Hello Denise and fellow birders,
Thanks for your email Denise but I guess I wanted to raise a few points of
concern that may need clarification to others who dont have the privilege
of working (and birding!) with Aboriginal people.
Like many people who have worked in Arnhem Land I too am "adopted" into a
clan - this is a generous way many Arnhem Land communities work with
visitors who become friends / collaborators. Of course this is different to
being identified as a traditional owner which Denise, quite rightly, does
not claim to be.
Under Aboriginal law and the 1976 NT Land Rights Act Aboriginal people
recognised as traditional owners have the authority to accept or deny
permission to enter, or do business, on Aboriginal lands. There is a
process of applying for a permit through the Northern Land Council to
ensure that ALL traditional owners comply with the region / reason of your
travels. Some commercial companies, including tourist operators, have
entered into a formal agreement which sets out the terms and conditions of
their business ventures in Arnhem Land. Under the Act this agreement must
be approved through a designated Aboriginal representative body (e.g. NLC).
As stated in the Northern Land Council web site (www.nlc.org.au):
'Aboriginal land is not owned by individuals. It is granted as a communal
title. Land is formally held by land trusts - groups of Aboriginal people
who hold the title for the benefit of all the traditional owners and people
with a traditional interest in the land. Under the Land Rights Act,
decisions over the use of Aboriginal land must be consented to by the
traditional owners as a group and ratified by the Land Council'.
I am really excited that Denise has helped to negotiate a formal agreement
with the many clans that are responsible for the enormous region between
the East Alligator and Maningrida. Denise I suspect you have already done
this but I assume you have got the various Indigenous environmental
management organisations that exist in this area (e.g. Bawinanga Aboriginal
Corporation) involved - I will forward your email to relevant colleagues at
the Northern Land Council and Aboriginal organisations if this is needed.
I apologise that this is not a bird posting per se but I wanted to send
this out to clarify the various phone messages I have received - especially
in response to the comment by Denise that Peterson Njangmirra has '...
secured the agreement of the traditional custodians from the East Alligator
nearly to Maningrida, to open their country to visitors'.
Best of luck Denise I look forward to hearing how this birding venture
goes.
Cheers
Cathy Robinson
Fortunatly my children are half casts and will be able to hunt but as
for you white man be happy we even let you into the bush.
I agree these remarks are rude.
As many members of Birding Aus will know I am a member of a clan of the
Kunwinjku people of NW Arnhem Land. Kunwinjku people treat women and
strangers with respect. People who don't do so are called 'white',
whatever their colour.
Maybe Kooris have a different system of etiquette.
And further on the Kunwinjku - my son Peterson Njangmirra has, after ten
years of effort, secured the agreement of the traditional custodians from
the East Alligator nearly to Maningrida, to open their country to
visitors. They want me and my partner to train them, help them with
publicity, and screen tour operators who wish to take people there.
Goodbye my thoughts of having a week off after three frantic months!
Among other things I'm to train my relatives as birdwatching/natural
history guides. As I pointed out in 'Birds of Australia's Top End'
there's a large gap between Bininj and European perspective of birds.
For instance, to a Kunwinjku person all small to medium-size wading-birds
are Kolarawikwik! This would never do for twitchers!
To my surprise one of the people who agreed was the mother of my
sister-in-law's murdered husband (some of you may remember my tale of
going to Arnhem Land to sit in on the police interview and us spending
the rest of the day in a small room surrounded by an armed mob calling
for her blood).
Most of my trips over the last few months have been with birdwatchers,
except for time spent with George Negus and family, and friends from the
end of Sept to the middle of October. None were birdwatchers, however
George and Kirsty's 12 year old son Serge is a keen amateur
herpetologist, and the whole family is interested in natural history and
fishing.
Kirsty wanted me to present an Aboriginal/feminine perspective of
wildlife which I tried to do. But it's hard to compete with a macho
herpetologist (one of their friends) who just wanted to catch everything,
including a 2.5 metre King Brown. I yelled at him to stop, then just
walked alongside the snake which paused to look at me, giving everyone a
great view! But of course this man still had to catch it! Yet despite
his macho, snake-wrestling tendencies he was a lovely bloke, and we soon
felt we'd known each other for years.
As for birds it was a little hard to look for them AND reptiles!. It's
amazing what else you miss when trying to deliberate on the species of a
Cryptoblepharus or Carlia! However we did spot a pair of emus just past
the entry station to Kakadu. All understood my excitement when I pointed
out how thin on the ground this bird was in the Top End.
At Maguk our search for the Oenpelli Python took precedence! Still we
saw some including Rainbow Pitta (which Serge recognised!) and Emerald
Dove. And White-lined Honeyeaters were calling vigorously both within
the gorge and above.
Unfortunately for Serge we didn't find The Python, but he'll be back!
Denise
Denise Goodfellow (Lawungkurr Maralngurra)
08 89818492
www.denisegoodfellow.com
www.earthfoot.org
www.laurelhillpress.com
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