Martuwarra Country: A historical perspective (1838-present)

Abstract

The report seeks to examine the impacts of colonisation, more particularly pastoralism, on the Martuwarra Country and its people and concludes with the contemporary voices of Martuwarra people. In doing this, one must note the at times highly disparaging tone of the European explorers, the dark deeds they committed, and their racist expressions and bias, which may offend some readers. This report provides an extensive, period-specific historical account of the Martuwarra people’s connections to their Country as a point of departure and a premise for discussion contrasting Aboriginal perspectives and the development lens of the State. In doing so, this report also juxtaposes the events of the past with the continued contemporary imposition of development strategies still at odds with Aboriginal life-ways

A tale of two rivers – Baaka and Martuwarra, Australia: Shared voices and art towards water justice

“…The colonial historical perspective captured from 1838 records a world of plenty, sharing, singing and dancing; a world of abundance with ducks, fish, meats and all types of bush foods. The state of Martuwarra managed by Traditional Owners from the beginning of time, however, changed with colonisation and resulted in the enslavement, poverty and overwhelming disadvantage of First Nations (RiverOfLife et al, 2020a (Poelina et al, 2019).…”

“…Baaka and Martuwarra are complex bio-physical and living systems that encompass much more than their rivers channels and floodplains and have immense social, cultural, economic and historical values (Barber and Woodward, 2018; RiverOfLife et al, 2020a). They hold special values for the First Nations who have cared for, and been cared by, the rivers since the beginning of time and who assert that the rivers have a right to life (Poelina et al, 2019) that is recognised through ‘ancestral personhood’, an emerging form of legal personhood (RiverOfLife et al, 2021a).…”

Martuwarra Fitzroy River Watershed: One society, one river law

“…over thousands of years, Yi-Martuwarra people, the people from the River country, used ecologically attuned practices, including fires, to shape, protect, maintain and regenerate its living landscapes [30,40].…”

“…This invasive colonial development of the Kimberley region commenced with the arrival of Europeans in 1837. Lone explorers marvelled at the richness of Martuwarra Country in their diaries [40], seeing the region purely through the lens of economic exploitation for the benefits of Britain, their Mother Country. They were soon followed by the pearlers, pastoralists, and missionaries.…”

Hearing, voicing and healing: Rivers as culturally located and connected

“…The impact of violent colonisation on River Country was experienced at scale from the mid‐ to late 1880s, when pastoralists, police and settlers arrived with the imperial intent of exploiting Kimberley environments and people, using the logic of moral progress. Traditional Owners and their lands were seen as resources for development, not as essential to the well‐being of the social ecosystem of place (RiverOfLife Martuwarra, McDuffie, & Poelina, 2020). A very different worldview was brought to the heart of Kin existence, the cultures of Kin nations.…”