country, native title and ecology country, native title and ecology Edited by Jessica K Weir Published by ANU E Press and Aboriginal History Incorporated Aboriginal History Monograph 24 This title is also available online at: http://epress.anu.edu.au/ National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Title: Country, native title and ecology / edited by Jessica K Weir. ISBN: 9781921862557 (pbk.) 9781921862564 (ebook) Series: Aboriginal history monograph ; 24 Subjects: Native title (Australia)--Economic aspects. Environmental management Aboriginal Australians--Ethnic identity. Aboriginal Australians--Land tenure. Aboriginal Australians--Environmental aspects. Other Authors/Contributors: Weir, Jessica K. Dewey Number:305.89915 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Cover design and layout by ANU E Press Front Cover photo: Karajarri Head Ranger John Hopiga directing at Gourdon Bay, West Kimberley, photo by Jessica Weir. Back Cover photos: Ivan Namirrkki with his family, photo by Luke Taylor; Banula Marika and Ben Hoffmann, photo by Ben Hoffmann; and Pampila Boxer and Warford Bujiman with a rain- making stone, at Yakanarra, West Kimberley, photo by Patrick Sullivan. Printed by Griffin Press This edition © 2012 ANU E Press Contents List of Figures and Tables . vii Acknowledgements . ix List of Shortened Forms . xi Contributors . xiii 1 . Country, Native Title and Ecology . 1 Jessica K Weir 2 . Connections of Spirit: Kuninjku Attachments to Country . 21 Luke Taylor 3 . The Kalpurtu Water Cycle: Bringing Life to the Desert of the South West Kimberley . 47 Patrick Sullivan, Hanson Boxer (Pampila), Warford Bujiman (Pajiman) and Doug Moor (Kordidi) 4 . ‘Two Ways’: Bringing Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Knowledges Together . 59 Samantha Muller 5 . Water Planning and Native Title: A Karajarri and Government Engagement in the West Kimberley . 81 Jessica K Weir, Roy Stone and Mervyn Mulardy Jnr 6 . Native Title and Ecology: Agreement-making in an Era of Market Environmentalism . 105 Lee Godden 7 . Towards a Carbon Constrained Future: Climate Change, Emissions Trading and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights in Australia . 135 Emily Gerrard v List of Figures and Tables List of Figures 4 .1 Location map of Dhimurru Indigenous Protected Area . 63 4 .2 Two ways of looking at Cape Arnhem . 64 5 .1 Potential management zones for the La Grange sub-basin . 82 5 .2 Karajarri 2002 and 2004 native title consent determinations . 83 5 .3 Public involvement model for the La Grange groundwater allocation planning process . 98 List of Tables 5 .1 Karajarri native title rights and interests . 86 5 .2 Terminology employed by local Aboriginal people for the wetlands . 96 5.3 Practical classification, technical classification, and Aboriginal terminology . 97 vii Acknowledgements Country, Native Title and Ecology comprises of chapters directly solicited from authors, as well as papers that developed out of presentations from two AIATSIS conference sessions I convened: ‘Native title and environmental change’, National Native Title Conference: Tides of Native Title, 6-8 June 2007, Cairns; and, ‘Native Title and Ecology: Political/legal transformations and sustaining ecologies’, Forty Years On: Political transformation and sustainability since the Referendum and into the future, 5-8 November 2007, Canberra. I thank all the authors for their chapters, and their patience with the peer review and editing process. For their feedback on the draft collection, I thank the two anonymous peer reviewers. For their editorial assistance I thank Leah Ginnivan, Lydia Glick, Claire Stacey, Cynthia Ganesharajah and Geoff Hunt. For their help with The Australian National University committee process, I thank Rani Kerin, Peter Read and Lisa Strelein. Country, Native Title and Ecology was undertaken as part of my Research Fellowship in the Native Title Research Unit, within the Indigenous Country and Governance Research Program at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS). AIATSIS acknowledges the funding support of the Native Title and Leadership Branch of the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. The views expressed in this collection are the views of the authors. ix List of Shortened Forms AD Avoided Deforestation BAC Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation CDEP Community Development Employment Projects CDM Clean Development Mechanism CFI Carbon Farming Initiative CSIRO Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation DCCEE Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency DSE Department of Sustainability and Environment IFIPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ILC Indigenous Land Corporation ILUA Indigenous Land Use Agreement IPA Indigenous Protected Area IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change MLDRIN The Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations NCOS National Carbon Offset Standard NRM Natural Resource Management NTA Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) RDA Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) REDD Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries RNTBC Registered Native Title Bodies Corporate UNCBD United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity UNDRIP United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples UNEP United Nations Environment Program UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UNPFII United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues WAI Western Agricultural Industries WALFAP West Arnhem Land Fire Abatement Project WMO World Meteorological Organisation YCEC Yirrkala Community Education Centre xi Contributors Hanson Boxer (Pampila) is a Walmajarri Elder who grew up near Fitzroy Crossing and now lives in Broome. His family had left Kaningarra in the Great Sandy Desert some 25 years before he was born. In 1989, together with his wife, Laurel, he set up Yakanarra Community on Old Cherrabun Station. He is also an accomplished sculptor, musician, and dancer. Warford Bujiman (Pajiman) was brought in from the Great Sandy Desert by his parents when he was a young boy, and grew up on Cherrabun Station south of Fitzroy Crossing. He is now retired and living in Fitzroy Crossing. Emily Gerrard is currently a Senior Associate at Allens Arthur Robinson, having previously worked as a lawyer at Native Title Services Victoria. Her experience includes advising on environment, planning and native title law, particularly in relation to energy and resources projects. Her practice also involves work in climate law in Australia and the Asia Pacific. Outside of her work at Allens, Emily continues to work with Indigenous communities across Australia through the National Indigenous Climate Change Project, an initiative devised and driven by Indigenous Australians to support their engagement in emerging economic development opportunities. Lee Godden is a Professor at the Melbourne Law School and Director of the Centre for Resources, Energy and Environmental Law. Her research interests include: Indigenous peoples’ land and resource rights, and the intersections with environmental law and natural resources management. She has conducted comparative research in these fields in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and Asia-Pacific, with a current research grant on climate change, environmental governance and customary land and resource rights. Doug Moor (Kordidi) was a Walmajarri man who spent his life at Cherrabun Station and later was an Elder of the Djugerrari community. He is deceased. Mervyn Mulardy Jnr is a Karrajarri man, whose country is south of Broome in the West Kimberley region of Western Australia. Mervyn is a young leader for his people. He is a cultural musician, artist, and the Chairperson of the Karajarri native title corporation. Mervyn has performed music and dance around the world, and was a major force within his own community’s fight for native title. Mervyn is also a cultural adviser and founding member of the Yiriman Youth Project, and has represented Karajarri on the Executive Committees of the Kimberley Land Council and Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre. xiii Country, Native Title and Ecology Samantha Muller is an Adjunct Fellow at Flinders University. Since 2001 she has been undertaking research with and working for independent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations in north-east Arnhem Land, Torres Strait and Adelaide. She is the author of several journal articles and book chapters relating to Indigenous land and sea management in Australia, including discussion of the Indigenous Protected Areas program, accountability, Indigenous ranger programs and sea country. Roy Stone is the Program Manager in charge of water accounting in the Department of Water, Western Australia. Roy graduated in Civil Engineering from the University of Western Australia and has more than 30 years experience in the water industry, primarily on water resource planning. Patrick Sullivan is a Research Fellow at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies and an anthropologist. He is also Adjunct Professor at the National Centre for Indigenous Studies (ANU). His main field of research is the engagement of Aboriginal people and organisations with the Australian public sector. He has worked in Kimberley region, West Australia, since 1983. Much of his professional life has been