9 - Indigenous Spaces

Question 1

Indigenous land use

Answer 1

Caring for country
Done through a massively integrated cultural and social process
Something that has evolved in relation to a constantly evolving climate over a vast period of time
* Emphasis on stewardship rather than exploitation and dominion
* Entire lifestyle, not a separate set of practices
* Continous - Indigenous people have adapted their land use practice to a contemporary setting

Question 2

Definition problem

Answer 2

• Applying Western-derived definitions such as hunter-gathers or farming to First Nations people is very problematic
• Massive range of practices that varied across the country, and also across seasons and a huge span of time
• Externalities - the negative consequences of resource production
• What characterises Western civilisation is our ability to relocate externalities - the average person experiences almost none of the externalities associated with the production of the stuff they have
• Australian Indigenous culture is an example of avoiding externalities; having a resource production system that has very few negative impacts for the people involved

Question 3

Hunting + the kangaroo ground

Answer 3

• Kangaroos have thick hide, are wary of people, fast moving, and are able to navigate very effectively in thick bushland
• Very difficult to kill instantly (most animals are)
• Indigenous people cleared areas to make the process of hunting kangaroos easier
• Deliberately encouraged the growth of grasses favoured by kangaroos
• Hunt at dusk - grazing time
• Hunters position themselves against the setting sun, launch spears with woomeras
• The length of the spear lodged in the animal would get caught in the undergrowth as the kangaroo escaped
• Hunters + dingos would track and kill the animal
• This practice made hunting easier + encouraged the sustainability of the prey by ensuring food supply
• This was enhanced by ceremony and custom eg. forbidding hunting during particular times, totem animals that prevented certain groups from hunting particular animals, limitations on male/female prey

Question 4

Indigenous Fire management

Answer 4

• Done at fine scale
• Part of how people moved around the landscape + used to clear living spaces
• Part of overall land management

Question 5

Indigenous fire management - living space

Answer 5

• Used as a means to clear and sanitise a space prior to building structures to live in -
• Fire could remove vegetation + dead branches
• Removes spiders, snakes, harmful animals

Question 6

Indigenous fire management - landscape management

Answer 6

• Early European explorers frequently commented on seeing numerous small fires
• Precise, at low intensities to prevent a buildup of fuel that could cause wildfires
• Used to encourage a particular kind of biodiversity that encouraged the growth of particular kinds of vegetation

Question 7

Contemporary Indigenous fire management

Answer 7

• Growing recongnition of the expertise of Indigenous people in managing fire
• Use of what is reffered to as mosaic burning
• Difficulty integrating this regime with the existing large-scale burn off management practices that are frequently used
• Evidence that Indigenous practices involve: lower temperatures, burn less often and is more effective

Question 8

Biame’s Ngunnhu

Answer 8

• Distinct First Nations culture that existed in the Murray-Darling Basin
• The basin was a rich wetland that flowed through an otherwise arid environment
• Site of more permanent Indigenous settlement - due to resource abundance
• Large settlement - 70 huts, up to 15 people in each
• Part of the artefacts of this is the Brewarrina fish traps
• Traditional owners believe that the fish trap was built by Baiame - powerful and respected ancestral figure

Question 9

Baiame’s Ngunnhu

Answer 9

• Fish are a vital part of non-agricultural societies
• Fish traps rely on an intimate knowledge of water dynamics + the fish being harvested
• Use a combination of changes in water flow and predictable fish movements
• Designed so fish could escape (if not caught) - would hold fish for limited period of time
• Use + maintenance of parts of the network was the responsibility of specific family groups
• The fish traps were designed to support massive gatherings of up to 5K people
• Integrated into ceremonial cycles as well as natural ones

Question 10

Indigenous Australian Architecture

Answer 10

• Characterised by diversity + flexibility
• Mostly domestic in nature, but also included specialised structures for specific purposes (like ceremony)
• Most groups had a range of up to eight types of housing that they could employ depending on conditions + material availability

Advantages to this means of construction:
* Efficiency, time
* Not built to be permanent, but built to be highly repairable

Question 11

Indigenous Australian Architecture - cultural factors

Answer 11

• Arragement of structures related to kin relationships + obligations rather than status - reverse dominance
• Level of permanence was related to the lifestyle and resource base of the local people
• Areas were occupied on a cyclical basis
• Settlements could contain single families to hundreds of people
• Cultural tradition was an important organising principle
  e.g. separate daytime structures for men and women, with families congregating in different structures at night

Question 12

Indigenous Australian Architecture - material use

Answer 12

• Stone wall construction
• Grass thatching + plaiting
• Split bamboo
• Woven pandanus and coconut palm leaf
• Clay + mud plastering
• Excavated floors
• Earth platforms
• Sand-weighted rooves
• Split cane ties
• Weaving of foliage between wall rails

Interrelationship between building styles of Australia and places

Question 13

Non-domestic Indigenous Australian architecture

Answer 13

• Fish traps
• Specialised hunting hides
• Storage areas - seeds and grains
• Platforms
• Burial sites
• Ceremonial areas
• Rock art galleries

A lifestyle that fully integrated the inside + outside of spaces - no differentiation

Question 14

Contemporary Indigenous spaces

Answer 14

• Indigenous people still maintain the land use practices + cultural traditions that underpin their culture
• These practices have found new expression in a contemporary setting:
• Customary or cultural resource management - particularly when Native Title is given
• Natural resource management
• Land management for improved conditions in settlements
• Commercial economic activities

Often implemented through Indigenous land use groups / Indigenous Ranger programs

Question 15

Indigenous natural resource management

Answer 15

• Weed control + monitoring
• Feral animal control + monitoring
• Fire management
• Threatened species + ecological communities
• Conservation of water bodies
• Soil erosion control + soil rehabilitation
• Native nursery, seed collection + planting
• Visitor and tourist management
• Monitoring threats to biosecurity