Cultural Sustainability

Some perspectives from Aboriginal Heritage in New South Wales (NSW), Australia

Mal Ridges

Flanders and NSW:

• 2.4% of NSW population is Aboriginal

• ~70 Aboriginal languages spoken in NSW at colonisation (1788)

Australia is 2x bigger than European Union But European Union has 20x more people

NSW is 60x bigger than Flanders But Flanders has almost the same number of people

Mungo National Park

Two issues: 1. What is cultural sustainability

for Aboriginal heritage? 2. What is the role of government

supporting Aboriginal cultural sustainability?

Emerging solutions: • Systematic heritage planning • Integrating heritage into

development planning • Valuing Aboriginal culture

What is Aboriginal cultural sustainability?

Two views:

1. Archaeological (easy to regulate but narrow focus)

2. Cultural (more meaningful but difficult to measure)

Rock art

The objects archaeologists see:

Scarred trees Grinding grooves

The objects archaeologists see:

Stone artefacts

The objects archaeologists see:

• Apply state legislation

• Record: 75,000 Aboriginal sites in NSW

• Inform a prehistoric narrative: ‘Aboriginal people have lived in NSW for 40,000 years’

What archaeologists do:

Aboriginal sites in NSW

What our policy & legislation does:

Salvage archaeology

*** The vast majority of archaeological assessment results in destruction ***

The Burra Charter code of significance (place-based) doesn’t integrate well with development planning (regional-based)

Spiritual values

Cultural practice

Community (health housing)

Employment (tourism etc)

Land management

Post-colonial heritage, Oral history etc

Archaeological value

What Aboriginal people value:

What Aboriginal people value is their connection to landscape (‘Country’)

Which involves being in place…

And identifying with the spirit embedded in place….

Its about ‘doing’ culture And handing it on

But most of all it is about connecting:

With your ‘Country’, with your people, with your ancestors, and ultimately… yourself

Aboriginal people aren’t just connected with their landscapes and heritage…living that connection IS their culture…

Well-being

Medical definition: “Good health, happiness, & prosperity. The state of being healthy, happy and prosperous”

Indigenous definition (Maori): “Well-being concerns all aspects of a persons internal and external worlds. It assumes health in the spheres of physical, psychological, spiritual and family well-being, and a balance among the individual, the environment and those around them”

Ancient fireplace, Narran Lake Nature Reserve

Affective theory

• Personal experience • Emersion in surroundings through living • Embraces what heritage DOES

Affective heritage is defined by the relationships between people and heritage, rather than the intrinsic value of objects & places.

Mode 1 Science: Discovery Mode 2 Science Needs driven

After Gibbons 1994 ‘The new production of knowledge’

From Harvard University's ‘Centre for International Development’ Sustainability Science is: 1) Oriented on use or need; 2) focused on human-environmental systems; 3) aspires to integrated understanding

My role in government doing sustainability science:

The values Mungo is known for:

The science needed to look after a World Heritage landscape:

Application of sustainability science at Mungo:

Mode 1 science: Mode 2 science:

40,000 year old burial

Monitoring erosion with satellite imagery

20,000 year old footprints

Identifying and dealing with THREATS (wild goats)

Colonisation & Heritage in Australia

1788 50,000 year +

Prehistoric Archaeology Historic Heritage

2016 Referendum

1967

Pristine Wilderness Fragmented biodiversity

Cultural heritage

Natural heritage

The environment first encountered by the colonists

Has been transformed

into a landscape requiring

conservation

Native vegetation

Native vegetation

Biodiversity & heritage everywhere

Biodiversity & heritage fragmented

4000 km

Regional planning: impact of MINING

Low High Likelihood

stone artefacts model (pre1788)

5 KM Low High Likelihood

Stone artefacts model (current)

5 KM

scarred tree model (pre1788)

Low High Likelihood

5 KM

scarred trees model (current)

Low High Likelihood

5 KM

Regional planning: impact of LAND CLEARING

STATE-LEVEL reporting:

70% drop likelihood

Site feature % Impacted

Artefacts 26.7

Rock art 18.6

Burials 63.5

Grinding grooves 24.0

Hearths 70.5

Shell middens 55.0

Stone quarries 20.3

Scarred trees 69.9

Site feature % Protected

Artefacts 3.3

Rock art 5.9

Burials 3.0

Grinding grooves 4.7

Hearths 2.3

Shell middens 4.0

Stone quarries 4.4

Scarred trees 3.6

Are we achieving CAR for Aboriginal heritage?

Comprehensive Adequate

Representative

Scarred trees:

Darling Riverine Plains

Integrated regional assessment

TARGET CALCULATIONS

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

% LOST

RA

RIT

Y x

100

Setting explicit targets for Aboriginal heritage: R

EGIO

NA

L R

AR

ITY

REGIONAL LOSS

Individual heritage values

Highest conservation

target

Integrated planning:

Natural features Heritage features

Irreplacebility

Irreplacebility: the degree to which an area needs conservation to reach target

What value does Aboriginal heritage have

to NSW society?

Only two things are certain about the Australian landscape: 1. It is highly variable and

unpredictable 2. It is going to get worse with

climate change

Two solutions: 1. Technological innovation =

science 2. Cultural adaptation = learn

from Aboriginal culture

The Australian Indigenous Estate

The story in northeast NSW:

Native grassland

Big scrub: rainforest

Fire

No Fire

dependent

species

Eastern bristle bird

Hasting river mouse

Aboriginal burning

Traditional pathways (cultural landscape)

joint management

32

Aboriginal burning practices: the challenges

Fire behaviour

Ecological response

Science: Legacy:

Past landscapes

Contemporary landscapes

Practice:

Cultural activity

Regulated activity

33

‘Cultural sustainability’ = these people working together

Farmer:

National Park manager Aboriginal

person Scientist

Wollombi Coroboree 2010

Take home message: • Moving away from the ‘intrinsic’ value of heritage, to focus on what

heritage DOES for sustaining culture (ie measure health of culture)

• Approach cultural sustainability as a systematic planning problem