Aboriginal water values and management in northern Australia

Summary

This video explores the deep connection and reliance Aboriginal people, particularly in Northern Australia, have with their water resources. Through storytelling and shared experiences, it highlights the significant cultural, environmental, and economic roles that rivers and water bodies play in their communities. The video also discusses the impacts of water management policies, emphasizing the importance of including Aboriginal perspectives in water planning to safeguard their traditional practices and ensure sustainable use of water resources for future generations.

Highlights

• Aboriginal people have a profound connection with rivers and creeks, integral to their way of life. 🌊
• Bush tucker collection is a spiritual practice that sustains both body and soul. 🍃
• The recognition of customary laws post-Mabo decision protects Aboriginal land and water rights. ⚖️
• Despite policies urging inclusion, Aboriginal voices are often omitted in water management discussions. 🚫
• CSIRO's research underscores the need for water planning to reflect the needs of Aboriginal societies. 🔍
• Water usage decisions can affect the availability of traditional foods like barramundi and turtles. 🐢
• Traditional knowledge includes reading nature's signs, such as seasonal changes for hunting. 🔄
• The impact of modern farming methods could threaten Aboriginal food sources from aquatic environments. 🚜

Key Takeaways

• The inclusion of Aboriginal voices in water management is crucial for preserving cultural practices. 🌊
• Water bodies are not just resources but part of the spiritual and cultural identity of Aboriginal communities. 🌿
• Aboriginal knowledge and seasonal understanding provide valuable insights into sustainable environmental management. 📜
• Collaborative efforts between the government and Aboriginal communities are necessary for effective resource management. 🤝
• Changes in water use can significantly impact traditional food sources and economies of Aboriginal groups. 🍽️

Overview

Aboriginal people's connection to water is deeply rooted in their culture and spirituality, as emphasized by Patricia Marrfurra McTaggart. Their knowledge and traditions are embedded in the environment, guiding sustainable living and stewardship of land. The video reveals their reliance on rivers and creeks, which provide not only food and medicine but also teach younger generations about their heritage.

The video highlights challenges faced by Aboriginal communities in water management. Despite policy frameworks like Australia's National Water Initiative, Aboriginal people often find themselves excluded from crucial discussions about water allocations. This exclusion can lead to decisions that negatively impact their traditional lifestyles, emphasizing the need for inclusive dialogues that respect Aboriginal sovereignty and ecological knowledge.

CSIRO's research, as part of the Tropical Rivers and Coastal Knowledge Research Program, aims to bridge this gap by documenting Aboriginal water use and its cultural significance. By interviewing community members and mapping river use, the initiative seeks to provide data that supports sustainable water management practices, ensuring that Aboriginal communities can continue their traditional practices without compromising their cultural heritage.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Importance of Rivers In the introductory chapter titled 'Introduction and Importance of Rivers,' Patricia Marrfurra McTaggart introduces herself and highlights her connection to her country, Malfiyin, situated near the Daly River in the Northern Territory. The narrative focuses on the significance of rivers and bush tucker to her community.
• 00:30 - 01:30: Cultural Significance and Impact of Mabo Decision This chapter discusses the cultural significance and impact of the Mabo decision, highlighting the importance of bush tucker in connecting people to their land. The narrative emphasizes traditional practices and knowledge, such as collecting bush tucker, which is not only beneficial to health but also spiritually enriching. These activities serve as educational experiences for the younger generation, teaching them about their culture and heritage. Additionally, there is a nod to Dreamtime stories, which reflect the deep cultural narratives handed down through generations.
• 01:30 - 02:30: Exclusion from Water Decision-Making and Importance of Waterways The chapter discusses the exclusion from water decision-making and highlights the critical significance of waterways. It begins with personal anecdotes about family stories related to traditional fishing methods and the abundance of fish in local creeks. The chapter then underscores a legal milestone, the Mabo decision in 1992, which resulted in the recognition of customary laws. This legal recognition ensures that the traditional use of land and waterways is now legally protected, signaling a significant change in how indigenous knowledge and rights are respected and incorporated into contemporary legal frameworks.
• 02:30 - 03:30: National Water Policy and Aboriginal Societies This chapter discusses the exclusion of Aboriginal societies from water-related decision-making processes. It highlights the cultural and practical importance of rivers, creeks, and billabongs to these communities. The narrative contrasts the needs of Aboriginal people, which include access to traditional food and medicines, with those of other stakeholders like farmers and cattle owners, pointing out the lack of dialogue regarding the significance of these water sources for Aboriginal hunting and fishing practices.
• 03:30 - 05:30: Research on Water Usage and Seasonal Calendars The chapter discusses the National Water Policy of 2004 in Australia, known as the National Water Initiative. It highlights a significant shift in acknowledging the importance of water for Aboriginal societies. For the first time in Australia's legislative history, the policy urged state governments to involve Aboriginal people in water planning processes. It emphasized understanding Aboriginal water usage needs and considering the socio-economic and cultural impacts of water use decisions on Aboriginal communities.
• 05:30 - 08:30: Hunting and Gathering in the Dry Season The chapter discusses the lack of information about how Aboriginal people use aquatic environments and the value these environments hold for them. It also highlights the limited understanding of how changes in water use and management in broader Australia might impact Aboriginal communities. The CSIRO's involvement in the Tropical Rivers and Coastal Knowledge Research Program is mentioned as being relevant to this issue.
• 08:30 - 10:30: Community Resource Sharing and Water Implications The chapter discusses the impacts of changing water use on the Daly community and the Fitzroy River communities in Western Australia.
• 10:30 - 13:30: Concerns Over Water Resource Development The chapter discusses concerns over water resource development in connection with local wildlife and indigenous knowledge. It highlights the involvement of researchers in understanding regional ecology, focusing on species like Barramundi, Pig-nosed turtle, and Catfish. The narrative incorporates insights from indigenous people, represented by voices like Biddy Lindsay, to reveal seasonal patterns in nature, using cultural calendars from four Aboriginal language groups. These calendars are rooted in traditional knowledge about plant and animal cycles.
• 13:30 - 15:30: Water Use Mapping and Long-term Impact Assessment The chapter titled 'Water Use Mapping and Long-term Impact Assessment' explores the traditional practices of food collection by indigenous communities throughout the year. Emma questions Biddy about the source of certain information, which aims to better understand the timing and methods of food collection. Sue highlights the practice during the dry season where people catch a notable number of turtles. Miriam-Rose Baumann contrasts the non-indigenous concept of four seasons with the indigenous understanding of many seasons, emphasizing the significance of the Dry Season for hunting and foraging.
• 15:30 - 17:30: Sustaining Traditions and Collaborative Water Management The chapter titled 'Sustaining Traditions and Collaborative Water Management' discusses the relationship between local traditions and the management of water resources. The transcript features aspects like the natural cycles observed by the locals, such as the stages of the spear grass called 'Wurr mui' in the 'Ngan'gi' Seasons, and how these natural indicators are part of traditional hunting practices. This integration of ecological knowledge and resource management underscores the collaborative approach to managing water bodies like billabongs and creeks.

Aboriginal water values and management in northern Australia Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 [Sound of running water] [MUSIC PLAYS] (Narrator) My name is Patricia Marrfurra McTaggart. My country is Malfiyin, near the Daly River in the Northern Territory. This story is about our rivers and our bush tucker.
• 00:30 - 01:00 [DIDGERIDOO MUSIC] Collecting bush tucker is important -- it gets people out on country, it is healthy for us and makes us feel good. Collecting bush tucker heals our spirit and teaches young people about country and culture. (GUITAR MUSIC) (Christina Yambeing) Dad used to tell us stories, about Dreamtime stories or
• 01:00 - 01:30 about our country, you know. Mum used to tell us stories about her dreaming. We used to take that fish net over to the creek when there were lots of fish. (Narrator) The Mabo decision in 1992 means that our customary laws are now recognized. This means that our use of land and water is protected.
• 01:30 - 02:00 But when decisions about water are being made, we are often not included. Those rivers, creeks and billabongs are important to us. We rely on those places for food and medicines. Other people say they need water for their businesses such as farming and cattle, but no one has really talked to us about how important those water places are for hunting and fishing practices.
• 02:00 - 02:30 (Dr Jackson) Well the National Water Policy of 2004, the National Water Initiative its called, for the first time in Australia's history recognised the importance of water to Aboriginal societies. And it actually urges Australian State governments to include Aboriginal people in water planning, to understand their water use requirements and to consider the impacts of water use decisions on their societies, their economies and their culture. [DRUM MUSIC]
• 02:30 - 03:00 We haven't had a lot of information about how people use aquatic environments. We haven't had a lot of information about the value of those environments to Aboriginal people and there's been very little understanding of the way in which changes to water use and water management in a wider Australia may affect Aboriginal people. (Narrator) So CSIRO, as part of the Tropical Rivers and Coastal Knowledge Research Program,
• 03:00 - 03:30 looked at how changing water uses may affect my community in the Daly, as well as communities in the Fitzroy River in Western Australia. (Pippa Featherston) So you went somewhere Saturday? (Emma Woodward) So it's really about building relationships and trust from the beginning and that drive came from the indigenous communities themselves. (Narrator) Eighty-two households were interviewed eight times a year. People were asked about when they went fishing or hunting, where they went, and what they caught.
• 03:30 - 04:00 (Benigna Ngulfundi) Barramundi, Pig nosed Turtle, Catfish. (Narrator) The researchers also wanted to know about country and the seasons. (Biddy Lindsay) That one Christmas come. This one year round for eating. This one now they're drying up. This one year round like that one in the billabong. (Narrator) Seasonal calendars were made with four different language groups. They are based on Aboriginal knowledge of the plants and animals harvested
• 04:00 - 04:30 throughout the year. (Emma) Where do you get that one from Biddy?" This information was collected to get a better picture of how and when food is collected during the year, and how we read the different signs of animals and plants. (Sue) In the middle of the dry season, we've got people going out and catching 5 turtles at a time. (Miriam-Rose Baumann) Non-indigenous people have four seasons. We, the people have many seasons and the best time is the Dry Season for when you go and hunt and forage for these
• 04:30 - 05:00 things that are in the water, or billabongs or the creeks. (Narrator) My calendar - the 'Ngan'gi Seasons' - was the first. It follows the life stages of Wurr mui, the local spear Grass. (Patricia McTaggart) From the time like, from the new shoot up to when it's died off and like burnt. All in between that cycle of the spear grass, we hunt like,
• 05:00 - 05:30 certain different things to eat. (Narrator) When the Wurr mui stalks start to die and turn a reddish colour, Agurri, the black rock kangaroo sings the wind from the east. The wind brings the dragonfly who tells you it's a good time for Freshwater Prawn and barramundi. (Patricia) When the wind from that direction coming, then we know it's time to go and look for barramundi.
• 05:30 - 06:00 As soon as that happens we can feel it telling us Dry Seasons here, you know. And we see signs like dragonflies coming the same time as the wind and its telling us that the Dry Season is here and there's going to be a bit more fish in the river. (Narrator) As the billabong levels drop during the Dry Season, plants can be collected along the edges.
• 06:00 - 06:30 These include Minimindi, the Waterlily; Miwulngini, the Lotus Lily and Midigu, the Water Chestnut. This is also the time for Mibuymadi, the Bush Banana and Migerum, the Native Peanut. (Biddy) ...and you brush them up, finish, take them out and eat them like nut, peanut. Yeah. This one, medicine for pneumonia and all that.
• 06:30 - 07:00 (Narrator) Red Kapok flowers tell us that Freshwater Crocodiles have laid their eggs - we can go collect them. Bark peeling off the Ghost Gums tells us Bull Sharks are fat and ready to be hunted in the rivers. And with less water, it is much easier to collect mussels and crabs from the banks of billabongs and creeks. [COCKATOO IN FLIGHT SCREECHING] (Miriam-Rose) ...and it's not just the things that live in the water.
• 07:00 - 07:30 There are other things that are growing by the banks. Stuff like berries and plums and bulbs and it's because of, you know, after the rain there's other things that are growing around the river banks as well and in the billabongs. (Narrator) By the Late Dry Season, most of our hunting trips are to the billabongs. As the water levels drop, the muddy banks are exposed. Plenty of Long-necked Turtles can be found hibernating under the mud.
• 07:30 - 08:00 We use digging sticks to find them. Long-necked Turtles are our favourite food. They make up over half of the food we collect in the Daly River. Researchers compared the value of our bush foods, such as turtle, to the foods we buy from the store. If farming were to change the way the river flows there could be less animals to hunt, and it would cost our families a lot more to buy food.
• 08:00 - 08:30 During the Wet Season the Daly floods and the river is too high to fish. (Benigna) And I like going fishing for anything like bream, barramundi, pig nose turtle, catfish. What other one? Shark! I like eating shark.
• 08:30 - 09:00 (Pippa) So you went fishing yesterday? "Yes." (Pippa) Catch anything? "Five turtle and my other cousin's sister, "she caught eight bream and she brought it back for her family to eat them." (Narrator) At the end of the Wet, when the river is high, fruit like Mimeli, the black currant and Miwisamuy, the white currant, are collected. Echidna and Rock Python are hunted. (Emma) So we found that people are sharing resources on a very broad scale.
• 09:00 - 09:30 So you have family groups going out hunting and fishing. They're bringing some back to their own household, but a lot is being distributed very widely, not only within the community but with communities further upstream and down stream. And there's also a bit of resource exchange going on. So some communities might be able to get magpie goose eggs, for example, and they're flying them up to another community who's exchanging them with turtle to another community. So this has really important repercussions and implications for water research managers.
• 09:30 - 10:00 They need to be thinking about making planning or the implications of water allocation decisions on not just a specific community, but on a much broader geographic scale. (Narrator) If food currently caught from the river and floodplains had to be replaced with supermarket food there would be less money for us to spend on other things. (Dr Jackson) Very often the water needs that Aboriginal groups have can be quite different to other groups.
• 10:00 - 10:30 So if groups like recreational fishers, and conservation groups and farmers are the ones that, are only, their interests are only reflected in water use decision, then we will see that Aboriginal people miss out and we may see some quite harmful decisions that aren't in the best interests of Aboriginal people. (Emma) So will you take some of this and put it out in the billabong where there's salvinia? "Yes." (Narrator) With these results researchers can work out which are the most valuable plants and animals,
• 10:30 - 11:00 and the important places for hunting and fishing. They can look at how changes in using water may upset things. If farmers take too much water during the dry season, this could be a problem for important fish, such as black bream and barramundi. These two fish are important to Aboriginal people. Nearly 1000 black bream and barramundi were caught during the time
• 11:00 - 11:30 when the researchers were doing the surveys. This information is important for water planning because development of water resources -- for example, building dams for farms -- can be a big problem for the river flows. We now have information water planners can use to work out how changes in water use may affect Aboriginal people.
• 11:30 - 12:00 (Emma) First activities that we did with people in the communities was river use mapping. (Narrator) It provides a strong and important base for decisions about water use. (Miriam-Rose) The river is like the heart, the creeks and the springs that run into it are like the veins in our body. And that feeds the river, especially in the Dry Season and of course the springs come from the aquifer. If people drain the aquifer out to farm and all that,
• 12:00 - 12:30 it will kill the river and kill the things that are marine life in the water as well. (Dr Jackson) If farming or other water use does increase in the Daly River catchment for example over the next 10 or 20 years, we'll be able to look back at this data and water planners will be able to look back at this information and say "well 10 years ago this was how people were using the country. And they were collecting these kinds of resources in these kinds of quantities". If those patterns are still evident 10 or 20 years time,
• 12:30 - 13:00 then we will know that water use activity has not had any detrimental impact on Aboriginal people. So it's a very important baseline for helping decision makers in the future be confident that the water decisions they have made, that the water use plans they have, the water use allocation regimes are indeed reflecting the interests and needs of Aboriginal people to continue their subsistence resource use. (Narrator) For thousands of years Aboriginal people have used these waterways
• 13:00 - 13:30 and continue hunting and fishing practices to this day. It is vital that kids also have the opportunity to learn how to hunt and fish these places. It is really important that we document how we use the rivers as it shows other people the connection Aboriginal people have with water places. (Patricia) Working closely with Mother Earth, we will work together to try an - she provides us with food
• 13:30 - 14:00 and in return we look after her. By not doing anything that's not pleasing her. (Narrator) To make these important water decisions we need to work together with other water users, including farmers, to make sure the plants and animals are protected and our traditions are preserved. [DIDGERIDOO OVER SOUND OF KIDS PLAYING IN RIVER]
• 14:00 - 14:30 [MUSIC PLAYS]