DOCSLIB.ORG

Living on Saltwater Country Saltwater on Living Background

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Living on Saltwater Country Saltwater on Living Background Living on Saltwater Country Background P APER interests in northernReview Australianof literature marine about environments Aboriginal rights, use, management and Living on Saltwater Country Review of literature about Aboriginal rights, use, ∨ management and interests in northern Australian marine environments Healthy oceans: cared for, understood and used wisely for the Healthy wisely benefit of all, now and in the future. Healthy oceans: cared for, for the Healthy understood and used wisely for the benefit of all, oceans: for the National Oceans Office National Oceans Office National Oceans Office Level 1, 80 Elizabeth St, Hobart GPO Box 2139, Hobart, TAS, Australia 7001 Tel: +61 3 6221 5000 Fax: +61 3 6221 5050 www.oceans.gov.au The National Oceans Office is an Executive Agency of the Australian Government Living on Saltwater Country Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers should be warned that this document may contain images of and quotes from deceased persons. Title: Living on Saltwater Country. Review of literature about Aboriginal rights, use, management and interests in northern Australian marine environments. Copyright: © National Oceans Office 2004 Disclaimers: General This paper is not intended to be used or relied upon for any purpose other than to inform the management of marine resources. The Traditional Owners and native title holders of the regions discussed in this report have not had the opportunity for comment on this document and it is not intended to have any bearing on their individual or group rights, but rather to provide an overview of the use and management of marine resources in the Northern Planning Area for the Northern regional marine planning process. Scope of report In the compilation of this report the contracted authors and representative bodies involved have sought to exclude documents covering sensitive legal or cultural material or material otherwise not deemed available for public consumption. Inevitably this means that a section of the existing literature relating to sea country interests is not available to this report. While this has presented limitations every effort has been made to ensure that the key themes and issues relevant to Aboriginal people in the Northern Planning Area are nevertheless identified and addressed appropriately. Noting the above qualification the report utilises references relevant to the Northern Planning Area under Oceans Policy. Balkanu Cape York Development Corporation disclaimer and copyright The information and views presented in Part B of this literature review reflect the best efforts of the consultant and the Balkanu Cape York Development Corporation. The review has not been thoroughly examined by traditional owners concerned nor the Cape York Land Council. As such any views expressed in relation to land and sea ownership and/or Aboriginal rights and interests are not officially endorsed legal views and should not be regarded as such. Copyright and intellectual property for Part B (Northern and Western Cape York Peninsula) of this document is shared by Jim Monaghan and Balkanu Cape York Development Corporation. Where Part B of this document is used or quoted this ownership should be acknowledged National Oceans Office disclaimer This report was prepared by NAILSMA as an input to the scoping phase of the Northern regional marine planning process. Section B covering the Northern and Western parts of Cape York was prepared by Mr Jim Monaghan for the Balkanu Cape York Development Corporation. All other sections were prepared by Dr Dermot Smyth for the Northern Land Council in consultation with Carpentaria Land Council and Anindiliyakwa Land Council. The views expressed in this report are not necessarily those of the Australian Government. The Australian Government does not accept responsibility for the contents of this report. Sourcing: Copies of this report are available from: The National Oceans Office Level 1, 80 Elizabeth Street, Hobart GPO Box 2139 Hobart TAS 7001 Tel: +61 3 6221 5000 Fax: +61 3 6221 5050 www.oceans.gov.au For further information about this report, contact the Public Affairs Officer. Reproduction: Information in this report may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes, subject to the inclusion of acknowledgement of the source and provided no commercial usage or sale of the material occurs. Reproduction for purposes other than those given above requires written permission from the National Oceans Office. Requests for permission should be addressed to the Public Affairs Officer, National Oceans Office, GPO Box 2139, Hobart TAS 7001. Credits: Design: e.g. design (www.egdesign.com.au) Printing: PML (www.pml.com.au) Photos: KerryTrapnell II ∨ Published by the National Oceans Office State Library Ref: Living on Saltwater Country. Review of literature about Aboriginal rights, use, management and interests in northern Australian marine environments. ISBN 1-877043-40-0 The National Oceans Office is an Executive Agency of the Australian Government Living on Saltwater Country Foreword The Living on Saltwater Country document forms part Part B covers the western Cape York and the Kaurareg of the outcomes of the scoping phase for the Northern Aboriginal sea country in far northern Cape York regional marine planning process. Its aim is to provide and southern Torres Strait. This part of the report an overview of the key elements and themes emerging was overseen and facilitated by Balkanu Cape York from the literature relevant to this area in the context of Development Corporation and the Cape York Land contemporary marine management and resource use. Council. Part B was prepared by Mr Jim Monaghan who is a geographer specialising in the use of natural and The document was commissioned by the National cultural space and has many years experience working in Oceans Office and carried out by consultants with both the Kowanyama and Pormpuraaw areas. advice, collaboration and input from the Northern Land Council, the Balkanu Cape York Development Corporation Part C draws together the key themes emerging and the Carpentaria Land Council under the auspices from across the region and summarises documented of the North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea accounts of Indigenous concerns about current Management Alliance (NAILSMA). marine environmental and resource management, and Indigenous needs and aspirations for the future use and Living on Saltwater Country summarises the main management of sea country. This section was prepared sources of publicly available written information about by Dr Dermot Smyth in discussion with Northern Aboriginal associations with, rights to, responsibility Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance for, use of, and management of marine environments (NAILSMA) partners. in the Northern Planning Area. Most of the information has been sourced from books, journals, conference Part D summarises the main conclusions emerging from proceedings, workshop transcripts and land and sea claim Part A, Part B and Part C and sets out some of the policy hearings. Some use has also been made of unpublished challenges and options resulting from consideration of material, with permission of the appropriate sources. No these themes. This section was prepared by Dr Dermot culturally sensitive or restricted information has been Smyth in discussion with NAILSMA partners. used or referred to in this report. We believe that this review presents a picture that The information contained in this report will inform the amounts to more than the sum of its parts and provides development of a regional marine plan for the Northern a powerful argument for a fresh approach to engagement Planning Area. of Aboriginal people in the planning and management of saltwater country in the Northern Planning Region. Structure of the report We acknowledge the traditional owners of this vast area This literature review has been prepared in the following and would like to thank the primary authors for their sections. dedication to the task. Part A covers the Northern Territory and Southern Gulf North Australian Indigenous Land and of Carpentaria regions of the Northern Planning Area. Sea Management Alliance This part of the report was overseen and facilitated by June 2004 the Northern Land Council and Carpentaria Land Council. Part A was prepared by Dr Dermot Smyth who has a background in natural resource management with a focus on indigenous use and management of marine and coastal resources. 1 Living on Saltwater Country Living on Saltwater Country Contents PART A: Review of literature about Aboriginal rights, use, management and interests in northern Australian marine environments – Northern Territory and Southern Gulf of Carpentaria – prepared by Dermot Smyth . 5 Section 1 – Introduction . 8 Section 2 – Understanding Sea Country . 12 Section 3 – Saltwater People . 24 Section 4 – Claiming Sea Country . 35 Section 5 – Using Sea Country . 48 Section 6 – Managing Sea Country . .64 PART B: Review of literature about Aboriginal rights, use, management and interests in northern Australian marine environments – western and northern Cape York Peninsula – prepared by Jim Monaghan . 77 Section 1 – Introduction . 81 Section 2 – Understanding Sea Country in western and northern Cape York . 86 Section 3 – Saltwater people in western and northern Cape York . 96 Section 4 – Claiming Sea Country in western and northern Cape York . 106 Section 5 – Using Sea Country in western and northern Cape York . 115 Section 6 – Managing Sea Country in
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Gulf Coast Assessment
    Prepared by: NRM Planning @ Northern Gulf Resource Management Group Ltd Lead author: Jim Tait, Econcern Consulting Contributors: Sarah Rizvi, Prof Alan Dale, Riki Gunn & Sarah Connor Reviewers & advisors: Riki Gunn, Natalie Waller and Anissa Lawrence Design work: Clare Powell & Federico Vanni Editing: Nina Bailey Photography: Federico Vanni This project is supported by the Northern Gulf Resource Management Group Ltd through funding from the Australian Government TABLE OF CONTENTS 3.1 Income .................................................................................................................................................................................. 7 3.2 Employment ......................................................................................................................................................................... 7 3.3 Health .................................................................................................................................................................................. 9 8.1 3.4 Education .............................................................................................................................................................. 9 8.2 3.5 Housing ................................................................................................................................................................. 9 8.3 3.6 Social Services ................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Mobile Coverage Report Organisation of Councils
    Far North Queensland Regional Mobile Coverage Report Organisation of Councils Far North Queensland Regional Organisation of Councils Mobile Coverage Report 4 August 2019 Strategy, Planning & Development Implementation Programs Research, Analysis & Measurement Independent Broadband Testing Digital Mapping Far North Queensland Regional Mobile Coverage Report Organisation of Councils Document History Version Description Author Date V1.0 Mobile Coverage Report Michael Whereat 29 July 2019 V2.0 Mobile Coverage Report – Michael Whereat 4 August 2019 updated to include text results and recommendations V.2.1 Amendments to remove Palm Michael Whereat 15 August 2019 Island reference Distribution List Person Title Darlene Irvine Executive Officer, FNQROC Disclaimer: Information in this document is based on available data at the time of writing this document. Digital Economy Group Consulting Pty Ltd or its officers accept no responsibility for any loss occasioned to any person acting or refraining from acting in reliance upon any material contained in this document. Copyright © Digital Economy Group 2011-19. This document is copyright and must be used except as permitted below or under the Copyright Act 1968. You may reproduce and publish this document in whole or in part for you and your organisation’s own personal and internal compliance, educational or non-commercial purposes. You must not reproduce or publish this document for commercial gain without the prior written consent of the Digital Economy Group Consulting Pty. Ltd. Far North Queensland Regional Mobile Coverage Report Organisation of Councils Executive Summary For Far North QLD Regional Organisation of Councils (FNQROC) the challenge of growing the economy through traditional infrastructure is now being exacerbated by the need to also facilitate the delivery of digital infrastructure to meet the expectations of industry, residents, community and visitors or risk being left on the wrong side of the digital divide.
    [Show full text]
  • Northern Land Council
    Northern Land Council Submission to Australian Government Productivity Commission on Inquiry into the Regulation of Australian Marine Fisheries and Aquaculture 15 April 2016 Submissions to [email protected] Terms of Reference The Productivity Commission is to undertake an inquiry into the regulatory burden imposed on the Australian marine fisheries and aquaculture sectors. In undertaking the inquiry, the Commission is to have particular regard to impediments to increasing productivity and market competitiveness of the Australian fishing and aquaculture industries, including: 1. The extent to which enhanced and improved use of cross jurisdiction and multi-jurisdictional regulatory regimes, information and service sharing can improve the economic efficiency and the ecologically sustainable use and management of fisheries resources. 2. The extent to which harmonisation or integration of environmental, management and compliance arrangements could improve the effective and efficient operation of the fishing industry and delivery of fisheries policy and environmental outcomes. 3. The extent to which accreditation schemes or recognition of equivalency could reduce the regulatory burden and increase productivity. 4. The extent to which greater use of cost recovery arrangements is applicable and informs the cost of delivering fishery production, conservation and other community service obligations. 5. The extent to which fisheries management regimes align with and protect the interests of the wider community (in particular, the balance between commercial, recreational, indigenous fishing and conservation interests, and consumers' interests). 6. The extent to which fisheries management regimes support greater participation of Indigenous Australians, provide incentives to Indigenous communities to manage their fisheries, and incorporate their traditional management practices in the fishing industry.
    [Show full text]
  • Torresstrait Islander Peoples' Connectiontosea Country
    it Islander P es Stra eoples’ C Torr onnec tion to Sea Country Formation and history of Intersection of the Torres Strait the Torres Strait Islands and the Great Barrier Reef The Torres Strait lies north of the tip of Cape York, Torres Strait Islanders have a wealth of knowledge of the marine landscape, and the animals which inhabit it. forming the northern most part of Queensland. Different marine life, such as turtles and dugong, were hunted throughout the Torres Strait in the shallow waters. Eighteen islands, together with two remote mainland They harvest fish from fish traps built on the fringing reefs, and inhabitants of these islands also embark on long towns, Bamaga and Seisia, make up the main Torres sea voyages to the eastern Cape York Peninsula. Although the Torres Strait is located outside the boundary of the Strait Islander communities, and Torres Strait Islanders Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, it is here north-east of Murray Island, where the Great Barrier Reef begins. also live throughout mainland Australia. Food from the sea is still a valuable part of the economy, culture and diet of Torres Strait Islander people who have The Torres Strait Islands were formed when the land among the highest consumption of seafood in the world. Today, technology has changed, but the cultural use of bridge between Australia and Papua New Guinea the Great Barrier Reef by Torres Strait Islanders remains. Oral and visual traditional histories link the past and the was flooded by rising seas about 8000 years ago. present and help maintain a living culture.
    [Show full text]
  • APPENDIX G Language Codes Queensland Hospital Admitted Patient Data Collection (QHAPDC) 2019-2020 V0.1
    APPENDIX G Language Codes Queensland Hospital Admitted Patient Data Collection (QHAPDC) 2019-2020 V0.1 Appendix G Published by the State of Queensland (Queensland Health), 2019 This document is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence. To view a copy of this licence, visit creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au © State of Queensland (Queensland Health) 2019 You are free to copy, communicate and adapt the work, as long as you attribute the State of Queensland (Queensland Health). For more information contact: Statistical Services and Integration Unit, Statistical Services Branch, Department of Health, GPO Box 48, Brisbane QLD 4001, email [email protected]. An electronic version of this document is available at https://www.health.qld.gov.au/hsu/collections/qhapdc Disclaimer: The content presented in this publication is distributed by the Queensland Government as an information source only. The State of Queensland makes no statements, representations or warranties about the accuracy, completeness or reliability of any information contained in this publication. The State of Queensland disclaims all responsibility and all liability (including without limitation for liability in negligence) for all expenses, losses, damages and costs you might incur as a result of the information being inaccurate or incomplete in any way, and for any reason reliance was placed on such information. APPENDIX G – 2019-2020 v1.0 2 Contents Language Codes – Alphabetical Order ....................................................................................... 4 Language Codes – Numerical Order ......................................................................................... 31 APPENDIX G – 2019-2020 v1.0 3 Language Codes – Alphabetical Order From 1st July 2011 a new language classification was implemented in Queensland Health (QH).
    [Show full text]
  • Journal of a Voyage Around Arnhem Land in 1875
    JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE AROUND ARNHEM LAND IN 1875 C.C. Macknight The journal published here describes a voyage from Palmerston (Darwin) to Blue Mud Bay on the western shore of the Gulf of Carpentaria, and back again, undertaken between September and December 1875. In itself, the expedition is of only passing interest, but the journal is worth publishing for its many references to Aborigines, and especially for the picture that emerges of the results of contact with Macassan trepangers along this extensive stretch of coast. Better than any other early source, it illustrates the highly variable conditions of communication and conflict between the several groups of people in the area. Some Aborigines were accustomed to travelling and working with Macassans and, as the author notes towards the end of his account, Aboriginal culture and society were extensively influenced by this contact. He also comments on situations of conflict.1 Relations with Europeans and other Aborigines were similarly complicated and uncertain, as appears in several instances. Nineteenth century accounts of the eastern parts of Arnhem Land, in particular, are few enough anyway to give another value. Flinders in 1802-03 had confirmed the general indications of the coast available from earlier Dutch voyages and provided a chart of sufficient accuracy for general navigation, but his contact with Aborigines was relatively slight and rather unhappy. Phillip Parker King continued Flinders' charting westwards from about Elcho Island in 1818-19. The three early British settlements, Fort Dundas on Melville Island (1824-29), Fort Wellington in Raffles Bay (1827-29) and Victoria in Port Essington (1838-49), were all in locations surveyed by King and neither the settlement garrisons nor the several hydrographic expeditions that called had any contact with eastern Arnhem Land, except indirectly by way of the Macassans.
    [Show full text]
  • Len Mckenzie Seagrass-Watch HQ
    Seagrass-Watch Proceedings of a Workshop for Mapping and Monitoring Seagrass Habitats in North East Arnhem Land, Northern Territory th th 18 – 20 October 2008 Len McKenzie Seagrass-Watch HQ First Published 2008 ©Seagrass-Watch HQ, 2008 Copyright protects this publication. Reproduction of this publication for educational or other non-commercial purposes is authorised without prior written permission from the copyright holder provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of this publication for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without prior written permission of the copyright holder. Disclaimer Information contained in this publication is provided as general advice only. For application to specific circumstances, professional advice should be sought. Seagrass-Watch HQ has taken all reasonable steps to ensure the information contained in this publication is accurate at the time of the survey. Readers should ensure that they make appropriate enquires to determine whether new information is available on the particular subject matter. The correct citation of this document is McKenzie, LJ (2008). Seagrass-Watch: Proceedings of a Workshop for Mapping and Monitoring Seagrass Habitats in North East Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, 18–20 October 2008. (Seagrass-Watch HQ, Cairns). 49pp. Produced by Seagrass-Watch HQ Front cover illustration: Len McKenzie Enquires should be directed to: Len McKenzie Seagrass-Watch Program Leader Northern Fisheries Centre, PO Box 5396 Cairns, QLD 4870 Australia 2 Table of Contents OVERVIEW
    [Show full text]
  • Aboriginal Agency, Institutionalisation and Survival
    2q' t '9à ABORIGINAL AGENCY, INSTITUTIONALISATION AND PEGGY BROCK B. A. (Hons) Universit¡r of Adelaide Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History/Geography, University of Adelaide March f99f ll TAT}LE OF CONTENTS ii LIST OF TAE}LES AND MAPS iii SUMMARY iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . vii ABBREVIATIONS ix C}IAPTER ONE. INTRODUCTION I CFIAPTER TWO. TI{E HISTORICAL CONTEXT IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA 32 CHAPTER THREE. POONINDIE: HOME AWAY FROM COUNTRY 46 POONINDIE: AN trSTä,TILISHED COMMUNITY AND ITS DESTRUCTION 83 KOONIBBA: REFUGE FOR TI{E PEOPLE OF THE VI/EST COAST r22 CFIAPTER SIX. KOONIBBA: INSTITUTIONAL UPHtrAVAL AND ADJUSTMENT t70 C}IAPTER SEVEN. DISPERSAL OF KOONIBBA PEOPLE AND THE END OF TI{E MISSION ERA T98 CTIAPTER EIGHT. SURVTVAL WITHOUT INSTITUTIONALISATION236 C}IAPTER NINtr. NEPABUNNA: THtr MISSION FACTOR 268 CFIAPTER TEN. AE}ORIGINAL AGENCY, INSTITUTIONALISATION AND SURVTVAL 299 BIBLIOGRAPI{Y 320 ltt TABLES AND MAPS Table I L7 Table 2 128 Poonindie location map opposite 54 Poonindie land tenure map f 876 opposite 114 Poonindie land tenure map f 896 opposite r14 Koonibba location map opposite L27 Location of Adnyamathanha campsites in relation to pastoral station homesteads opposite 252 Map of North Flinders Ranges I93O opposite 269 lv SUMMARY The institutionalisation of Aborigines on missions and government stations has dominated Aboriginal-non-Aboriginal relations. Institutionalisation of Aborigines, under the guise of assimilation and protection policies, was only abandoned in.the lg7Os. It is therefore important to understand the implications of these policies for Aborigines and Australian society in general. I investigate the affect of institutionalisation on Aborigines, questioning the assumption tl.at they were passive victims forced onto missions and government stations and kept there as virtual prisoners.
    [Show full text]
  • Qantas Domestic Australia Route Network
    Qantas Domestic Route Network Effective 1 October 2018. Routes shown are indicative only 08:00 ARAFURA SEA 09:30 Thursday Island HORN ISLAND 10:00 Melville Island Maningrida GOVE (Nhulunbuy) DARWIN Oenpelli Jabiru ARNHEM WEIPA LAND Batchelor KAKADU CAPE GREAT Daly River Pine Creek Coen TIMOR SEA Groote Eylandt YORK Kalumburu Wadeye Katherine Ngukurr Gulf of PENINSULA CORAL Oombulgurri Carpentaria Wyndham Laura Cooktown SEA KIMBERLEY KUNUNURRA Borroloola Daly Waters MCARTHUR Mossman RIVER Port Douglas Mareeba Mungana CAIRNS Derby Newcastle Waters I NDIAN Kalkarindji Karumba Atherton BARRIER Normanton Burketown Tully BROOME Croydon OCEAN Halls Creek NORTHERN Doomadgee Georgetown Forsayth Ingham GULF TERRITORY TOWNSVILLE COUNTRY Tennant Creek Ayr Tanami Camooweal Kajabbi Bowen Charters Towers HAMILTON ISLAND PORT HEDLAND Julia Creek PROSERPINE Dampier GREAT SANDY DESERT MT ISA KARRATHA CLONCURRY Richmond Hughenden Marble Bar MACKAY REEF GREAT Onslow Barrow Creek Exmouth Pannawonica Telfer Dajarra QUEENSLAND LEARMONTH Solomon MORANBAH PILBARA Winton Saraji Tom Price Blair Athol Boulia Yeppoon PARABURDOO NEWMAN GIBSON DESERT EMERALD Jigalong ALICE SPRINGS LONGREACH Blackwater ROCKHAMPTON BARCALDINE GLADSTONE Areyonga CHANNEL Springsure Bedourie Biloela BLACKALL DIVIDING Moura Carnarvon Kaltukatjara Yaraka Monto BUNDABERG COUNTRY Theodore ULURU HERVEY BAY WESTERN Uluru Windorah Maryborough Finke SIMPSON DESERT Gayndah Birdsville Augathella Injune Warburton AUSTRALIA Amata Ernabella Gympie CHARLEVILLE Noosa Meekatharra ROMA Kingaroy Wiluna Quilpie
    [Show full text]
  • A NEW SPECIES of SOLENOCERA (CRUSTACEA: DECAPODA: SOLENOCERIDAE) from NORTHERN AUSTRALIA Isabel Perez Farfante and D
    28 August 1980 PROC. BIOL. SOC. WASH. 93(2), 1980, pp. 421-434 A NEW SPECIES OF SOLENOCERA (CRUSTACEA: DECAPODA: SOLENOCERIDAE) FROM NORTHERN AUSTRALIA Isabel Perez Farfante and D. L. Grey Abstract.—Solenocera australiana, new species, a close ally of S. halli and S. melantho, is described from material collected in shallow water, 15 to 24 m, off the Northern Territory, Australia. This species is characterized by the antennular flagella which gradually narrow distally toward the 2 or 3 distalmost articles; the roughly lanceolate distal part of the dorsolateral lobules of the petasma which are supported by submesial ribs; and the presence of two pairs of thelycal protuberances on the anterior part of ster- nite XIV, the mesial one usually considerably larger than the lateral, as well as by the straight anterior border of the thoracic ridge. In July 1972, during routine fishery monitoring by the staff of the Fisheries Division, Department of Primary Production, Darwin, a collection of shrimps of the genus Solenocera was taken from commercial grounds north of Groote Eylandt in the western Gulf of Carpentaria. Since that time ad- ditional specimens have been obtained during the course of sampling of penaeid shrimps by fishery research vessels in waters adjacent to the North- ern Territory, mostly in Van Diemen Gulf, but also in other localities off this province by commercial trawlers. Van Diemen Gulf has not attracted significant commercial fishing for pe- naeid shrimps—the only members of the superfamily Penaeoidea that at present are economically important in northern Australia—and to make a preliminary evaluation of its potential as a fishery, a series of brief surveys were made between May 1977 and February 1978.
    [Show full text]
  • Racist Structures and Ideologies Regarding Aboriginal People in Contemporary and Historical Australian Society
    Master Thesis In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science: Development and Rural Innovation Racist structures and ideologies regarding Aboriginal people in contemporary and historical Australian society Robin Anne Gravemaker Student number: 951226276130 June 2020 Supervisor: Elisabet Rasch Chair group: Sociology of Development and Change Course code: SDC-80436 Wageningen University & Research i Abstract Severe inequalities remain in Australian society between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. This research has examined the role of race and racism in historical Victoria and in the contemporary Australian government, using a structuralist, constructivist framework. It was found that historical approaches to governing Aboriginal people were paternalistic and assimilationist. Institutions like the Central Board for the Protection of Aborigines, which terrorised Aboriginal people for over a century, were creating a racist structure fuelled by racist ideologies. Despite continuous activism by Aboriginal people, it took until 1967 for them to get citizens’ rights. That year, Aboriginal affairs were shifted from state jurisdiction to national jurisdiction. Aboriginal people continue to be underrepresented in positions of power and still lack self-determination. The national government of Australia has reproduced historical inequalities since 1967, and racist structures and ideologies remain. ii iii Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor, Elisabet Rasch, for her support and constructive criticism. I thank my informants and other friends that I met in Melbourne for talking to me and expanding my mind. Floor, thank you for showing me around in Melbourne and for your never-ending encouragement since then, via phone, postcard or in person. Duane Hamacher helped me tremendously by encouraging me to change the topic of my research and by sharing his own experiences as a researcher.
    [Show full text]
  • KUNINJKU PEOPLE, BUFFALO, and CONSERVATION in ARNHEM LAND: ‘IT’S a CONTRADICTION THAT FRUSTRATES US’ Jon Altman
    3 KUNINJKU PEOPLE, BUFFALO, AND CONSERVATION IN ARNHEM LAND: ‘IT’S A CONTRADICTION THAT FRUSTRATES US’ Jon Altman On Tuesday 20 May 2014 I was escorting two philanthropists to rock art galleries at Dukaladjarranj on the edge of the Arnhem Land escarpment. I was there in a corporate capacity, as a direc- tor of the Karrkad-Kanjdji Trust, seeking to raise funds to assist the Djelk and Warddeken Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs) in their work tackling the conservation challenges of maintain- ing the environmental and cultural values of 20,000 square kilometres of western Arnhem Land. We were flying low in a Robinson R44 helicopter over the Tomkinson River flood plains – Bulkay – wetlands renowned for their biodiversity. The experienced pilot, nicknamed ‘Batman’, flew very low, pointing out to my guests herds of wild buffalo and their highly visible criss-cross tracks etched in the landscape. He remarked over the intercom: ‘This is supposed to be an IPA but those feral buffalo are trashing this country, they should be eliminated, shot out like up at Warddeken’. His remarks were hardly helpful to me, but he had a point that I could not easily challenge mid-air; buffalo damage in an iconic wetland within an IPA looked bad. Later I tried to explain to the guests in a quieter setting that this was precisely why the Djelk Rangers needed the extra philanthropic support that the Karrkad-Kanjdji Trust was seeking to raise. * * * 3093 Unstable Relations.indd 54 5/10/2016 5:40 PM Kuninjku People, Buffalo, and Conservation in Arnhem Land This opening vignette highlights a contradiction that I want to explore from a variety of perspectives in this chapter – abundant populations of environmentally destructive wild buffalo roam widely in an Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) declared for its natural and cultural values of global significance, according to International Union for the Conservation of Nature criteria.
    [Show full text]