Water is country, country is culture: the translation of Indigenous relationships to water into law
type: CreativeWork
description: This thesis is about how unique Indigenous conceptions of and relationships to water can be translated into law and subsequently recognised and protected. Water is Country and Country is culture. Water is not only an essential element of all life processes but also of the unique identities of the Canning Basin traditional owners; the Karajarri, Nyikina and Mangala, Ngurrara, and Tjurabalan people. Relationships to water reflect not only intimate knowledge of where water can be sourced, whether a water source is permanent or seasonal, and its interactions with the underlying groundwater, but are also the source of Indigenous rights and interests. ‘Ownership’ of land and waters is expressed as ‘belonging to Country,’ with specific duties and responsibilities to care for water sources. Senior law holders are responsible for the maintenance of specific water places, and the cultural relationships with the sentient beings that live within permanent water sources (or jilas). Custodianship of water and the authority to make decisions over water are built into social interactions between landscapes and people. As such these norms form the basis of the legal traditions of the Canning Basin groups, providing a normalising authority for judging water access and use. The modes of cultural validation within the Canning Basin are reflected in the language, laws and customs of the Karajarri, Nyikina and Mangala, Ngurrara, and Tjurabalan people. As such, it is the relationships, and the corresponding knowledge and interactions that sustain these relationships that create the rights of the Canning Basin traditional owners to water, and, as we will see, form the basis of their recognised native title rights and interests. In Australia, Indigenous forms of native title are legally recognised by a statutory process outlined in the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) enacted after the original Mabo decision, in which the High Court held that Indigenous laws and customs continue to exist and wou…
abstract: This thesis is about how unique Indigenous conceptions of and relationships to water can be translated into law and subsequently recognised and protected. Water is Country and Country is culture. Water is not only an essential element of all life processes but also of the unique identities of the Canning Basin traditional owners; the Karajarri, Nyikina and Mangala, Ngurrara, and Tjurabalan people. Relationships to water reflect not only intimate knowledge of where water can be sourced, whether a water source is permanent or seasonal, and its interactions with the underlying groundwater, but are also the source of Indigenous rights and interests. ‘Ownership’ of land and waters is expressed as ‘belonging to Country,’ with specific duties and responsibilities to care for water sources. Senior law holders are responsible for the maintenance of specific water places, and the cultural relationships with the sentient beings that live within permanent water sources (or jilas). Custodianship of water and the authority to make decisions over water are built into social interactions between landscapes and people. As such these norms form the basis of the legal traditions of the Canning Basin groups, providing a normalising authority for judging water access and use. The modes of cultural validation within the Canning Basin are reflected in the language, laws and customs of the Karajarri, Nyikina and Mangala, Ngurrara, and Tjurabalan people. As such, it is the relationships, and the corresponding knowledge and interactions that sustain these relationships that create the rights of the Canning Basin traditional owners to water, and, as we will see, form the basis of their recognised native title rights and interests. In Australia, Indigenous forms of native title are legally recognised by a statutory process outlined in the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) enacted after the original Mabo decision, in which the High Court held that Indigenous laws and customs continue to exist and wou…
author: Tran, Tran
language: eng
date published: 2013
date modified: 2026-07-24T02:07:46Z
provider: University of Dundee
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Dundee