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Murray River country: an ecological dialogue with traditional owners

Murray River country: an ecological dialogue with traditional owners Murray River country: an ecological dialogue with traditional owners . Jessica K W . Aboriginal Studies Press , Canberra , 2009 , 175 pp +xvi. Price: AUD$34.95 . ISBN : 9780855756789 . This book is a rigorous intellectual discourse, informed by interviews with delegates of the Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations (MILDRIN) alliance. It analyses the tragic consequences of a ‘modernist’ approach to harnessing and managing the Murray River, contrasted against an Indigenous view that recognises our lives as being codependent with the river (or ‘country’) itself. The consequences of a past lack of dialogue between Indigenous peoples and non‐Indigenous mainstream Australia is spelled out, while the book highlights a dialogue, developing through the MILDRIN alliance, that is likely to be extended and deepened in the future. The messages in this book are rather unpleasant medicine for inheritors of ‘modern’ thinking, but are argued with strong logic and sound scholarship. Chapter 1 is a critique of ‘modernist’ thinking and its corollary, wilderness. For readers unfamiliar with this discourse, this chapter provides valuable background. Chapter 2 is a history and critique of water management on the Murray River to date, with the carefully sequenced argument becoming clearer by Chapter 3, where Indigenous viewpoints on connectivity and its physical, social and cultural realities are outlined. This chapter, which delves into loss and its consequences is at times beautifully written and includes the point that Indigenous perspective can see ‘beyond the loss’, ‘seeing the beauty that was there’– perceiving resilience and a potential for restoration. The author’s main thesis is that the ‘modernist’ view of the world that has driven technological developments irrespective of their destructive consequences on environments denies or is blind to Indigenous peoples’ governance and ‘felt’ relationships with country, thereby denying important solutions to holistic social–ecological problems. Environmental health and economic health need not be mutually exclusive, yet negotiations built on modernist thinking disallow integrated solutions as the underlying problem is lack of appreciation that the fundamental threat is the violence of modern thought and action. Chapter 4 reviews the background to contemporary negotiation processes involving Indigenous peoples in the Murray and Lower Darling, including native title processes. It is not a pretty story, but there is good news to follow in Chapter 5, with a detailed profile of the MILDRIN alliance and its successful engagement in relationships and partnerships with statutory authorities, NGOs and research organisations. The sheer existence of this Indigenous initiative is highly inspiring, particularly having been led through previous chapters on the history of ideas that puts this initiative into its broader perspective. The existence of MILDRIN does not let anyone off the hook though. The critique drills deeper in Chapter 6 where the pivotal concept of ‘Cultural flows’, introduced in Chapter 5 is further contrasted against modernist views. Cultural flows are explained in depth as being part of the MILDRIN delegates’‘critique of the dominant paradigms in water management today’, part of ‘a bigger vision … which demands a philosophical shift in natural resource management’ (pp 128–9). Logical conclusions follow such as: ‘We need to be open to an ecological dialogue to facilitate the flow of ideas and the creation of new knowledge for understanding our relationships with the rivers and our responses to river destruction – otherwise, the moderns will continue to deplete, destroy and then depart elsewhere … to begin their destructive cycle again.’ (p 119). I can understand, however, why some readers might find this book difficult to read. The postmodern discourse tends to be unrelenting and overstate references to ‘the moderns’ as if individuals are necessarily to blame rather than a paradigm, and there is somewhat of a tendency to generalisations that could alienate some potential allies. That aside, I could not fault the logic in the arguments presented in this book, and I think it should be taken very seriously by everyone involved in dialogue with Indigenous groups, particularly in regard to native title negotiations and where land management is involved. Yorta Yorta woman Monica Morgan’s Foreword makes it clear that the book is an authorised account of Indigenous perspective that ‘has the potential for creating a new dialogue between the First Nations and new Australians in coming to terms and in understanding each other.’ As Monica elaborates, ‘This dialogue is reliant on being honest to the devastation past theories have had on our water and the river system [and is dependent on] changing false concepts and practices.’ http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Ecological Management & Restoration Wiley

Murray River country: an ecological dialogue with traditional owners

McDonald, Tein
Ecological Management & Restoration , Volume 13 (3) – Sep 1, 2012
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Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
© 2012 Ecological Society of Australia
ISSN
1442-7001
eISSN
1442-8903
DOI
10.1111/emr.12009
Publisher site
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Abstract

Murray River country: an ecological dialogue with traditional owners . Jessica K W . Aboriginal Studies Press , Canberra , 2009 , 175 pp +xvi. Price: AUD$34.95 . ISBN : 9780855756789 . This book is a rigorous intellectual discourse, informed by interviews with delegates of the Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations (MILDRIN) alliance. It analyses the tragic consequences of a ‘modernist’ approach to harnessing and managing the Murray River, contrasted against an Indigenous view that recognises our lives as being codependent with the river (or ‘country’) itself. The consequences of a past lack of dialogue between Indigenous peoples and non‐Indigenous mainstream Australia is spelled out, while the book highlights a dialogue, developing through the MILDRIN alliance, that is likely to be extended and deepened in the future. The messages in this book are rather unpleasant medicine for inheritors of ‘modern’ thinking, but are argued with strong logic and sound scholarship. Chapter 1 is a critique of ‘modernist’ thinking and its corollary, wilderness. For readers unfamiliar with this discourse, this chapter provides valuable background. Chapter 2 is a history and critique of water management on the Murray River to date, with the carefully sequenced argument becoming clearer by Chapter 3, where Indigenous viewpoints on connectivity and its physical, social and cultural realities are outlined. This chapter, which delves into loss and its consequences is at times beautifully written and includes the point that Indigenous perspective can see ‘beyond the loss’, ‘seeing the beauty that was there’– perceiving resilience and a potential for restoration. The author’s main thesis is that the ‘modernist’ view of the world that has driven technological developments irrespective of their destructive consequences on environments denies or is blind to Indigenous peoples’ governance and ‘felt’ relationships with country, thereby denying important solutions to holistic social–ecological problems. Environmental health and economic health need not be mutually exclusive, yet negotiations built on modernist thinking disallow integrated solutions as the underlying problem is lack of appreciation that the fundamental threat is the violence of modern thought and action. Chapter 4 reviews the background to contemporary negotiation processes involving Indigenous peoples in the Murray and Lower Darling, including native title processes. It is not a pretty story, but there is good news to follow in Chapter 5, with a detailed profile of the MILDRIN alliance and its successful engagement in relationships and partnerships with statutory authorities, NGOs and research organisations. The sheer existence of this Indigenous initiative is highly inspiring, particularly having been led through previous chapters on the history of ideas that puts this initiative into its broader perspective. The existence of MILDRIN does not let anyone off the hook though. The critique drills deeper in Chapter 6 where the pivotal concept of ‘Cultural flows’, introduced in Chapter 5 is further contrasted against modernist views. Cultural flows are explained in depth as being part of the MILDRIN delegates’‘critique of the dominant paradigms in water management today’, part of ‘a bigger vision … which demands a philosophical shift in natural resource management’ (pp 128–9). Logical conclusions follow such as: ‘We need to be open to an ecological dialogue to facilitate the flow of ideas and the creation of new knowledge for understanding our relationships with the rivers and our responses to river destruction – otherwise, the moderns will continue to deplete, destroy and then depart elsewhere … to begin their destructive cycle again.’ (p 119). I can understand, however, why some readers might find this book difficult to read. The postmodern discourse tends to be unrelenting and overstate references to ‘the moderns’ as if individuals are necessarily to blame rather than a paradigm, and there is somewhat of a tendency to generalisations that could alienate some potential allies. That aside, I could not fault the logic in the arguments presented in this book, and I think it should be taken very seriously by everyone involved in dialogue with Indigenous groups, particularly in regard to native title negotiations and where land management is involved. Yorta Yorta woman Monica Morgan’s Foreword makes it clear that the book is an authorised account of Indigenous perspective that ‘has the potential for creating a new dialogue between the First Nations and new Australians in coming to terms and in understanding each other.’ As Monica elaborates, ‘This dialogue is reliant on being honest to the devastation past theories have had on our water and the river system [and is dependent on] changing false concepts and practices.’

Journal

Ecological Management & Restoration – Wiley

Published: Sep 1, 2012

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