Living on Saltwater Country

184 Pages·2006·4.18 MB·English

by  National Oceans Office

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
Nat ional Oceans Of f i ce
National Oceans Office
Level 1, 80 Elizabeth St, Hobart
GPO Box 2139, Hobart, TAS, Australia 7001
Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone]
www.oceans.gov.au
The National Oceans Office is an Executive Agency of the Australian Government
L i v ing on Sa ltwater Country
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers should be warned that this document may contain images of and quotes from deceased persons.
Background P A P E R
Review of literature about Aboriginal rights, use, management and
Living on Saltwater Country interests in northern Australian marine environments Nat ional Oceans Of f i ce
∨
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: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
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.
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Photos: KerryTrapnell
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
∨
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.
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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 western and northern Cape York . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
PART C: Key Themes Emerging across the Region – prepared by Dr. Dermot Smyth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129
Section 1 – Concerns and Aspirations for Sea Country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Section 2 – Australian Government Initiatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
PART D: Conclusions and Policy Challenges – prepared by Dr. Dermot Smyth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
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We live on the sea, dugong, turtle, fish.
That’s always been the way. We have to
look after that sea to make sure we can
still survive and can feed our families.
Lardil Traditional Owner in the Wellesley Islands
This water is saltwater … and in that
water lies our sacred law.
Yolngu Traditional Owner, north-east Arnhem Land
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Part A:
Living on
Saltwater Country
Review of literature about
Aboriginal rights, use,
management and interests in
northern Australian marine
environments
By Dermot Smyth
Smyth and Bahrdt Consultants Acknowledgements
I would like to sincerely thank Patrick O’Leary, Saltwater
Policy Officer of the Northern Land Council (NLC), for
his patient and thoughtful supervision of this project,
and for his advice and comments on the various drafts
A report for the
of this report. I would also like to acknowledge and
North Australian Indigenous Land and thank the following NLC staff who kindly provided
Sea Management Alliance information, advice, references and technical assistance:
Paul Josif, Peter Pender, Peter Cooke, Janet Cubillo,
Wendy Asche, Geoff Bagshaw, Belinda Oliver and Ron
Levy.
My thanks also go to Kelly Gardner and Pauline Fietz
of the Carpentaria Land Council, who provided much
valuable information, advice and hospitality during my
visit to Burketown. Thanks also to Chantal Roder of
the National Oceans Office for her contributions to my
research in Burketown.
From Balkanu Cape York Development Corporation I wish
to thank Chris Roberts for his advice throughout the
project and for editorial assistance with the draft report,
and Yuri Banens for his preparation of digital maps of
Cape York
Dermot Smyth
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Contents
Section 1: Introduction Section 5: Using Sea Country
Scope of the report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Aboriginal marine resource use in the distant past . . . . . . . . 48
Information sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Aboriginal marine resource use since the
arrival of Europeans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Structure of the report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Sea Closures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Section 2: Understanding Sea Country Indigenous Fishing Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Speaking for sea country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Dugong and Turtle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Researching sea county . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Statutory recognition of
Indigenous marine resource use rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Goulburn Islands to Blyth River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Blyth River to Crocodile Islands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Section 6: Managing Sea Country
Groote Eylandt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Aboriginal management of sea country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Sir Edward Pellew Islands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Agreement between
Wellesley Islands, adjacent mainland and saltwater . . . . . . . 22 neighbouring Traditional Owner groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Acknowledgement by non-Indigenous people . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Section 3: Saltwater people
Direct action by Traditional Owners to
Aboriginal populations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 exercise their customary authority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Communities and Outstations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Strategic planning by Traditional Owners of sea country . . . 66
Macassan Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Development of Aboriginal land and sea
management agencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Sea Country Languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Participation in consultative arrangements with
Indigenous economic and social indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
government agencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Subsistence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Marine Protected Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Protecting cultural sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Commonwealth Development Employment Program . . . . . . 34
Summary of Managing Sea Country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Section 4: Claiming Sea Country
Claims based on Northern Territory legislation . . . . . . . . . . . 35
The Aboriginal Land Rights (NT) Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
The Aboriginal Land Act (‘Sea Closures’) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Milingimbi, Crocodile Islands and the Glyde River Area . . . . . 41
Howard Island / Castlereagh Bay Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Statutory sea claims in Queensland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Native Title in the Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
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Tables Figures
Table 1: Burarra and Yan-nhangu language names Figure 1: Map of Northern Planning Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
for saltwater features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Figure 2a: Major Northern Territory catchments . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Table 2: Coastal and island populations in the
Figure 2b: Queensland Gulf of Carpentaria catchments . . . . . 10
Northern Planning Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Figure 3: Map of Yanyuwa clan estates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Table 3: Percentage of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people
by employment sector in the Northern Territory, Figure 4: Location of coastal Northern Territory
based on 2001 Census data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Aboriginal communities and outstations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Table 4: Reeves report recommendations and Figure 5a: Major coastal land tenures in the
Northern Land Council responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Northern Territory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Table 5: Reasons for using marine and coastal resources Figure 5b: Major coastal land tenures in the Queensland
on Groote Eylandt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 portion of the Northern Planning Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Table 6: Anindiliyakwa saltwater environmental zones . . . . . 50 Figure 6: Population structures in Queensland 2001 . . . . . . . 28
Table 7: Estimated annual harvest (numbers) for key species Figure 7: Aboriginal languages of the Gulf of Carpentaria . . . 31
taken by Indigenous fishers living in communities in
Figure 8: Use of Aboriginal languages by area, 1996 data . . . 32
northern Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Figure 9a: River Beds and Banks claimed via the
Table 8: Estimated annual harvest (numbers) for key species
Aboriginal Land Rights (NT) Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
taken by Indigenous fishers living in communities in
northern Australia, by water body type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Figure 9b: Littoral Zones claimed via the
Aboriginal Land Rights (NT) Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Table 9: Estimated annual harvest (numbers) for key species
taken by Indigenous fishers living in communities in Figure 10a: Current marine native title claims in the
northern Australia, by fishing method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Northern Territory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Table 10: Continuity and change in dugong hunting . . . . . . 60 Figure 10b: Registered native title claims in the
Queensland portion of the Planning Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Table 11: Comparison of government and Indigenous
concepts of sea country management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Figure 10c: Queensland Schedule of Native Title Claims . . . . 47
Figure 11: Fishing participation (number of people) by
region, for Indigenous fishers living in communities in
northern Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Figure 12: Fishing participation (proportion of the
population) by region, for Indigenous fishers living in
communities in northern Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Figure 13: Annual fishing effort (events) by water body
type for Indigenous fishers living in communities in
northern Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Figure 14: Annual fishing effort (events) by fishing method
for Indigenous fishers living in communities in
northern Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Figure 15: Location of Aboriginal land and sea management
agencies in the Northern Territory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Figure 16: The Dhimurru logo symbolising the
Yirritja and Dhuwa moieties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Figure 17: Coastal areas covered by Northern Territory
Fisheries Advisory Committees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
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Part A : I ntroduct ion
with permission of the appropriate sources. No culturally
sensitive or restricted information has been used or
referred to in this report.
One of the challenges of preparing this report has been
Our law is not like whitefella’s law. We do not carry it around in to draw some conceptual boundary around the topic
a book. It is in the sea. That is why things happen when you do under review, when in fact Aboriginal marine interests
the wrong thing. That sea, it knows. Rainbow knows as well. He embrace practically all aspects of life among coastal
is still there. His spirit is still watching today for law breakers. communities in northern Australia and are not restricted
That is why we have to look after that sea and make sure we to technical management issues, such as fisheries or
do the right thing. We now have to make sure whitefellas do marine protected areas. While the report focuses on
the right thing as well. If they disobey that law they get into literature that explicitly addresses Aboriginal marine
trouble alright (statement by Kenneth Jacob, Wellesley Islands issues, an attempt has been made to refer to related
native title claim, 1997). issues, such as economic development opportunities
and education and health on remote outstations, as
Section 1: Introduction well as to generic issues of cultural sustainability, such
as the maintenance of Aboriginal languages. It has not
Scope of the report been possible to refer to all literature sources relating
to this spectrum of issues, but the report highlights the
This literature review is part of the Scoping Phase of holistic and integrated nature of Aboriginal interests in
the development of a regional marine plan for the Australia’s northern marine environments.
Commonwealth, Northern Territory and Queensland
waters of the eastern Arafura Sea and Gulf of The literature review is based entirely on written
Carpentaria, referred to as the Northern Planning information. Some sources are historical, while others
Area (Figure 1). The plan is being undertaken by the are very recent. It was not a requirement of this project
National Oceans Office, an Australian Government to engage in consultations with Aboriginal communities
agency established to implement Australia’s National or organisations, although the research for the report
Oceans Policy (Commonwealth of Australia 1998). was guided and assisted by staff of the Northern
Figures 2a and 2b show the major catchments within Land Council, Carpentaria Land Council, Cape York
the Northern Planning Area. The Scoping Phase is due Land Council and the Balkanu Cape York Development
for completion in 2004; it will be followed by a more Corporation. These organisations have undertaken
detailed planning phase, leading to the completion of consultations with coastal communities and Traditional
the Northern Regional Marine Plan in 2005. This will be Owner groups within the Northern Planning Area, as a
the second of a series of regional marine plans, which separate component of the Scoping Phase.
aim to incorporate all of Australia’s oceans environments
There are two alternative ways to approach a literature
extending to the limits of Australia’s Exclusive Economic
review: The first approach focuses on the research
Zone. The draft of the first regional marine plan,
and information-gathering process, while the second
covering the waters off south-eastern Australia, was
approach focuses on the outcomes of research to explain
released in July 2003 (National Oceans Office 2003a).
current understanding of the topic. By and large the
second approach has been used in writing this literature
Information sources
review, with some reference to the research processes,
The report summarises the main sources of publicly or differences in opinion of researchers, where necessary.
available written information about Aboriginal The intention is to synthesise an understanding of
associations with, rights to, responsibility for, use of, and Aboriginal relationships with the northern marine
management of marine environments in the Northern environments, as related by Aboriginal people themselves
Planning Area. Most of the information has been and as described by researchers in various disciplines.
sourced from books, journals, conference proceedings, Reference is made to the literature to support the
workshop transcripts and land and sea claim hearings. synthesis, rather than the literature being the focus of
Some use has also been made of unpublished material, the narrative.
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