OUR KNOWLEDGE OUR WAYin caring forCountry Indigenous-led approaches to strengthening and sharing our knowledge for land and sea management Best Practice Guidelines from Australian Experiences OUR VISION AND PURPOSE FOR OUR KNOWLEDGE OUR WAY Our purpose in producing these Best Practice Guidelines from Australian Experiences is to support learning, by both ourselves and our partners, about good ways of using our Indigenous knowledge to look after our land and sea Country. us as Traditional Owners and is diverse across Australia. The vision for Our Knowledge Our Way in caring for Country, established by the Indigenous-majority Project Steering Group, is: j Indigenous people are empowered to look after Country our way j Improved environmental conditions and multiple social, cultural and economic benefits come from effective Indigenous adaptive management of Country. The Guidelines are based on 23 Australian case studies that show that Our Knowledge Our Way in caring for Country can be supported through: j Strengthening Indigenous knowledge j Strong partnerships j Sharing and weaving knowledge j Indigenous networks. STRENGTHENING INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE Holding and strengthening Indigenous knowledge for Country involves having the rights to access Country, listening to Country, interpreting that knowledge, and communicating it to others. Indigenous knowledge is different between groups. It comes from Country, from our ancestors and ancestral beings present in Country today. Our kinship relationships connect us as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples within a network of other people, plants, animals and features in the landscape. Connection is maintained through our knowledge and through our actions to care for our Country. Culture and Country are spoken about together. this connectivity to Country. relationship between land and people – we need tenergy system... It’The Country is alive. When I talk about culture, I talk about the Country. The river, the land they’re all an s also a healing mechanism – this o have Anne Poelina Keeping our Indigenous knowledge strong and vibrant requires: j Access to our Country j Strong cultural governance of our knowledge. Keeping knowledge strong through access to Country Access to our land and sea Country is the foundation of keeping our Indigenous knowledge strong. We need to be on our Country to sing, dance, tell stories, collect bush tucker, practise art, and to speak our language to the plants, animals and ancestral beings in our landscapes and seascapes. While colonisation has severely impacted our access to Country, we use different legal and agreement- making approaches to keep our connections as much as possible. Important ways we are able to access Country j Aboriginal Land Rights legislation in some states and territories j Recognition of Native Title j Purchasing of land j Agreements to establish Indigenous Protected Areas j Co-management of parks and protected areas j Indigenous Land Use Agreements j Traditional Use of Marine Resources Agreements j Partnerships with local governments and natural resource management agencies j Partnerships with state and territory natural resource agencies j Partnerships with private sector and philanthropic organisations Strong cultural governance of our knowledge The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and other international laws and policies, recognise our rights to self-governance and autonomy. This means: j Decision-making about knowledge needs to respect and follow each group’s customary governance, and cultural protocols. This usually requires collective decision-making by key people, including Elders. j New organisations resulting from government policies need to be resourced and supported to strengthen, not weaken, cultural norms of knowledge governance. j New laws are needed to provide protection for Indigenous cultural and intellectual property (ICIP). j Agreements can provide for both customary law and Australian nation-state legal protection when sharing knowledge. Keep and revitalise knowledge, language and culture Our knowledge is kept alive and is passed on through language, song, dance, art, story, through being on Country, hunting, harvesting, and through many other cultural practices. Opportunities to continue these practices are essential to the survival of our culture. We are educating our youth through Indigenous-led bilingual education, learning on Country and two-way science programs. New and emerging digital technologies can engage youth and record and revitalise knowledge, provided knowledge protocols are followed. Case studies in strengthening Indigenous knowledge Language and land: Arabana on-Country language camps (SA) highlights the Mobile Language Team, which has supported more than 20 Aboriginal language groups through activities such as on-Country language camps, co- curricular language programs, videography and training for medical students. Wirlomin Noongar language and stories (WA) showcases how digital solutions and face to face gathering has contributed to re-embedding language, story and song in the landscape, and revitalising language and culture. Torres Strait traditional ecological knowledge project involved the development of a secure database for communites to record, store, protect and, where applicable, share traditional knowledge within their own community whilst adhering to their respective community’s cultural protocols. Top: Arabana camp leader showing young Arabana boy how to decorate clapsticks. Photo: Mobile Language Team. Middle: Clint Bracknell, Roma Winmar and Iris Woods recording a Noongar story at Point Ann, WA. Photo: Amy Budrikis, Wirlomin Noongar Language and Stories. Bottom: Masigalgal Elder Mr Moses Mene informs Taigai College Primary Students how Masigalgal used to work together to harvest from the land and seas for survival in generations past. Photo: Chris de La Rosa. Together, Indigenous people and partners can: Promote new laws, agreements and treaties to give us greater access to our Country to keep our knowledge strong. Promote a new story of environmental management and enterprise development that recognises our caring for our Country over millennia. Support and promote strong cultural governance, to strengthen Our Knowledge Our Way. BUILDING STRONG PARTNERSHIPS Partnerships that enable the building of respect and appreciation for Indigenous knowledge are desired – particularly where they support an Indigenous voice in decision-making processes that affect us. Respect for Indigenous knowledge, culture and Country is critical for the development of trust and relationship-building, which underpin strong partnerships. Trust and relationships in knowledge work Custodians of knowledge feel an obligation and responsibility to the ancestors to treat knowledge the right way. It takes time for trust to build between knowledge holders and outsiders before knowledge might be shared. We seek engagements and partnerships where we think our knowledge will be treated the right way. This can mean taking a very slow approach to building a partnership, and testing partners to see if they are respectful and trustworthy, before knowledge is shared. Taking the time and interest to build relationships between people will underpin positive experiences in knowledge- sharing. Relationship-building demands that all partners recognise and respect multiple cultural backgrounds and knowledges in creating a safe space for sharing. Principles for strong partnerships j Partners should commit to ethical research protocols and agreements to create transparency, ensure mutual benefit, and protect ICIP j Strong corporate and cultural governance arrangements are a foundation for protocols and agreements that enable transparency, ensure mutual benefit and protect ICIP j Good partners understand the importance of time in enabling proper decision-making and building trust, foundations for respectful working relationships j Indigenous-led partnerships hold mutual benefits for knowledge-sharing Protocols Our knowledge protocols are vital to positive experiences in sharing knowledge. It is our business to know and follow our own cultural protocols when sharing knowledge outside of our different Traditional Owner groups. Other protocols can be negotiated between Indigenous and non-Indigenous partners to facilitate sharing of knowledge the right way, and these can operate at many scales. Protocols can include: agreement on the activities, responsibilities and contributions of each partner; acknowledgement and consideration of background intellectual property (IP); and how the research IP will be shared. Formalised research agreements between institutions offer a higher level of protection to IP because they are binding. Consent for sharing knowledge Free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) is critical to the sharing of knowledge. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and many other international and national laws and policies, recognise FPIC as the best- practice approach to engaging with Indigenous knowledge. FPIC requires that individuals and groups are provided with sufficient accessible information to enable full consideration of the risks and benefits of a proposed project, prior to them making a decision about whether or not to consent to that proposal. Partners should ensure that their project budgets accommodate payment of interpreters where appropriate, to ensure Indigenous partners are adequately informed before giving consent. The requirement for consent entitles Indigenous Peoples to determine the outcome of decision-making that affects them. Together Indigenous people and partners can: Ensure that cultural protocols are followed, and that enough time and resources are allocated to ensure that FPIC processes have local legitimacy. Promote correct processes for FPIC and require that all research, conservation and development proposals on Country adhere to FPIC. Arrernteknowledge(forexample) Dja Dja Wurrung knowledge Indigenousknowledge Each Traditional Owner group’sknowldge Biological knowledge (forexample) Socialandnaturalscienceknowledge Pastoralists’knowledge Technicalknowledge Richerpicture Synthesis and validation Many different Indigenous, scientific and other knowledge systems exist in Australia. Arrernteknowledge(forexample) Dja Dja Wurrung knowledge Indigenousknowledge Each Traditional Owner group’sknowldge Biological knowledge (forexample) Socialandnaturalscienceknowledge Pastoralists’knowledge Technicalknowledge Richerpicture Synthesis and validation Many different Indigenous, scientific and other knowledge systems exist in Australia. Case studies in developing strong partnerships Dhelkunya Wi (healing fire): Healing massacre site, Djaara (people) and Djandak (Country) (Vic) shows how Dja Dja Wurrung have been bringing back Djandak Wi onto Country through partnerships with government agencies, particularly Forest Fire Management Victoria Loddon Mallee and Parks Victoria. Tebrakunna and Melythina Tiakana Warrana Aboriginal Corporation (Tas) showcases a successful partnership between the Tebrakunna and Melythina Tiakana Warrana Aboriginal Corporation and the Woolnorth Windfarm Group in establishing the Tebrakunna Visitor Centre, illustrating several principles critical in establishing a successful partnership. Walking with good spirit at Yarramundi, Western Sydney (NSW) Darug custodians and university researchers talk of the importance of walking with good spirit in creating an opportunity to learn from each other and from Country at Yarramundi, western Sydney. Top: Dja Dja Wurrung fire workers. From left: Trent Nichols, Andrew Murray, Mick Bourke, Amos Atkinson. Photo: DELWP. Middle: Tasmanian Aboriginal dancer Jarrod Hughes, Mannalargenna Day 2019. Photo: MJ Anders. Bottom: Yarning together at Yarramundi. Photo: Yanama budyari gumada. SHARING AND WEAVING KNOWLEDGE Indigenous managers often weave knowledge to manage new and complex land and sea management issues. Externally funded Indigenous land and sea management ranger programs sometimes draw on western science to build ecological monitoring and evaluation programs into their work plans. Sometimes scientific rigour lends support to the development of land and sea management-based enterprises – for example, in developing a methodology for traditional burning regimes to offset carbon emissions. All knowledge sharing is based on first strengthening and preparing the knowledge systems that will be shared. This involves ensuring people are able to practise and maintain their Indigenous knowledge in a culturally safe space, and that western scientific knowledge is available. Four subsequent steps can help: communicate, discuss, bring together and apply. Communicate involves presenting knowledge from one knowledge system in a format that can be understood by a different knowledge system e.g. a seasonal calendar. e Strengthen, prepare Communicate Traditional Owners Apply and Partners Cultural Governance Strong Partnerships Discuss Bring together Key steps that can help Traditional Owners and partners in sharing and weaving knowledge. Data management tools for sharing and weaving knowledge j Indigenous Peoples seek control over data which is collected about us, our knowledge or our land and sea Country j Data needs to be returned to us in a useable and accessible form – we need access to data management platforms j Agreements are essential to ensure data is collected, analysed, stored and shared in accordance with cultural protocols and our wishes – funding must allow for this j Indigenous data sovereignty must be respected j Project budgets and timelines must account for appropriate data sharing and dissemination, including trips to report back, share data, and provide training Discuss requires us to talk together and interact around our different knowledges. ‘Boundary objects’ that people from different knowledge systems can connect to, like a 3D catchment model (see next page), can help discussions. Bring together After discussions and negotiations, we can bring our different knowledge systems together, e.g. in Indigenous Protected Area management plans. Apply The final step in weaving knowledge is application of the new, (partly) woven knowledge, which has been shown to deliver many co-benefits. Communication tools for sharing and weaving knowledge j Indigenous-led and co-developed tools are most appropriate for sharing and weaving knowledge j Tools that promote the inter-generational transfer of knowledge are highly valued The case studies demonstrate that co-created tools can facilitate the communication of specific messages, and can be used amongst Indigenous participants, government and scientists to facilitate relationship building and promote discussion. Co-produced communication tools can promote learning about culture and language, as well as assist understanding across knowledge systems. Together Indigenous people and partners can: Create opportunities for co-creation of tools that promote and support inclusion of Indigenous knowledge in environmental decision-making. Continue to realise opportunities for building understanding and respect for Indigenous knowledge systems – through sharing of knowledge in diverse forms and styles. Push the boundaries of co-learning through co-creation of innovative tools that draw on multiple knowledges and understandings and create new avenues for intergenerational learning. Case studies in weaving knowledge systems Showing and sharing knowledge in the Fitzroy River catchment (WA) Traditional Owners and scientists have been working together to help Indigenous land managers find better ways to use both scientific and Indigenous knowledge for making decisions for Country. They created a 3D catchment model to explore water flow, water rights, flood, fire, and development. The Ngan’gi Seasons Indigenous seasonal calendar (NT) was created to communicate to government water planners the importance of Ngan’gi people’s connection to the Daly River. As the seasons change we think of the old people, the ancestors, we think of gathering maypal (NT), Doris Yethun Burarrwaŋa talks about the importance of weaving knowledge systems, bringing together western scientists with all relevant Yolŋu knowledge holders to describe and document ecological and cultural knowledge of shellfish. Top: Participants use the 3D map to discuss water flows in the Fitzroy River catchment. Photo: Pia Harkness. Middle: A section of the Ngan’gi Seasons calendar. Bottom: Goŋiya-ŋukaliya-Clibanarius taeniatus. Photo: D. Hancock and T. Ritchie. INDIGENOUS LAND AND SEA NETWORKS FOR SHARING KNOWLEDGE Global networks that promote Indigenous-led knowledge practices and their application to international environmental challenges include the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services and the Indigenous and Local Knowledge Centres of Distinction. These networks are important as they offer peer-to-peer learning opportunities for Indigenous land and sea management practitioners. They support: j Learning about good partners, projects and approaches to keeping knowledge strong, our way j Learning from others about best-practice protocols and processes for managing partnerships j Building strength and inspiration through solidarity. In recent years there have been great opportunities at the national level for us to build strength in knowledge through peer-to-peer learning. Over three years (2017–2019) Indigenous Ranger Forums were held to promote knowledge sharing amongst rangers and land and sea management-related partners across northern Australia. At the 2019 Forum, held on Kenbi Country in the Northern Territory, rangers discussed the importance of the Guidelines in the context of building knowledge between ranger groups. The idea of a national Indigenous land and sea network has been discussed and needs exploring further. Together, Indigenous people and partners can: Support pan-regional, pan- national and international sharing of land and sea knowledge for enhanced environmental management. Strengthen existing networks for knowledge-sharing, to identify best-practice methods and tools for bringing Indigenous knowledge into land and sea management and enterprise development. This might take the form of a national Indigenous land and sea management network. Raise the profile ofIndigenous land and sea management knowledge through national and international forums. BEST PRACTICE GUIDELINES FROM AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCES These Guidelines are a key output from a project of the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Indigenous leadership of the Guidelines Program, Northern Australia Enviromental Resources is through: Hub, titled Knowledge Brokering for Indigenous Land j Indigenous-led Project Steering Group Management. j Indigenous-led case studies The project co-leaders, the North Australia Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance (NAILSMA) and CSIRO, j Indigenous lead co-authors for each chapter established an Indigenous-majority Project Steering Group to ensure Indigenous leadership of the project. The Project j Indigenous review, consultation and input Steering Group asked “who decides what is best practice and how?” and provided the critical direction that: j Face-to-face discussions about the Guidelines at meetings and workshops. Indigenous people must decide what is best practice in working with our knowledge. The best practice Guidelines are therefore Indigenous-led, based on an open, transparent process established by the Project Steering Group of calling for Indigenous Peoples to submit case studies that demonstrate best practice in working with Indigenous knowledge. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Editors: Woodward, E., Hill, R., Harkness, P., and Archer, R. Authors: Aboriginal Carbon Foundation, Aiken, M., Arbon, V., Atkinson, G., Bardi Jawi Niimidiman Aboriginal Corporation, Bieundurry, J., Birriliburu Rangers, Bourke, M., Bracknell, C., Brooking, G., Brooking, S., Brumby, W., Buissereth, W., Bulmer, V., Bundjalung of Byron Bay Aboriginal Our Knowledge Our Way in caring for Corporation, Burarrwaŋa, D. Y., Bush Medijina®, Cameron, A. P., Carwardine, J., Cherel, V., Cherry, Country is licensed by the CSIRO and K., Chungalla, D., Clifton, A., Collard, T., Collard, Y., Cook, C., Cox, C., Cranbell, T., Daley, L., Dadd, U. NAILSMA for use under a Creative L., Dann, R., Dann, R., Darug Ngurra, Dawson, M., Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation, Foley, R., Ford, Commons Attribution Non-Commerical L., Forrest, J., Glass, P., Gore-Birch, C., Graham, M., Graham, N., Hand, M., Harkness, P., Hill, J., Hill, No-Derivatives 4.0 Australia licence. For R., Hobbs, A., Hobbs, D., Hodge, P., Hunter, B., James, B., James, R., Jingle, E., Juboy, C., Juboy, P., licence conditions see: Kay, D., Kimberley Land Council, Knight, O., Kogolo, A., Lemire, J., Lenard, B., Lenard, N., Lennard, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/ C., Lennard, D., Lennard, V., Lincoln, G., Lyons, I., Malay, I., Malay, J., Malay, L., Malay, N., Malay, Z., by-nc-nd/4.0/ Malmer, P., Marshall, D., Marshall, H., Masigalgal Rangers, Masigalgal RNTBC, McCall, E., McGrath, V., McLean, M., McMurray, L., McTaggart, P. M., Midmee, W., Millindee, L., Moggridge, B., Morton, The full report is available for download S., Mowaljarlai, D., Mulladad, M., Myers, A., NAILSMA, Narwal, H., Nnarda, T., Norman-Dadd, A. C., from the CSIRO website: Nuggett, J., Nulgit, C., Nulgit, L., Nulgit, P., Nyangumarta Warrarn Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC, www.csiro.au/ourknowledgeourway O’Conner, M. H., Perkins, R., Phoka, C., Poelina, A., Poudrill, D., Prober, S. M., Raisbeck-Brown, N., Riley, P., Robinson, C., Ross, J., Schultz, L., Scott, R., Shadforth, I., Shandley, J., Shaw, K., Skeen, The Hub is supported through funding S., Smith, G., Smith, A .S. , Smith, N., Street, N., Suchet-Pearson, S., Sunfly, A., Tengö, M., Thomas, from the Australian Government’s P., Trakansuphakon, N., Trakansuphakon, P., Turner, A., Turpin, G., Turpin, M., Waanyi Garawa, National Environmental Science Webb, T., Williams, B., Wiluna Martu Rangers, Wong, N., Wongawol, B., Woodward, E., Wright, Program. The NESP NAER Hub is S., Wungundin, H., Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation, Yates, P., Yiyili Aboriginal Community hosted by Charles Darwin University. School Board, Yuen, E., Yungabun, H. Reviewers: Cowell, S., Davis, M., Fisher, J., Godden, L., Mackay, R., Mahoney, R., Major, D., Nursey-Bray, N., Taylor, P., Warren, L. Land and sea rangers discussing the OKOW Guidelines at the NT Ranger Forum. Photo: Patch Clapp. National Environmental Science Programme