land management activities (Glenbar and Milward: 9).

The majority of workshop participants also raised the issue of administrative capacity or lack thereof as an issue impacting on their ability to participate in both natural resource management and public land planning, management and decision-making processes:

Most Traditional Owner groups who have an interest in public land within the study area do not receive regular or ongoing income (grants or otherwise) to have in place staff and/or a basic administrative structure to manage their interactions with government agencies (Glenbar and Milward: 10).

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North West Victoria MOU

In 2005, Government agencies and statutory authorities responsible for public land in North West Victoria commenced discussions and negotiations with Traditional Owners in the North West region in to negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) document. The purpose of this document is to outline how members of each group would work together in the region. Once agreement is reached, it is anticipated that all government agencies and Traditional Owner groups will have an agreed process in place confirming the working relationships between each group for planning, management and decision-making issues on public land (Glenbar and Milward: 11).

Issues

However, there are some elements missing from the current process. One element raised and explored at most of the workshops was the creation of a ‘register of public land areas’ containing: a) a list of the public land areas which would be subject to the MOU process b) a list of the government agencies who have responsibility for these area of public land c) a list of the Traditional Owner groups who have responsibilities for these area of public land

Such a register would confirm which Aboriginal group and/or person public land management agency staff should contact when consultation was needed.

Non‐traditional Indigenous people

Another issue raised was of the importance of non-traditional Indigenous people and their knowledge:

“Recognised” traditional owners have recently become more prominent, but non- traditional owners Aboriginal people are the ones with expertise, contacts, partnerships, resources and identify as custodians (“new”traditional owner groups often not turning up to meetings etc.) (Glenbar and Milward: 12).

There is also a need to consider non-traditional Indigenous people who may still have an important contribution to make based on their personal and/or professional knowledge and expertise. It is unclear how this contribution fits with existing and it may be necessary to include this issue in any process which is put in place to create a framework for involving Indigenous people in public land planning, management and decision- making processes (Glenbar and Milward: 16).

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy The view was expressed by a majority of workshop participants that ‘hand-back lease- back’ options for some of the public land within the River Red Gum Forests study area would be welcome. It was suggested that where this does occur, the beneficiaries of these arrangements in the first instance need to be Traditional Owner groups. However, there will obviously be a need to ensure that processes are put in place that allow for full participation and benefits to occur for all Indigenous people who are part of these groups. The main problem with this at the moment is that a number of Traditional Owner groups do not appear to have the capacity or processes in place to clearly identify who is or is not a member of their group, particularly where a number of their members live ‘off- country’ (Glenbar and Milward:19).

It was suggested that public land management agencies be encouraged to conduct regular information sessions with Indigenous groups in their regions as part of an ongoing capacity building for future increased levels of involvement in planning, management and decision-making process. Information gathered in these sessions could then be incorporated into agency ‘action plans’.

Specific issues raised by workshop participants

• A general lack of information about public land management and a need for more interpretation signage and consultations with all government bodies, information about local land administration, who manages each area of public land, community assistance or workshops to find out more about public land administration and public land categories. This also needs to reach Aboriginal people in remote areas.

• Some groups have put various land management proposals to government agencies and received mostly no response, while other have had no interaction with public land managers. More partnerships with government were promoted (working within existing frameworks).

• For effective Indigenous participation there is a need to over-ride state borders as these are political constructs and have little to do with Indigenous and natural resource managementobjectives (cross border issues). Governments in NSW and Victoria need to consider and look at region as one River (Murray). Any cross border issues need to be negotiated and agreed to by all stakeholders.

• A need to educate Aboriginal kids in primary school first about their culture. Resources like the internet connected, laptops and printers to do assignments are important.

• A need to look at the bigger global picture to make sure something is left for the children, Traditional owners and other Indigenous groups to sign up to agreements all the time. “If we want to do something to the land we have to put something back so there is something left to do on the land”.

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy • Local and regional employment strategies – DSE facilitators need to come out and meeting with Traditional Owners to discuss the employment strategies and professional development opportunities so we fully understand and know about it (Glenbar and Milward: 19).

• More employment opportunities should be provided in government departments and agencies andlocal mob preferred for jobs rather than Aboriginal people who are not involved in community orwho don’t have local knowledge.

• Employ on a contract basis local Aboriginal people who are keen and have local knowledge and then give them the right training, support and skills. Some workshop participants wanted this to be negotiated with Traditional Owners only. A register can be established of people that want to provide a service e.g. consultant and contractors register. Establish scholarships, traineeships and a career path. Training for on-ground works (chain saw, chemical use and 4WD etc.) or hands on involvement in management tasks. Aboriginal controlled training facilities should be supported to establish skills training for land management

• Service Contracts between government agencies and Traditional Owner groups is a good idea. These could include a payment for a set number of hours of consultation each year. This would provide an income source to support Aboriginal community participation.

• If you do cultural work they should be getting paid for their time and expertise (e.g. professionals such as archaeologists). For example Aboriginal people involved in cultural heritage assessment processes (e.g. assessment of logging coups) have not received payment or re-imbursement for participation costs or expert knowledge and time provided to the land manager. In other places public land managers haven’t consulted Aboriginal people and will not have the cultural knowledge to know if these areas are sensitive (i.e. scarred or birthing trees).

• Funding and resourcing are needed for government meetings, elders meetings and administration, informed consent etc for involvement in public land management. Community engagement – think about as part of the negotiation process. Indigenous peoples’ participation in government processes is restricted due to the low socio-economic situation. Participation in planning and decision-making processes would be improved if costs and expenses are covered.

• Need to have support provided so that Traditional Owner groups can sort out who is who and assistance where there are disputes or disagreements amongst or between groups. Funds are required for administrative support, as there is no capacity to do this currently. Those groups that are receiving government support are much better placed to participate.

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy • Government agencies should not negotiate with just one person from a clan or tribal group as a short cut–negotiations and meeting should be with all Traditional Owner group members.

• A need for Aboriginal people to share knowledge and the workload. There currently exists a range of specialist knowledge and expertise. Funding is needed to allow the time and women with young children to undertake the study and the training required to actively and effectively participate in public land and resource management.

• Intellectual property rights and dispute resolution need to be included – secured and protected if Traditional Owners are to participate in public land planning and decision-making.

• A need to get consent with the registered parties for any agreements that have cultural sensitivity.

• Greater focus should be given to water as this system provides the fabric for communities and environmental connections. Aboriginal people in the study area are interested in environmental flows and use of water by industry and would like more transparency in these arrangements. There were many problems described with the health of the river including salinity and the system is being poisoned.

• Senior Management needs to do their homework first and change their policies and vision statements at the top level. There needs to be a reporting mechanism to measure what needs to be achieved. This is also reflected in inconsistencies between public land management agencies and different offices operational practices. They have to be trained and there must be repercussions in place if policies or agreements are not implemented or followed.

• Need access to resources for cultural practices and artefacts e.g. making boomerangs, stone tools and potential for business enterprises such has highly specialised cottage industries with high value add. Its not just about scarred trees, artefacts, weed and pest control. It is also about bush tucker access and traditional hunting and gathering rights in all public land including parks.

• Indigenous groups to receive a percentage of revenue from activities on public land (e.g. timber industry) (Glenbar and Milward: 20).

It was confirmed by workshop participants that spiritual connections with country were still quite strong, even where people lived off-country. Access to specific sites within public land areas was seen as under-pinning Aboriginal identity and expression. The connection with Aboriginal cultural heritage sites on public and private lands remains a prime goal of many Aboriginal people, especially those people within the boundaries of the River Red Gum Forests study area.

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy

Many stories were told at the workshops about the importance and inter-relationship of Aboriginal cultural heritage and land management practices. The issue of biodiversity was raised on a number of occasions and this was seen as critical to understanding the relationship and connection with Aboriginal cultural values, environmental practices and environmental health:

There are issues with the Red Gums needing to survive as they are being used for firewood. They are cut to the stumps and just left there. This needs to be repaired too in the context of biodiversity

…Big interest in the environmental flows – end of the river and the problems with salinity and now its building up and poisoning the system. Pumping in environmental flows in one area and then for other areas. They are robbing the river system and robbing it of the Murray cods (Glenbar and Milward: 21).

A number of workshop participants raised the issue of cultural practices being an important issue today and that cultural heritage was not something that only exists from a historical or archaeological perspective:

Cultural practices on country, particularly in national parks; we need continued access for hunting rights and traditional foods (Glenbar and Milward: 21).

A majority of workshop participants would like to see arrangements put in place where Aboriginal people can have access to areas on public land so they can continue with their cultural practices. If this occurs, it was suggested that an Aboriginal Cultural Practices Permit System or similar be put in place to monitor who is accessing and using resources on public land. Whilst it was not clear how this system should operate, it was suggested that representatives of Traditional Owner groups should have some authority to vet and approve permit applications which relate to public land areas where they are acknowledged as the custodians (Glenbar and Milward: 21).

Wodonga Indigenous Workshop (14 March 2007) Wodonga Indigenous Workshop (14 March 2007)

‘Recognised’ Traditional Owners have recently become more prominent, but non- Traditional Owners Aboriginal people are the ones with expertise, contacts, partnerships, resources and identify as custodians (‘new’ traditional owner groups often not turning up to meetings etc.) (Glenbar and Milward: 22)

Bendigo Indigenous Workshop (15 March 2007)

Involvement of Indigenous people in public land planning, management & decision-making processes is something that we are working on and want to see

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy more of, however, it is not appropriate for staff of the government agencies to say who is/is not eligible to be a part of this process (Glenbar and Milward: 23).

Echuca Indigenous Workshop (16 March 2007)

Uses of land

Hunting and gathering. Reference areas for plants – medicine and food. Cultural practice (without other people interrupting /conflicts) (Glenbar and Milward: 24).

Swan Hill Indigenous Workshop (17 March 2007)

Government and community need to recognise that we are not all just ‘Aboriginals’ but that we are very different and diverse groups, clans, etc and we are still working through what government did to Traditional owner groups. We don’t want to outsell our historical and cultural significance.

We need more registers on camp sites except for the traditional owners. Have only one spot to put the boats. The area should be a day camp area not all the time – so it is used as a swimming hole. Dogs are in the forest which is a real hazard. State forests have flexibility on its use and in national parks there is no flexibility.

There should be Indigenous businesses to grow bardi grubs and native fish through aquaculture, worm culture and grub culture. Bardi grubs are dug up and sold for $1 to catch Murray cod in the river. The people that dig up the grubs are leaving massive holes and a big mess (Glenbar and Milward: 26).

…Wetlands and the Mallee lands – what the Traditional Owners know about these things is important.

Let’s put salt bushes back and not just mine or quarry them. We need to keep the story lines going (Glenbar and Milward: 27).

Barham Indigenous Workshop (18 March 2007)

Restoring the natural water course. Traditional Owners in the area should have a great say in Indigenous land management of the study area. Traditional owners had not a lot to do in the last 12 years.

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Drought, devastation by bush fires and governments – loss of flora and fauna. It has spewed carbon into the atmosphere. No wild bush fires have occurred in this area for many years. Like to see real environmentalists do something about this. Siphoning off the artesian basin is causing inland salinity problems.

Our environmental lobbyists are not tackling the big guns – ie. Fuel companies and emissions and this should be done by an independent environmental body.

Flooding of our forests down the back – hugely detrimental as organic matter builds up and too many of the cod are floating down the river. Not just our forests suffering but the people and the land and no economic or social outcomes.

Environmental flush went above Torumbarry in 2004 and the Barmah Forest in Murray and Enima (?) Rivers. The crayfish were walking out of the water. Crayfish dormant in summer but they were walking out to get oxygen – millions of them.

The Government flush the Barmah and Moira Forests (between Albury and Torumbarry) flood it a month and a half before the school holidays to provide enough water to the Mildura Irrigators downstream. They sometimes overflow in the bend. Barmah gets a lot of little floods and stresses the trees because the water system is so controlled and managed in the off-peak seasons to get the crop owners/farmers/irrigators upsetting natural water flow and flooding.

…A lot of the water is taken for the environmental flow per month of the Murray and silt. Lot of the water for environmental flow has been traded to big industry and sold off.

The Macquarie Bank purchased water from the NSW government and a trading exchange was set up which has been occurring for many years.

This has been happening with the Macquarie Bank taking water from the exchange system for big business in the area. Over allocated farms are now asked to sell back some of their allocations ie. A number of water rights (some have 3 or 4 water rights). Farms that only have one water right cant do water run off to the river. If water not there the pipelines will be empty. Majority of public don’t know what is really going on. Swan Hill only on Level 1 restrictions. Some farms bought their water and the government confiscated 52% of their water back with no compensation.

When big industry come to country towns (Safeway, almond farmers, grapes, etc) they draw on the water resources in that area. Ie. grapes are saturating the market and using too much water. Big industry come in and go out – ie. Timbercorp – all the little industries suffer while the big industries take up all the existing resources.

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In the Albury catchment area all the native tree species were removed and replaced with pine plantations which is devastating on flora and fauna. Big industry has come in and taken away all the gum trees in that area with devastating effects (Glenbar and Milward: 28).

…Water flow is a big issue – needs to be managed properly by local Indigenous and non-Indigenous community.

We need to get information on how much water has been allocated to the big industries and over what period of time and for what cost.

Let’s do it right! The ear plugs are still in government. There has to be a balance with what water is allocated for in the future (Glenbar and Milward: 29).

Robinvale Indigenous Workshop (19 March 2007)

The Munatunga Mission – the man who has freehold on the right side of the mission property has put up fences and blocked off access for our people to the river area so the Elders and community can’t get to the river to fish and do their cultural practices that they have done for years. The guy had a fall out with his mate as his mate didn’t want to put up the fence as he hadn’t consulted with the Elders on the mission (this is how we found out about it all).

We don’t know if DSE know about it and if they do and if they gave the man permission to put up the fencing. There are fences going up by DSE and Parks Victoria in Gadsden Bend State Forest, Belsar Island State Forest in the middle and down to and right up to and past the Murray – Kulkyne Regional Park and then up to Wemen.

…We need to plant more trees in the forest areas to keep them clean, including getting involved in flood areas for scarred trees – manage that area that don’t have access to at the moment and try to get to as many public land management meetings as possible (Glenbar and Milward: 31).

…Irrigation developments — most have been cleared. Most areas were dry land farming (now thousands of hectares) is back up and has almond farms instead.

Very big large pumps in the river are impacting as they pump too much water.

Investigation study should have been done for the North west (DSE only do internal studies) need public comment to be made available.

Indigenous spiritual and biodiversity values are not being considered.

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy Lake Tyrell and fault line. Water doesn’t hit the fault line. Almond tree roots go right down and out and suck up too much water.

Trading water upstream for industry trade downstream to operate.

…Water flood plain area needs to be discussed. Environmental water flows, not just about maintaining the health of the river bed but it is also abut the floodplains for whatever the amount of time that is required (Glenbar and Milward: 32).

Berri (SA) Indigenous Workshop (21 March 2007)

…The river is a system. Aboriginal people travelled the whole river from the mouth to the mountains and used it as a trading route.

… Greater focus should be given to water as water is a system too and this provides the fabric for communities and environmental connections (Glenbar and Milward: 33).

Thornton Workshop (25 March 2007)

Fishing rights – traditional ways – grasses to make baskets. Only take from the land what you need. There should not be restrictions for Traditional owners and Aboriginal people. Should be restrictions to only use for cultural purposes. It is each tribe’s responsibility to teach the young people about the traditional ways. Permits for access to country for traditional tools and practices (Glenbar and Milward: 36).

… Traditional owner’s get a percentage % off all the permits that are issued ie camping, fishing, accommodation, timber cutting, loggers, payment for taking wood off the traditional owners land and a percentage from Parks Victoria (Glenbar and Milward: 37).

Echuca (Yorta Yorta people only) Workshop (10 March 2007)

The Barmah Lake is the only natural lake left along the Murray River. It used to be a big ‘supermarket’ for the flora and fauna and for the Aboriginal people. On the Lake there is no birds nesting. All the birds are now gone. Our young ones can’t do what we went through in the old days as there is nothing there now.

… The Murray River has never been a boundary between Yorta Yorta people and other Aboriginal nations.

… Victoria and SA want a holistic approach to water management and NSW’s political alliances are holding it up (Glenbar and Milward: 38).

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy … If government says you can have Barmah and Barmah Lakes –we can let it go back to its natural ways. We don’t have to get the wood any more. Not getting any river flow for the Ibis to have their young. The Ibis birds would turn the tap on and off. Chicks were not ready to be left on their own. This needs to return to its natural state.

… Our wetlands need protecting (Glenbar and Milward: 40).

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy APPENDIX 4

Bardy McFarlane. 2004. The National Water Initiative and acknowledging indigenous interests in planning.

Key Summary

Format: Paper exploring ways in which Indigenous people can influence natural resource management, including water management

Project/Process: Synthesis of work on Indigenous peoples’ values in realin to water and water management.

Where & When: Paper presented at the National Water Conference 2004

Aim: To explore the ways in which natural resource management and cultural practice are intertwined for Indigenous peoples and to propose a model for better incorporation of Indigenous interests within the water management framework.

Participants: Conference delegates.

Issue: Holistic approach

To Indigenous people the management and use of natural resources is enmeshed in cultural practice and the exercise of cultural responsibility. This view merges cultural heritage and natural resource management into a single concept, rather than seeing them as discrete elements to be dealt with separately, which is the way most Australian jurisdictions conceptualise these issues. Acknowledging and reconciling these fundamentally different starting points will be essential for the successful integration of indigenous interests into the water management framework (McFarlane: 1).

…The holistic nature of Indigenous peoples’ relationship to their land, their water, their whole environment is something that non-Indigenous Australians find difficult to conceptualise and understand. All the elements of the Indigenous peoples’ existence are inextricably linked: their cultural, spiritual, economic and social relationships all rely on each other for their continued existence and well-being. If one part is damaged or destroyed, all other parts are put under pressure. However, unless that relationship is understood and acknowledged it will be difficult for indigenous interests to be dealt with effectively (McFarlane: 2).

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Indigenous relationships to water

This paper looks at some aspects of indigenous culture and attempts to provide a context for these different approaches. It also suggests a model that can incorporate indigenous interests within the water management framework. Two of the topics included in this paper include:

• The traditional relationships of Indigenous people to water and the landscape in which it is located

• The effect development has had on these interests and relationships (McFarlane: 1).

McFarlane states:

The Indigenous relationship to water should not be construed on the notion of it being a mere resource or an inert commodity. Water not only supports physical life; it is a sacred source of life, identity, rights and responsibilities under indigenous law. It is inseparable from the land on which people live:

Indigenous law rests on a unity between land and waters – rivers, creeks, billabongs, springs, soaks, wetlands intertidal and coastal waters. Landscapes and waterscapes run together: they are united in the concept of ‘country’. People talk about country in the same way as they would talk about a person; they speak to country, sing to country, visit country, worry about country, feel sorry for country, and long for country. People say that the country knows, hears, smells, takes notice, takes care, is sorry or happy … Country is a living entity whether yesterday, today and tomorrow with a consciousness and the will towards life. Because of this richness, country is home and peace; nourishment for body mind and spirit; hearts ease (Deborah Bird Rose, 1996, ‘Nourishing terrains: Australian Aboriginal views of landscape and wilderness’, Canberra Australian Heritage Commission at 7, in McFarlane: 4).

Murray River Creation Story

In many Indigenous Dreaming stories, water creatures created and inhabit waterholes, the ocean, tidal creeks, springs and rivers. There is a creation story associated with the River Murray, telling of the giant cod:

Totyerguil was a mighty hunter. One day he left the Mallee Scrub, which was his country, and camped with his family close to present day Swan Hill. Soon his two wives, Gunewarra, the Black Swans, had a meal ready for him, and while he was eating it his two sons went collecting wattlegum, of which they were very fond.

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy When they arrived at a large water-hole they saw a huge fish basking in the sun close to the surface of the river. The two boys ran back to tell their father. Totyerguil quickly made a canoe, and when near the sleeping fish threw a spear with all his might, which struck it on the back, the spear remaining stuck upright between its shoulders. The fish, who was Otchout, the Cod, awoke with a start, and rushing towards the banks of the water-hole commenced to form a channel by tearing up the ground, and allowing the water to fill it up, so he could escape from his enemy. Otchout did this so rapidly that Totyerguil was unable to keep pace with him, and soon lost sight of him, although he kept on his trails by following the newly made river. At dusk Otchout excavated a long, wide billabong, where he rested for the night. Totyerguil, however, did not rest, and coming upon the sleeping codfish at daybreak next morning, was able to throw a second spear which struck Otchout in a spot immediately behind the first which was still protruding from the middle of his back. Otchout again ran off digging furiously, and once again escaped from his pursuer. That night he made another large billabong in which to rest, and there Totyerguil found him the next morning, and was able to wound him with a third spear, which struck the codfish just behind the place where the two former weapons were impaled.

This procedure was repeated over several days, until they reached the neighbourhood where Murray Bridge (in South Australia) has since been built, and there Otchout made a very large and deep water-hole in which he hid. He has since gone to the sky, where he became the star Delphinus. By this time Totyerguil had thrown all his spears, which are now the spines projecting from the back of the present day codfish. Not having any more spears, and being unable to find Otchout in the deep water- hole, he abandoned the chase, and landed upon the bank. There he set his canoe on its end, and stuck his paddle-pole upright on the ground. The canoe become a huge gum tree, and the paddle-pole a Murray pine, both of which trees were later pointed out to the children of the tribe when the story of making of the Murray River by Otchout, the codfish, was told. Ever since that time canoes have always been made from gum tree bark and paddle-poles from Murray Pine branches (Aldo Massola. 1968: Bunjil’s Cave: myths, legends and superstitions of the Aborigines of southeast Australia, Landsdowne Press, Melbourne, in McFarlane: 4-5).

McFarlane states:

The presence and nature of such water beings, and the relationship with people of their country, is a key to understanding the relationship of Indigenous people and water places, and therefore to understanding the cultural basis of Indigenous rights in water. Water sites are sources of life, and the regeneration of life in all its forms. They are often at the centre, or the heart of a person or group’s country and are frequently conception sites. An association with a particular water source provides one of the prime markers of individual identity; and the collective identities of Indigenous groups, and the relationships and links between them (McFarlane: 5).

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy Water and waterways have always played a significant part in the lives of Indigenous peoples:

… All over the Murray Darling Basin, inland waters were central to the Indigenous peoples’ economy and culture. Archaeologists over the last three or four decades have confirmed indigenous occupation in the riverine area for over 30,000 years. The resulting landscape/waterscape is a complex cultural network of significant places along the watercourses within the river system to which individuals and groups have spiritual connections and cultural responsibilities (McFarlane: 5-6).

Water issues and concerns

The concerns expressed in the earlier comments and the experiences recounted would be typical of those from across most catchments. Aboriginal communities continue to pay a heavy price for the ‘development’ that has occurred at their expense, and there appears to be little respite. For example, the mouth of the Murray River is silting up as decreased water flows in the river are unable to carry sediments out into the sea. This environmental catastrophe is attributed to the over- consumption of river waters by irrigators, and to massive land clearing in the Murray Darling Basin over the past century. The closure of the Murray mouth, and the associated loss of biodiversity, threatens the identity and way of life of the Ngarrindjeri people, their culture, stories and spirituality; their entire cosmology (McFarlane: 8).

…There is no exclusive property at common law in flowing water, but only once it has been captured. Water moving in a natural stream or underground is incapable of exclusive possession because it moves freely across boundaries and between different properties. The right to running water has always been properly described as a natural right, just like the right to the air that we breathe (McFarlane: 10).

Yorta Yorta

The Yorta Yorta case illustrates clearly the interplay between Indigenous aspirations in water, native title, and the kinds of agreement that can be reached to accommodate their social and economic aspirations. The Yorta Yorta native title claim involved an area of 1860 square kilometres along the Murray River. The application included parcels of vacant Crown land and reserved Crown lands, forestry reserves, nature conservation reserves, water supply reserves and Aboriginal lands. As I said earlier the fact of native title is the first time that many indigenous people have had the opportunity to raise their concerns about land and resource use and their social and economic aspirations. The Yorta Yorta pursued their claim to the High Court which ultimately determined that they had no native title. Although in the eyes of the legal system, the Yorta Yorta had failed to prove their case, the legal decision did not change their beliefs, the way they felt about the river or their relationship with it.

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy Despite the negative legal result the Yorta Yorta persisted and on 10 June 2004 the Victorian Government signed a co-operative land management agreement with the members of the Yorta Yorta nation1. The agreement recognises the Yorta Yorta peoples’ connection to their traditional land and waters and values the Yorta Yorta peoples’ involvement in planning, management and protection of the environment. The agreement covers crown lands and waters including Kow Swamp, Barmah state park and Barmah state forest along sections of the Murray and Goulbourn rivers – a total area of approximately 50,000 hectares. The agreement acknowledges the Yorta Yorta nation’s cultural connection to country and creates a partnership based on recognition, mutual respect and shared goals. A spokesperson for the council of elders of the Yorta Yorta nation, Henry Atkinson summed it up this way:

The Yorta Yorta aspirations are to have a society which is economically viable and to provide ongoing employment, training and management, thereby enabling self determination and sustainability for future generations. Creating our own economic base for employment and training, at last acknowledged and recognised people in their own right and not being beholden to the welfare system, we will see improvements in health, well being and self respect, thus enabling some of our people to get off the welfare merry go round (Native Title Newsletter, AIATSIS Native Title Research Unit July-August 2004, 4/2004 at 8, in McFarlane:12).

National Water Initiative (NWI) Agreement and Indigenous issues

The NWI Agreement identifies a number of issues where Indigenous interests are to be considered:

• Indigenous access to water resources

• Inclusion of Indigenous representatives in water planning where possible

• Water plans incorporating indigenous social, spiritual and customary objectives

• Strategies for achieving these objectives where they can be developed

• Possible allocation of water to native title holders

• Separate accounting of water allocated for traditional cultural purposes

• Possible inclusion of indigenous and cultural values in considering the other public benefits component of planning

• Possible restrictions on trading where management of features of major indigenous, cultural heritage or spiritual significance (McFarlane: 16)

1 The Yorta Yorta Co-operative Land Management Agreement. 59 | Page

Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy

Concluding remarks

Finally, there is clearly a desire on the part of Indigenous communities to participate in the commercial water industry. It is not suggested that this aspiration should be met at the expense of the commercial sector. Rather there needs to be an environment created which facilitates Indigenous groups entering the water market and acquiring allocations. Those acquisitions would be governed by the same rules as the rest of the market place and be beyond and in addition to any cultural allocation which might be made. This might go some way to addressing the aspirations that the Yorta Yorta, among others, have expressed (McFarlane: 22).

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy APPENDIX 5

Murray Darling Basin Commission. 2003. Report to the Murray Darling Basin Commission – Indigenous response to the Living Murray Initiative. Key Summary

Format: Report on Community consultation workshops held in the Murray Darling Basin

Project/Process: A series of workshops with Indigenous communities conducted by Murray Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations co-ordinators as part of the Murray Darling Basin Commission investigation into community knowldege, aspirations and vision for the Murray Darling Basin.

Where & When: 8 workshops held from December 2002-February 2003

Aim: Aimed to provide Indigenous people with the opportunity to provide feedback to the Murray Darling Basin Commission and the Ministerial Council on the issue of water .

Participants: Wamba Wamba and Wadi Wadi Nations, Wiradjuri Nation, Yorta Yorta Nation, Muthi Muthi Nation, Mungatanga Elders, Barkindji and Nyiamppa Nations, Ngarrindjeri, Kaurna and Peramangk Nations

The Murray Darling Basin Commission (MDBC) is to report to the Ministerial Council on community engagement. The MDBC aimed to determine the Indigenous community’s knowledge, values, aspirations, issues, information needs and concerns in relation to the vision of the Ministerial Council. This report was commissioned to detail Indigenous responses to the Ministerial Council vision for the River Murray (2001) – “a healthy River Murray system, sustaining communities and preserving unique values (MDBC: 3). Farley Consulting Group work with the Murray Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations (MDRIN) on the project. The MDRIN coordinators held workshops with the following Traditional Owners:

• 12 December 2002 in Murray Bridge – Ngarrindjeri, Kaurna and Peramangk Nations; • 18 December 2002 in Swan Hill – Wamba Wamba and Wadi Wadi Nations; • 20 December 2002 in Albury – Wiradjuri Nation; • 24 January 2003 in Barmah – Yorta Yorta Nation; • 28 January 2003 in Deniliquin – Wamba Wamba Nation;

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy • 1 February 2003 in Balranald – Muthi Muthi Nation; • 5 February 2003 in Robinvale – Mungatanga Elders; • 9 February 2003 in Menindee – Barkindji and Nyiamppa Nations (MDBC: 10).

Issues with River Murray

• Healthy, free flowing and alive

• Natural cycles, restocked, revegetated

• Access rights for Indigenous people so they can move freely to continue cultural practice, traditional fishing and hunting

• Indigenous people and Nations recognised and respected for what and who they are. Indigenous Nation recognised as sovereign entities in their own country.

• The rivers and tributaries are respected and cared for (MDBC: 5).

Respect

Indigenous peoples clearly identified concerns about the lack of respect not only for themselves, but also for the natural resources of the country.

The river system must be treated with respect, as it is the lifeblood of the country. If the river is in poor health, it can not provide spiritual, cultural, economic and social benefits to all those who depend on it (MDBC: 6).

As the health of the river declines, Indigenous culture is eroded and diminished. Traditional Owners are devastated at loss of native fauna and flora and pollution of the river. Cultural and spiritual values are linked inextricably to environmental values (MDBC: 18).

The management of the river system must be a whole landscape approach, including all tributaries of the River Murray. There are complex inter-relationships that must be recognised between seasons, river flows, fish, plants and animals (MDBC: 20).

To fully respect the river and all adjoining systems, the mouth of the River Murray should be open. This can only occur if the needs of the river are respected - it effectively means increasing natural flows, bringing back native fauna and flora and eradicating introduced species such as carp and willow trees (MDBC: 6).

Loss of cultural economy

The decline in the health of the river system has led to a decline in the economic position of Indigenous people. There are less cod, yabbies, mussels, eggs, plants and animals.

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy Less traditional food sources and reduced commercial opportunities mean a fall in the standard of living and greater reliance on welfare (MDBC: 19).

The cultural economy of the River Murray has been diminished by the poor health of the river system that has decimated traditional sources of food and medicines:

The healing that we use Old Man Weed for needs to be done by the River. It is the same with fish – we need to catch, cook and eat by the River. Now, we can’t get clay out of the bank to coat the fish or to use on our skin – this is a big part of women’s business (MDBC: 12).

Active involvement

Indigenous people want to be actively involved at all levels of management of natural resources throughout their traditional lands.

The draft Memorandum of Understanding between the MDBC and the Murray and Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations (MLDRIN) is a starting point and should be endorsed by the MDBC, the States on the Ministerial Council and the ACT.

Cultural Heritage Management Plans (CHMPs) then should be developed between government and Indigenous Nations with custodial responsibilities for the river system.

The CHMPs should have the force of law and reflect the inter-relationship between environmental values and spiritual and cultural values (MDBC: 6).

Not just economic values

There was a clear view that cultural, environmental and social values should be given equal status with economic values when policy and management decisions are made. (MDBC: 6-7)

Water allocation

Water allocation should be available to each Indigenous Nation to enable them to exercise their custodial responsibilities to care for the river system. Each Nation should have the power to decide whether its allocation should be used to increase environmental flows or to help generate a more independent economic base for their people. This decision would be taken in the context of the health of the river system and their custodial responsibilities (MDBC: 7).

There should be initiatives to encourage more efficient use of water (MDBC: 7).

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy Natural Flows

The policy objective must be to restore natural flows and cycles to the river system. The current reference points determined by the Ministerial Council for increased environmental flows are unsatisfactory (MDBC: 7).

Management of the river system’s resources should be made more efficient. This may entail additional public investment in infrastructure (MDBC: 7).

A healthy river is free of toxins and introduced species. It has natural flows and cycles that feed all its parts such as the tributaries, creeks and nurseries. The native wildlife and plant species feed off the river as it provides the necessary nutrients to keep them alive (MDBC: 13).

Traditional Knowledge

Traditional knowledge should be recognised for the contribution it can make to resource management and as an Intellectual Property Right (MDBC: 8).

Traditional Owners should have access to significant sites and areas to continue their cultural practice. This includes fishing and hunting (MDBC: 17).

Lack of acknowledgement of inherent/ birth rights were regarded as impediments to the protection of cultural heritage (MDBC: 12).

Indigenous people must be given more involvement to protect and care for the river and take on more responsibility to ensure that the river is properly managed (MDBC: 12).

Issue – appropriate management of river

Protected areas need to be in place along the rivers to allow fish and other aquatic life to recover from over fishing. The traditional peoples of a given area should be working with government departments to identify such areas and monitor and regulate use of the river’s resources.

Native fish should be restocked into the waterways and noxious animals, such as European carp, should be removed.

Speedboats should be confined to certain areas and their speed limited. Speedboats erode the river banks, wash up little fish and shrimp onto the bank and make it impossible for those who want to fish on the bank, or just enjoy the River (MDBC: 14).

Flows should coincide with breeding seasons at the right time of the year (MDBC: 21).

Management of water resources and the Basin as a whole needs to improve. There should be a “whole of government” approach because the Basin’s ecosystem is regulated by

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy many agencies. Cooperation and coordination between the Commonwealth, States, the ACT and Local Government are essential (MDBC: 23).

Water is not always used efficiently. Water used by industry should be re-cycled and not pollute the river system Evaporation rates are high and much irrigation is wasteful, particularly flood irrigation. The rice, cotton and wine industries are greedy about water (MDBC: 23-24).

Value of Murray River for Indigenous peoples

The River Murray is central to the survival of Indigenous communities in terms of both environmental health and community health. The purity and quality of the water are critical for the safety of communities and children.

The river provides life through food and quality drinking water to Indigenous nations. It also provides life to the Australian community. It provides natural medicines to heal sickness and enjoyment for recreational purposes (MDBC: 13).

Cultural, spiritual and religious Value

The river is central to the culture of Indigenous Nations who have traditional custodial responsibility for the Basin. It provides their identity and their spirituality. “It is our lifeblood”. “It is life”. “Our beliefs are entwined in the river itself”.

The river system is integral to song-lines and creation stories. It is the source of totems for groups and individuals.

The Basin contains many places of significance – burials, mounds, initiation sites, men’s and women’s places, ceremony grounds, meeting and gathering places.

The Basin is rich in relics and artefacts, middens, ochre grounds, camping sites, ovens, scar trees (MDBC: 18).

Economic value

The river has major economic importance. It is a source of food, fibre, water, medicine and other sustenance.

It also can help to generate greater economic independence. There are commercial opportunities in eco-tourism, cultural tourism, native nurseries and seed collection (MDBC: 19).

Health and social value

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy The river is a place of healing. It provides a sense of balance and relief from stress and sickness.

The river provides social connection between Indigenous people and with non- Indigenous people. It is a source of recreation and can be a vehicle for reconciliation.

The river is critical to health and welfare. Communities need a clean and reliable water supply (MDBC: 19).

Educational value

The river is a source of cultural education for Indigenous youth. It creates opportunities to put young people in touch with their culture and move away from the cycle of alcohol, drugs, domestic violence and sexual abuse.

The river is important for future generations. It provides history and culture, continuity and connection (MDBC: 19).

Albury Public Forum – 14 February 2003

Issues

• There need to be natural cycles in the river – ebb and flow, dry and flood. The river is over-managed. The wetlands have to be looked after and land clearing must stop. The river and its water should be respected. Changes now are disturbing it. There are faster flows and water is colder.

• The Basin’s landscape needs to be approached as a whole – everything is connected. The key issue is management of the whole river system – not just environmental flows.

• Indigenous people don’t want to be just consulted. They want to be a central part of decisions about the river system and part of management. They are intensely frustrated because they are the Traditional Owners, with custodial responsibilities under their law, but other people make the decisions about the river. They have never surrendered their custodial management rights.

• Traditional knowledge about the river system, and all the things that make it up, is invaluable. It should be respected and utilised.

• Public education about the issues is important so the need for action is understood.

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy • Indigenous people believe spiritual, cultural and environmental values are more important than economic values and must be taken into account in management decisions

• Big changes in farm management systems are necessary so agriculture becomes more sustainable. The country can’t stand the high water and chemical use necessary for some crops.

• Involvement in natural resource management can create a new economic base for Indigenous people – monitoring, rangers, rehabilitation etc (MDBC: 30).

Values

• The river is critical to culture. Identity and spirituality come from country. The identity of Nations is attached to the water. Water is life.

• The whole ecosystem is important to culture. Everything in the Basin is inter- related and it all makes up country.

• The river is part of song and story lines.

• There are burials all along the river. There are many important sites – men’s places and women’s places, ceremony grounds.

• The river is a birth place. It is critical to health – a source of fresh water and medicines. It is also a healing place.

• The river is a meeting place and point of connection between people and Nations. It is a trade route and highway.

• The river system provides a rich variety of food.

• It is essential for education of youth about their culture

• The river system has economic values. It provides food and fibre and can be a base for further economic development of Indigenous communities – nurseries, tourism (MDBC: 31-33).

Buronga Public Forum 7 February 2003

Issues

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy • Traditional Owners are angry that they have not been involved and listened to in the past.

• Industry and government have not respected the river system – it is in poor health now. The river is just one part of the equation – the whole Basin needs to be considered.

• The river system needs to be considered as a whole – all the tributaries and wetlands. The whole Basin needs to be approached as an inter-connected ecosystem. Everything has its place.

• A healthy river is needed for healthy communities.

• Tree clearing is a critical issue – rain won’t come if all the trees have been cut down.

• Snowy River Hydro is part of the problem. They only release snow water when they can maximise their profits from electricity.

• There should be public education about how to use resources sustainably. Resources need to be managed in a more efficient way. Flood irrigation is very wasteful. Technology such as drip feed irrigation should be used.

• Management decisions and water pricing should take environmental and cultural values into account. They only consider economic values now. The price of water should reflect environmental costs. The price of water needs to be increased so it is used more efficiently.

• There should be strict penalties if resources are misused and the penalties must be enforced. There must be effective monitoring of regulations.

• Farmers will stay, but their management systems must change.Management needs to be re-educated. Traditional knowledge should be respected.

• Governments and their agencies must operate in a better way. There needs to be a whole of government approach to the Basin. There should be greater integration and coordination of programs and partnerships with the community and Traditional Owners. Financial resources should be pooled.

• Water used by industry should be recycled. “Gray water” should be used more efficiently.

• Indigenous Nations should be represented on each natural resource management body within their boundaries. They should be a foundation of management bodies and central to their decision making.

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy • There should be adequate resources for negotiation, development and implementation of CHMPs and regional/catchment plans.

• Natural resource management bodies should employ Indigenous people to manage and rehabilitate country. Training programs should be available for this purpose.

• There should be water allocations for Indigenous Nations. This would help Traditional Owners exercise their custodial right to care for the river system. If the river is healthy, allocations could be used to generate greater economic independence and self-determination.

Values

• The whole river system is important. It sustains country and nurtures families.

• The river system is central to Indigenous cultural heritage and spirituality.

• The river carries Dreaming stories, songs and tribal traditions. There are burial sites, middens, ceremony sites. River red gums have particular significance.

• The river is important as a food source – fish, yabbies, mussels, eggs, seeds, animals and plants.

• It also is important as a source of medicines and healing.

• Preservation of cultural values is the number one priority. Economic values also are important – the river provides food and other sustenance. There are potential economic benefits for Indigenous people from eco-tourism and cultural tourism.

• The river has health and healing values. It is a source of bush medicines. Clean water is essential for healthy communities.

• It also has social significance. It connects Indigenous nations and provides recreation (MDBC: 35-38).

Menindee Public Forum – 9 February 2003

Issues and values

• Traditional Owners are angry and frustrated that their advice and knowledge have been ignored in the past. “We said there should be no more clearing. We said there should be no more dams. We said they shouldn’t use big pumps. Now the river is sick and it’s all a mess.” 69 | Page

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• The initiative by the Ministerial Council and MDBC to engage with Indigenous communities is welcome. “We just hope it isn’t too little, too late. We just hope they will listen to us this time.”

• The need for everyone to share water is accepted. “The river provides life to everyone.” But the way in which water is shared must change. There is no value placed now on the cultural and environmental components of water. Their values are just as important as economic values. There must be value attributed to food, bush medicines, connection and important cultural places.

• Indigenous culture is cemented in the environmental values of the river’s whole Basin. If the river is sick, culture is sick. That’s the case now. A breakdown in culture is leading to a breakdown in the social order – substance abuse, violence.

• Indigenous people need access to the river to protect their culture and for hunting and fishing. Access is important to protect burials and sites and for ceremonies.

• The way in which Indigenous Nations engage with government and the community must be culturally appropriate. There should be a big meeting of all the Traditional Owners along the river. They all should work together (MDBC: 39).

Mungatanga Elders, Robinvale, 5 February 2003

Issues and values

• It is the lifeline of the people, no matter where they come from.

• If people live on the river then they are affected in one way or another.

• We have an obligation to the people down stream, just as the Mutthi Mutthi people up stream have the same obligation to us - the rivers have been managed for thousands of years that way.

• There are no longer native fish in the Murray in the same numbers has they were years ago - the Murray crayfish has declined.

• The MDBC has not recognised cultural issues and spiritual connection until now.

• The traditional vegetation along the river banks is disappearing and it is harder to find with the changing of the habitats. Green tree frogs and black frogs are no longer to be seen.

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy • Birds such as ducks and swans have nowhere to nest as all the swamp country and floodways no longer get flooded out.

• Fish traps are being destroyed due to constant high levels of water. We can’t maintain the fish traps as we used to do.

• River banks are being eroded away due to constant high levels of water. Some flood plains are constantly under water (MDBC: 56).

Mutthi Mutthi Nation, Balranald, 1 February 2003

Issues

• To be able to see the water that passes through their country – no blue-green algae.

• Able to drink straight from the river and have sandy beaches. Able to see the bottom.

• Water passed on to the next country in a healthy state.

• More native fish and aquatic life in the river for everyone.

• Increased access for Traditional Owners.

• Tougher laws to stop irrigation and clearing on or near the rivers.

• Drainage catchments in place to stop run off from irrigators and other farmers.

• To be able to enjoy a good feed of yabbies and crayfish

• To see natural floods come across the flood plains.

• Traditional vegetation along the river banks is disappearing. Green tree frogs and black frogs can’t be found any more. There are much fewer native fish in the river. Now we re-stock the river with fish from other places. They don’t belong – they don’t have souls. They don’t taste the same when they don’t belong and don’t have souls. We used to get a lot of pelicans – not any more.

• We can’t get clay from the river banks to cook the fish and heal our skin – this is a big part of women’s business.

• Fish traps have been destroyed. Some are constantly covered by water. Others are exposed so people break them up.

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy • The natural creeks have gone. We used to teach our kids how to swim and fish in the creeks before going to the main river. Yanga Creek isn’t there any more.

• River banks are being eroded away by constant high levels of water.

• Birds such as ducks and swans don’t have anywhere to nest any more because there’s no floods. Swamp country is drying up or flooded all the time – the natural flows and cycles are gone.

• Removal of noxious weeds and feral animals.

• Leave the snags in for the fish.

• The lagoons and swamps, creeks and flood plains need to be restored with natural flows and cycles.

• A better understanding and working relationship between government agencies, water users and the traditional peoples.

• Greater employment of traditional people in management and rehabilitation of the river.

• Able to meet with other Traditional Owners so all the issues can be brought together throughout the river system.

Values

• It is the life line of the people. The river means everything – it is our culture.

• Our culture depends on a clean healthy river.

• We belong to the river and land – they don’t belong to us

• We have a strong spiritual connection to the river. It is part of our Dreamtime. It gives us our totems.

• Our spiritual connection is being affected because traditional owners don’t have access to all the river.

• The river provides medicines - the healing we use Old Man Weed for needs to be done by the river

• The river provides food – we can’t get fresh mussels and turtles now. We can’t get duck eggs and witchity grubs because they need natural floods and that doesn’t happen any more. Spawning happens just before natural floods.

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• There is a cultural obligation to provide clean water to those downstream. That is how the rivers have been managed for thousands of years.

• Everything about the river is of value to the Mutthi Mutthi (MDBC: 59-60).

Wamba Wamba and Wadi Wadi Nations, Swanhill 18 December 2002

Wadi Wadi Vision is:

That the Black Cockatoo returns to our country. Recognition of the creation stories relating to the Murray Cod making the course of the rivers. That the Murray Cod can only exist if the flood regime and environmental flows are reflective of the seasons, to allow for their free passage along the whole river system the cod needs to continue through to the mountains to the sea (MDBC: 64).

The Wamba Wamba Vision is:

The creation of Indigenous peoples is linked to the river and traditional owners need to be respected and be able to have say in its future. River to be brought back to its natural flow a balance needs to be made to reflect its spiritual life (MDBC: 64).

Issues

• Pollution • Box trees, red gums, she-oaks and acacias communities be maintained • Water regimes, river patterns are linked to seasonal activities - plants - animals • Cultural resources relates to timing and seasons. Floods should occur at least every 3 years and flood duration should be 6 months • Indigenous people should have say over the use of any resources including water allocation, management and water quality • Indigenous people need to be preserved as our life is dependant on the river (MDBC: 64-66).

Values

• Creation stories are a part of the river • Maintain fish passage to protect creation • Cultural heritage • Sacred sites and places of significance - Nyah Forest - Piamble floodplain forest - Lake Tyrell - Kow Swamp - Gunbower-Perricoota - Koorangle • Food source • Balance • Spiritual connection

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy • Ceremony and family • Our lives are connected to the river as well as our emotional wellbeing • Gathering place • Camping grounds

Wamba Wamba Nation, Deniliquin 28 January 2003

The Wamba Wamba Nation’s vision is:

For the Murray River & its tributaries to come back to life from the reeds to the insects…Since we were created in the Dreamtime by our Spiritual Ancestors, the land, water and cultural places have continued to sustain all life in a naturally balanced way. Our people have continued to respect and care for our land and waters in a way that sustained and maintained that balance. The scales are now unbalanced, and our Ancestors are unhappy and restless. They will stay this way until balance is restored (MDBC: 67).

Important waterways around Deniliquin to Wamba Wamba peoples:

• around Moonaculla Aboriginal Reserve and the Werei Forest • Edwards • Wakool • Neimur • Tumugery • Collegan • Yellakool • Reedy Creek • Moonaculla Lagoon • Box Creek • Chinamans Hole • Bunjip Hole (MDBC: 67)

Issues

Foods and Medicines most of which are now reduced, rare or extinct from area:

• Turtles long and short neck • Catfish • Trout cod • Mud tench • Mussels • Ducks/Swans/Eggs • Black shags/chicks • Mountain ducks

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy • Kangaroo grey & red • Wallabies • Platypus • Echidnea • Dingoes • Bush turkey • Old man weed - medicine • Cumbungi – paste • Reeds – baskets • Wattle – medicine • Wild honey – sugar bag • Native cherries – fruits • Quandongs – nuts and paste (MDBC: 68)

Values

• Cultural Heritage Places • Canoe trees • Mounds • Burials • Middens/ ovens • Werie Forest as a whole is a significant site to us • Bunjip Holes

Yorta Yorta Nation, Barmah 24 December 2002

Issues

• Have the river back to natural flows, able to see the bottom, natural floods during breeding seasons • life to our environment trees, birds, animals insects and water life be maintained

Values

• We are part of the creation story of the river • Our beliefs entwined in the river itself • Provider of food of life • River and land is us Yorta Yorta people • Cultural sites and places • Gives life is central part of life • Plants and medicines and food (MDBC: 73-74)

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy APPENDIX 6

Key Summary

Format: Research discussion paper

Project/Process: Consultation with Indigenous people in Northern Victoria (the Murray Darling River Indigenous Nationas - MDRIN) as part of the Murray Darling Basin Commission (MDBC) Living Murray Initiative.

Where & When: Consultation with 12 traditional owner groups (MDRIN) from the region.

Aim: Aimed to provide Indigenous people from the Murray Darling Basin in northern Victoria and southern NSW with the opportunity to express their views and aspirations in relation to Indigenous cultural heritage in the region.

Participants: Wiradjuri, Yorta Yorta, Snowy Mountain Nations, Barapa Barapa, Wamba Wamba, Muthi Muthi, Nyampa, Latji Latji, Wadi Wadi, Wergaia, Barkanji and Ngarrinjeri

This Discussion Paper draws on the outcomes of the Indigenous peoples’ consultations with the Murray Darling Basin Commission (MDBC) as part of the Living Murray Initiative. This Paper attempts to place the views and aspirations expressed in those documents within a broader Indigenous rights context. While this paper often focuses on the Murray River and the Living Murray Initiative many of the issues raised are relevant to both the Murray and Darling Rivers and also more broadly.

The MDRIN confederation includes the traditional owner groups:

• Wiradjuri • Yorta Yorta

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy • Snowy Mountain Nations • Barapa Barapa • Wamba Wamba • Muthi Muthi • Nyampa • Latji Latji • Wadi Wadi • Wergaia • Barkanji • Ngarrinjeri (Morgan et al: 12)

As part of the preparation of this discussion paper, the MDRIN and the MDBC sought assistance from the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) for an expert roundtable discussion which was held at AIATSIS on 15 August 2003. The experts who contributed to the panel discussion included:

• Assoc Prof Donna Craig Centre for Environmental Law, Macquarie University • Marg Donaldson Native Title Unit, HREOC • Dr Sandra Panell Rainforest CRC James Cook University • Dr Michelle Cochrane Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, ANU • Glen Kelly WA Native Title Working Group • Paul Kauffman ATSIS - Land Water and Economic Development Division • Wieslaw Lichacz ATSIS - Land Water and Economic Development Division • Dr Graham Henderson MD, AIATSIS VRF-Social Health • Dr Peter Veth AIATSIS, President Association of Consultant Archaeologists • Stuart Bradfield AIATSIS, VRF- Native Title and Agreement Making • Monica Morgan MDBC • Wendy McIntyre MDBC • Liz McNiven MDBC • Kevin Goss MDBC • Dr Lisa Strelein AIATSIS Manager, Native Title Research Unit • Jessica Weir Centre for Environmental and Resource Sciences ANU

A second expert roundtable was held on 5 December 2003, with participants from the first roundtable and additional expertise from:

• Michael Bissell Minerals Council • Derek Walker MDBC Ministerial Council CAC • Marcia Langton University of Melbourne • Lisa Palmer University of Melbourne • Louise Rose MDBC • Warwick McDonald MDBC • Donna Oxenham AIATSIS Visiting Scholar • Tony Bauman AIATSIS Visiting Research Fellow

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy • Patrick Sullivan AIATSIS Visiting Research Fellow • Jane Anderson AIATSIS Visiting Research Fellow • Michael Davis Consultant

Issues

Recognition • The report seeks recognition of the status of Indigenous Nations as peoples, and of their inherent rights to exercise their culture and sustain their communities on their traditional lands • The MDRIN want the Murray River to continue to sustain communities and preserve unique values • Management of the scarce water resources of the Murray River must take into consideration the inherent rights of the Indigenous Nations to these water resources and the surrounding ecosystem

Respect for country • The environmental health of the Murray is prioritised in the Report as it is integral to the cultural social and economic health of Indigenous communities • failure to return health to the river has a disproportionate impact on the relationship of Indigenous peoples’ with the Murray as it is linked to their cultural and spiritual identity and their status as first peoples of the Murray River

Management and decision‐making • To be more actively involved at all levels of management of water and other natural resources on their traditional lands • Indigenous people should be involved in co-management of water resources and the natural and cultural heritage of the Murray • Indigenous owners and local Indigenous communities should be included in river management processes • Traditional owners and non-traditional Indigenous peoples, of interest must be appropriately represented in the decision-making processes of the MDBC. More substantive involvement in policy and decision-making, as well as direct involvement in environmental management (Morgan et al: 5). • Indigenous people want more involvement in policy and decision-making, and environmental management of water • Indigenous people should be responsible for water allocation

Cultural knowledge • Current catchment management practises are not considering the cultural knowledge of the Indigenous Nations. Indigenous people have expressed a desire to share this knowledge but also to control access and use of such knowledge. Indigenous Nations seek to maintain the ownership of intellectual

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy and cultural property and any commercial advantage that may be derived from their use (Morgan et al: 8).

• Lack of legislative recognition for Indigenous interest in water, reflected in the water allocation plans implemented in most Australian jurisdictions (Morgan et al: 11).

Policy change • Indigenous peoples also proposed specific changes to policies central to the Living Murray Initiative as well as a general change in approach toward a cultural and natural resource model (Morgan et al:14).

Interests • Indigenous people have a shared interest with the environmental community to restore the natural river environment. The degradation of the Murray River has restricted the ability of Indigenous people to manage their land and water resources in a manner that can be sustained for future generations (Morgan et al: 19). • Indigenous peoples require adequate access to use and enjoy waters • As rights holders and traditional owners, Indigenous Nations have the right to share in the benefits (eg. economic) that may result from the use of their traditional lands, resources and knowledge (Morgan et al: 8). • Indigenous people want the following rights and interests that arise from Indigenous ownership and custodial responsibilities recognized in relation to water: access land and waterways; use and enjoyment of the natural resources; hunting, fishing and foraging; and protection of cultural heritage and identity

Values • As the first peoples of the Murray, Indigneous people have a unique set of rights in relation to the custodianship of the Murray and related eco-systems • Indigenous people are part of the social community ties to the Murray River • Indigenous rights to onshore waters are part of a holistic system of land and water management • Indigenous communities value the Murray River for hunting, fishing and foraging • Cultural heritage sites exist along the Murray River and require protection • The River is an integral part of the identity of Indigenous people • The Murray River is a place of recreation for Indigenous people • The Murray River provides Indigenous people with economic opportunities

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy APPENDIX 7

Victorian Catchment Management Council, 2006. A VCMC position/perspective paper on Indigenous engagement in Victoria.

Key Summary

Format: Report on consultation with Indigenous and non-Indigenous people from across Victoria who are involved in land and water management in Catchment Management Authorities.

Project/Process: A series of meetings with key people across Victoria. Participants wre asked a series of questions relating to Indigenous engagement in land and water management processes in Cathment Managmen Authorities.

Where & When: Meetings held prior to 2006 across Victoria. Included Gippsland, South West Victoria, Wimmera, Northern Victoria

Aim: Aimed to establish current views on Indigenous engagement proceses relating the land and water management.

Participants: Gunai People. Wotjobaluk Peoples, Jaara Jaara, Ngarket People, Gourndith-mirring, Glenelg CMA, Gipsland CMA, Wimmera CMA, Parks Victoria, DSE

The primary focus of this paper is on the status of engagement with Indigenous people relating to land and water management in Victoria. There are some Indigenous values and issues highlighted in this paper that are relevant to Northern Victoria, however the participants involved in the development of this report were not from this region.

Objectives and participants

This paper is intended for all people involved in natural resource management in Victoria.

There are three main objectives of this paper:

(i) To improve management of natural resources in Victoria;

(ii) To present an overview of the current status of Indigenous engagement in NRM in Victoria

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy (iii) To provide advice on how Indigenous engagement within the catchment management framework in Victoria can be improved (VCMC: 6).

Prior to the development of this paper, a representative of the VCMC travelled to different areas across the state including East Gippsland, North Central, Wimmera, Glenelg-Hopkins and Melbourne. The representative undertook a series of interviews with key Indigenous and non-Indigenous people involved in natural resource management (NRM). Interviews were conducted with a cross-section of people from different organisations, communities, genders, age groups and backgrounds. Each participant was invited to answer pre-prepared questions and to present their interpretation of Indigenous engagement at the regional level (VCMC: 6). These participants included:

• Albert Mullett, Gunai People • Bob Jones, Consultant • Brien Nelson, Parks Victoria & Jaara Jaara • Collon Mullett, VCMC & Gunai People • Damein Bell, Project Manager, Lake Condah Sustainable Development Project • Darren Perry, Indigenous Facilitator – River Health, North Central CMA & Ngarket People • Hazel McDonald, Baridja Indigenous Advisory Group & Wotjobaluk People • Ian Singleton, Manager, Workforce Planning, DSE • Jenny Beer, Baridja Indigenous Advisory Group & Wotjobaluk People • Kaylene Clarke, Baridja Indigenous Advisory Group & Wotjobaluk People • Mark Riley, Senior Project Manager, DSE • Mary Johnson, Regional Partnership Liaison Coordinator, Glenelg Hopkins CMA • Russell Broomhall, Partnerships Manager, East Gippsland CMA • Shane Bell, Indigenous Community Landcare Facilitator, Glenelg Hopkins CMA • Stuart Harradine, Indigenous Landcare Facilitator, Wimmera CMA & Wotjobaluk People (VCMC: 32).

Indigenous Values of water

Indigenous peoples look upon the land as their mother because they derive everything from it that they need to survive. For example, the waterways are the lifeline of Indigenous people, and the fish, swans, ducks and reeds are all life sustaining sources of food.

Indigenous peoples travel the waterways throughout Country and write songs about their travels. This interconnection between humanity and environment, as a holistic entity, is the essence of Indigenous peoples’ culture, spirituality and life (VCMC: 7).

These resources are coming under increasing developmental pressure, and it is more important than ever that provision is made for Aboriginal interests, values and participation in land and water management to protect and manage what is left for future generations (VCMC: 7). 81 | Page

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Issues

It is important to engage with Traditional Owners on their own terms. Too often a member of a Traditional Owner group (who is known to be approachable) is approached/ambushed and asked his/her view. Rather, it should be at the discretion of the Traditional Owner group to determine the appropriate method for providing feedback/comments/informed consent. This may be through a person being authorised to speak, or it may be through a Council of Elders, family group, etc (VCMC: 9).

Indigenous people are often criticised by non-Indigenous groups when they fail to turn up to meetings without explanation. However, this reluctance to get involved is often understandable.

Indigenous people are specialists in their own fields, and have a unique understanding of the landscape and its natural processes. Yet they are often expected to travel long distances to attend meetings without remuneration. Like any external consultants, Indigenous people should be paid an appropriate rate for their time and services.

Non-Indigenous people should make more of an effort to meet with communities on their own terms. Indigenous people are often more comfortable meeting in outdoor settings such as national parks where they feel a connection with Country (VCMC: 24-25).

One elder light-heartedly referred to the rotunda in the main street of his home town as ‘his office’. This is one of many small ways that departmental officers can demonstrate respect for Indigenous culture (VCMC: 25).

Board representation

Under the CaLP Act, a Catchment Management Authority (CMA) Board consists of not more than 15 members appointed by the Minister for Environment. With the exception of the VCMC there are currently no Indigenous people appointed to Victorian CMA Boards. While it would certainly be desirable to achieve Indigenous representation on these Boards, this is only one mechanism for engagement that should be used in conjunction with a range of other methods.

Indigenous communities in the Daly River Region in Northern Territory proposed a model for a CMA Board with equal numbers drawn from traditional owner groups and non-Aboriginal groups (Jackson et al., 2005). Although this would be an excellent approach, it is not one that is likely to gain support in the near future in Victoria given legislative constraints. Nonetheless, it might be something we could work towards (VCMC: 24).

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy APPENDIX 8

Department of Sustainability and Environment. 2007. Indigenous partnership framework, 2007‐2010

Key Summary

Format: Policy document

Project/Process: Victorian State Government document – Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE)

Where & When: 2007-2010

Aim: Provide an Indigenous Partnership Framework to guide improved participation of Traditional Owners and other Indigenous Victorians in natural resource management.

Participants: Victorian State Government, Victorian Traditional Owners and other Indigenous Victorians

The Indigenous Partnership Framework provides an opportunity to empower Traditional Owners and Indigenous Victorians to participate and share their knowledge of natural resource management for the benefit of all Victorians.

The aim of the Indigenous Partnership Framework is to explore meaningful ways for Indigenous people to equitably participate in decision-making bodies, training activities, employment and business enterprises (DSE: iv).

The Indigenous Partnership Framework (IPF) is the Department of Sustainability and Environment’s (DSE) over-arching Indigenous policy that provides direction for all departmental Indigenous partnering initiatives.

The framework establishes the base on which the department’s business areas and activities align with the department’s commitment to:

• work inclusively with Victoria’s Native Title Holders, Traditional Owners and Indigenous people in Victoria

• ensure Traditional Owners and Indigenous people in Victoria have a real say in the future management of Victoria’s biodiversity, water and land.

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy It is also a practical document providing guiding principles for staff in the implementation and delivery of DSE’s natural resource management activities. The guiding principles are:

Principle 1 Respect and Recognition Principle 2 Caring for Country Principle 3 Partnership and Capacity Building (DSE: vi)

The Indigenous Partnership Framework has evolved from a review of the Indigenous Partnership Strategy 2001 (IPS), consultation in relation to the principles of the Indigenous Land Management Framework (Discussion Paper 2004) and a review of DSE’s capacity to take action on Indigenous initiatives (DSE: 1).

Indigenous values and issues in relation to the three guiding principles

Respect and Recognition

Respect and recognition is critical to Victoria’s Indigenous people. Many Indigenous people assert that, as the original custodians, they have never given up sovereignty over or connection to their lands and waters.

Indigenous Victorians want recognition from government that:

• Indigenous people are the original custodians of the land and resources in Victoria • Indigenous Victorians are able to play a unique role in managing land and resources • Indigenous Victorians have a special connection to Country • Past injustices have limited participation of Indigenous Victorians (DSE: 2)

Caring for Country

Victoria’s Indigenous people identify their rights and responsibilities through their association with a particular place. This includes Traditional Owners, individuals and communities who, through membership of a descent group or clan, are responsible for caring for their part of Country.

It is broadly recognised that Aboriginal law authorises Traditional Owners to speak for Country. In Victoria, Traditional Owners are represented by at least 20 Aboriginal nations, each of which has its own structures and decision-making processes.

Other Indigenous people with interests at the local community level include individuals who have a strong association with a particular place through their personal or family history of involvement (DSE: 3).

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Partnership and Capacity Building

Indigenous people have said that it is hard for them to make positive changes without having effective management structures in place. Indigenous communities recognise that they often lack formal management skills and experience.

Indigenous people are usually unequal partners when dealing with government and industry. Establishing an equitable relationship, in which all parties have rights and responsibilities, may require different processes and resources to ensure participation is meaningful (DSE: 4).

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy APPENDIX 9

Department of Land and Water Conservation 2000. Guidelines for assessing the impacts of water sharing plans on Aboriginal peoples – DLWC staff guidelines. Department of Land and Water Conservation, Sydney.

Key Summary

Format: Policy document

Project/Process: NSW State Government document – Department of Land and Water Conservation

Where & When: 2000

Aim: Provide guidance to State Government on assessing the impacts of Water Sharing Plans on Aboriginal people.

Participants: NSW State Government, NSW Traditional Owners and other Indigenous people from NSW

These guidelines are used as a general reference for assessing the impacts of Water Sharing Plans on Aboriginal peoples. They do not have to be followed exactly, and regions may choose an alternative approach. Regions may also choose to use parts of the guidelines in combination with local processes or strategies (DLWC: 3).

Principles for impact assessment involving Aboriginal peoples

The guidelines state that:

When conducting impact assessment that involves the rights and interests of Aboriginal peoples it is important to keep in mind these principles:

• Don't confine Aboriginal issues to site protection and cultural heritage site identification.

• Without effective participation in impact assessment, Aboriginal interests may be misconstrued or overlooked.

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy • Aboriginal participation should not be limited to the public comment stage.

• Aboriginal people and communities should be resourced to participate equally.

• Aboriginal people should make their own judgements about potential impacts, and about appropriate actions to safeguard those interests (DLWC: 8).

• Aboriginal people should be involved in the design and preparation of impact assessments. This means they should be actively involved in setting the terms of reference, choosing or instructing researchers, overseeing work, reviewing and approving the report, and controlling access or distribution of the report.

• Aboriginal people should be empowered to select their preferred researcher or, at a minimum, should feel comfortable with the appointed researcher.

• The methods for conducting the impact assessment should be discussed with the Aboriginal communities involved or potentially affected. The methods selected should reflect the communities' choice.

• The style and conduct of the impact assessment should conform to Aboriginal peoples’ ways of doing business. For example, Committee procedures may be alienating. Meetings should not be expected to produce final decisions. Contracts and agreements are a useful safeguard.

• The quality and quantity of research conducted should be appropriate to the issues and concerns raised.

• Monitoring and evaluation are crucial follow-through actions.

• Impact assessment should involve an analysis of the significance of differing resource management and communication styles. If not, there is a risk that meaningful Aboriginal involvement will be lost.

• Impact assessment procedures should accommodate Aboriginal peoples’ consensual decision-making structures.

• Remember that Aboriginal groups are internally diverse. This means that different methods for different groups may have to be identified and negotiated.

• Impact assessment approaches which separate the 'social' and the ‘economic’ from 'bio-physical' issues go against Aboriginal peoples’ ethics and worldview.

• Information on the issue and process should be made accessible and understandable to Aboriginal groups.

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Cultural Heritage Values Assessment Gaps Analysis Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy • Information on Aboriginal impacts should be considered in the context of other information. This allows for compounded or multiple impacts on Aboriginal people to be identified.

• Power relations amongst involved groups is important and should be considered in the design and conduct of impact assessment. Less powerful groups, or more disadvantaged groups may need additional assistance in order to be involved (DLWC: 9).

The guidelines also stress:

Document the environmental or water supply features and their preferred status. Do not rely solely on information from biophysical fields of expertise, or Non- Aboriginal knowledge. Seek Aboriginal peoples’ knowledge of water in the region. Talk with Aboriginal people to ensure that all water sources and supply features are identified. This approach will ensure that issues relating to water across the whole region will be addressed, and not just those issues relating to water in population centres or on agricultural lands.

Ensure that wetlands, swamps and floodplains are documented, and that Aboriginal peoples’ knowledge of these are incorporated. Wetlands, swamps and floodplains are extremely important areas used by Aboriginal people for food, medicines and other resources.

Document the social and economic water uses and values that support each Objective of the Water Sharing Plan.

Ensure that Aboriginal peoples’ views and aspirations are documented for each of the environmental or water supply features (DLWC: 10).

Other advice included:

When using any of these methodologies, remember to adhere to local cultural protocols and be aware of cultural sensitivities. This can involve phrasing questions carefully, and recording information carefully.

Literature reviews can be used to generate and review information that already exists about Aboriginal peoples’ water uses and values in specific local or regional contexts. The Economic and Social Policy Branch can assist Water Management Committees with the provision of some data, such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) Regional Plans, Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) demographic data, and references contained on a bibliography compiled by the Branch. Where information is difficult to obtain, this should be noted as a constraint on the identification of Aboriginal uses and values. Lack of information in existing reports should be addressed by collecting new information and engaging the Aboriginal community (DLWC: 11).

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Visits to country are a useful way of obtaining information about Aboriginal peoples’ uses and values in relation to the landscape. This involves viewing areas and hearing stories about how the landscape has been created and is being cared for and used by communities. Information may relate to specific places and sights and also to landscape values more generally.

…Value mapping is a participatory methodology that produces a map representing Aboriginal peoples’ water uses and values. Uses and values are recorded pictorially in relation to specific places in the landscape (DLWC: 12).

Water values and issues to document

• Aspects of a community that relate directly with water, such as recreation, infrastructure and health, should be covered. Aspects that are less obviously related to water, such as community character, vitality and well being may also be documented.

• The way in which water is shared may have impacts on Aboriginal people in impact areas beyond ‘direct use’, such as appropriate flooding and drying of wetlands, swamps and floodplains for regeneration of foods and medicines.

• Identify ways in which communities relate, directly and indirectly, with water resources.

• Identify aspects of Aboriginal communities that are connected with or dependent on water resources and the way in which they are shared.

• Make a preliminary assessment of aspects of a community that are affected, positively and negatively, by the way that water is presently shared. (For example, access to water resources for non-consumptive use may enhance recreational and educational values but may diminish some opportunities for economic development that rely on extraction).

• Identify groups within the Aboriginal community whose rights, goals and interests are positively assisted by the way that water is shared.

• Identify issues of equity within Aboriginal communities that are currently affected by water management and sharing. For example, do current water conditions or arrangements for water access disproportionately disadvantage one Aboriginal group? How do they differentially affect elderly Aboriginal people, women, youth, etc?

• Identify groups within Aboriginal communities who may be vulnerable to changes in the way that water is shared (DLWC: 13).

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APPENDIX 10

Department of Victorian Communities, Cultural Resource Management Grid Maps by Catchment Management Authority

Key Summary

Format: Data Resource

Project/Process: Victorian State Government document – Department of Victorian Communities (now Department of Planning and Community Development)

Where & When: Updated regulalry

Aim: Provide an maping tool that enable user to determine the presence of known Aboriginal sites within a 1 x 1 km grid

Participants: Victorian State Government

The Cultural Resource Management grid is a mapping tool. It enables users of these maps to ascertain where the registered Aboriginal heritage sites within various areas of Victoria are located, using a grid of 1 x 1 km squares. The site types are also indicated on the map key. The Department of Victorian Communities points out that these grid maps only indicate the distribution of registered Aboriginal heritage sites within the map area, and that the absence of squares in any part of the map does not necessarily mean that there are no Aboriginal sites within that area.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Department of Land and Water Conservation. 2000. Guidelines for assessing the impacts of water sharing plans on Aboriginal peoples – DLWC staff guidelines. Department of Land and Water Conservation, Sydney.

Department of Sustainability and Environment. 2007. Indigenous partnership framework, 2007-2010

Department of Victorian Communities, Cultural Resource Management Grid Maps by Catchment Management Authority, http://www.dvc.vic.gov.au/aav/lga map production/lga list2.htm#cma

Glenbar, William and Karen Milward. 2007. Report on the VEAC Indigenous Community Consultation Workshops

Jackson, Sue (ed). 2006. Recognising and protecting Indigenous values in water resource management – a report from a workshop held at CSIRO in Darwin, NT 5-6 April 2006. CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Northern Territory.

McFarlane, Bardy. 2004. The National Water Initiative and acknowledging indigenous interests in planning.

Morgan, Monica, Lisa Strelein and Jessica Weir. 2004. Research Discussion Paper – Indigenous rights to water in the Murray Darling Basin. Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Canberra.

Murray Darling Basin Commission. 2003. Report to the Murray Darling Basion Commission – Indigenous response to the Living Murray Initiative.

Victorian Catchment Management Council, 2006. A VCMC position/perspective paper on Indigenous engagement in Victoria.Victorian Catchment Management Council.

Weir, Jessica. 2006. Making the connection between water and sustaining Indigenous cultural life. Social and Institutional Research Programme http://www.lwa.gov.au/sirp/Publications and Tools/People Practice and Policy/Institutions and Governance/Making the connection/indexdl 3862.aspx

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