“Winga Is Trying to Get in”: Local Observations of Climate Change in the Tiwi Islands

Abstract

There is a growing body of research documenting Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities' observations of changes in climate. The accuracy, efficacy, and transferability of this research depends on its motives and methods. In this paper, we report on research to produce a working knowledge of changes in climate and its impacts on local biophysical systems in the Tiwi Islands in Northern Australia. Interviews with 52 Tiwi people were combined with diverse forms of aerial data to produce a nuanced understanding of climate change in these remote islands. These data show changes in climate‐sensitive biophysical systems that would otherwise remain undetected by instruments conventionally used for monitoring climate change. These include changes in shorelines, which are causing concerns about damage to buildings that are important for Tiwi well‐being, and changes in the marine environment and wetlands, which are causing concerns about damage to natural heritage. We discuss the implications of these findings, arguing that systematic observations collected by networks of people “on Country” can provide excellent monitoring of climate change impacts, and that Indigenous people's interests in the effects of climate change overlap with those of non‐Indigenous people, as do their rights to support from the State for adaptation.

Perspectives on Indigenous well‐being and climate change adaptation

“…The latter aspect is essential as studies on climate change and IPLC tend to focus on “tradition” and idealized notions of Indigeneity that obscure colonial and postcolonial trajectories (Nursey‐Bray et al, 2020; Shawoo & Thornton, 2019). These studies ignore that Indigenous peoples too inhabit a world that is more than local and customary, and that some of their needs and aspirations such as access to healthcare, education and jobs overlap with those of non‐Indigenous populations (Barnett et al, 2023; Cameron, 2012; Petheram et al, 2015). Therefore, as the world changes, Indigenous conceptions of well‐being change with it, carrying the mandate for further research.…”