wounded
rivers
(c) Deborah Bird Rose, Cameron Muir and Phil Sullivan
A river is like a mirror: it reflects the care given by people whose lives depend upon it. How people take care of social relationships and how they take care of ecological relationships are in reality the same question, according to Phillip Sullivan, a traditional owner of country along the upper Darling River in north western New South Wales.
Deborah Rose and Cameron Muir are collaborating with Phil on a research project that aims to articulate and disseminate Indigenous river water values for that region. The project has synergistic connections with Jessica Weir's ecological dialogue work along the Murray River. Our collaboration is stage one of a larger project that Phil is putting together to bring Indigenous people in his region into the decision making process with enough voice to be able to put forward their own values.
Phillip and Cameron on the banks of the Darling River
Stagnant water, dead animals
A river is like a mirror: it reflects the care given by people whose lives depend upon it. How people take care of social relationships and how they take care of ecological relationships are in reality the same question, according to Phillip Sullivan, a traditional owner of country along the upper Darling River in north western New South Wales.
Deborah Rose and Cameron Muir are collaborating with Phil on a research project that aims to articulate and disseminate Indigenous river water values for that region. The project has synergistic connections with Jessica Weir's ecological dialogue work along the Murray River. Our collaboration is stage one of a larger project that Phil is putting together to bring Indigenous people in his region into the decision making process with enough voice to be able to put forward their own values.
Phillip and Cameron on the banks of the Darling River
In
this early stage, we have been visiting sites along the river and
inland, and Phil has been talking to us about his view that culture and
nature are not separate. As a Cultural Heritage Officer in the National
Parks and Wildlife Service (NSW), Phil has had ample opportunity to
experience and reflect upon the culture-nature division that underpins
Parks legislation. In his words:
The ‘natural’ and ‘cultural’ heritage of National Parks is not separate. This is an artificial white-fella separation. They are still boxing the whole into sections, we need to integrate management into a holistic view of the landscape (see references below).
When it comes to the river, Phil sees connectivities broken apart in the race for economic leverage: water allocations, irrigation, dams, and related issues of pollution, scarcity, salinity, siltation, invasion of exotic species, and degradation of native fauna and their habitat, including Phil’s own ‘totem’ the yellowbelly or golden perch. To be in relationship with the fish, Phil has explained, is to be responsible for everything connected with its well-being:
Having a ‘totem’ is ... about looking after everything. Everything that's associated with the animal, like the yellowbelly, I have to look after the fish, the water, the reeds - everything to do with that fish.
The ‘natural’ and ‘cultural’ heritage of National Parks is not separate. This is an artificial white-fella separation. They are still boxing the whole into sections, we need to integrate management into a holistic view of the landscape (see references below).
When it comes to the river, Phil sees connectivities broken apart in the race for economic leverage: water allocations, irrigation, dams, and related issues of pollution, scarcity, salinity, siltation, invasion of exotic species, and degradation of native fauna and their habitat, including Phil’s own ‘totem’ the yellowbelly or golden perch. To be in relationship with the fish, Phil has explained, is to be responsible for everything connected with its well-being:
Having a ‘totem’ is ... about looking after everything. Everything that's associated with the animal, like the yellowbelly, I have to look after the fish, the water, the reeds - everything to do with that fish.
Stagnant water, dead animals
Phil
is working to turn around a lot of things, including the current
exclusion of Indigenous people. Part of the reason for the sorry state
of the river is that the Indigenous custodians have not been heard at
the water management table. The larger issues are not single factors
like water level or salinity level, although these are important; the
larger issues concern foundational values.
Water is a gift, Phil says. All life depends on it. The first priority is for water to support life. Once life, all living things, including future generations, are cared for, then it will be time to talk about other allocations. Phil told us that the river is dying. It is not dead, but it is dying because it is not allowed to do its natural work: to flood out, and to retract; to freely renew itself, the living beings who depend on it, and the land. So Phil is pressing for a turn-around in both social and ecological relationships – a turn that would bring people into relationships of care and responsibility that respect life’s gifts.
Water is a gift, Phil says. All life depends on it. The first priority is for water to support life. Once life, all living things, including future generations, are cared for, then it will be time to talk about other allocations. Phil told us that the river is dying. It is not dead, but it is dying because it is not allowed to do its natural work: to flood out, and to retract; to freely renew itself, the living beings who depend on it, and the land. So Phil is pressing for a turn-around in both social and ecological relationships – a turn that would bring people into relationships of care and responsibility that respect life’s gifts.
Phillip and Debbie
Phillip Sullivan and other Ngiyampaa people of this region express these and other views in two reports written by Deborah Rose that are available online:
2003 Sharing Kinship with Nature: How Reconciliation is Transforming the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, National Parks and Wildlife Service, NSW, Sydney.Online: http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/PDFs/Sharing_Kinship.pdf
2003 Indigenous Kinship with the Natural World, co-authored with Diana James and Chris Watson, National Parks and Wildlife Service, NSW, Sydney. Online: http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/PDFs/Indigenous_Kinship.pdf
