Compartmentalising Culture: the articulation and consideration of Indigenous values in water resource management

Abstract

Social values are receiving increased attention in natural resource management policy and practice, and the notion of cultural values has recently emerged, particularly in relation to water resources. Philosophers, environmental policy analysts and others with an interest in environmental valuation have critically analysed value concepts and theories. A popular focus is the commonly ‘bipolar’ character of value construed as either an intrinsic or utilitarian concept. This paper focuses on the treatment of Indigenous values in contemporary water resource management. The Daly River region of the Northern Territory is undergoing increased agricultural intensification. A 12 month planning exercise sought to integrate social, economic, environmental and cultural values into decisions about land use and water extraction. Separate treatment of Indigenous and non-Indigenous social values compounded the reification of Aboriginal ‘cultural values’ which were perceived largely within the confines of a cultural heritage paradigm. The heritage paradigm and other common influential theories of value focus on objects, entities and places at the expense of recognition and valuation of relationships, processes and connections between social groups, people and place, and people and non-human entities.

Keywords:

• Cultural value
• Indigenous value
• water resource management
• catchment planning
• Northern Territory
• Australia

I am grateful to Kira Schlusser for introducing me to a number of valuable references on environmental values. Anna Straton, Alan Andersen, Gary Scott and referees provided helpful comments.

Notes

1. In August 2005 the government responded to the report and announced that the moratorium on subdivision and clearing would be extended until 2007 to allow for further research and monitoring.

2. Minutes of CRG meetings are available at http://www.nreta.nt.gov.au/whatwedo/dalyregion/index.html

3. According to the NT government, Rick Farley is a ‘recognised specialist in land use agreements’. He provides advice to a range of Australian companies and Aboriginal communities and is chairman of a number of resource management and environmental committees (Northern Territory Government 2003b).

4. An Indigenous Values Subcommittee was established after the CRG had been appointed in order to redress the concerns of the Northern Land Council and one particular Aboriginal language group which had settled a native title claim with the government, and, as a result, was entitled to be consulted over development plans and natural resource management activity within their customary estates.

5. The chairman outlined a proposed table of contents for the report which specifically mentioned that there would be a section ‘designed to acknowledge non-Indigenous cultural values’ (p. 8). In the draft CRG report, the cultural values of the non-Indigenous population are referred to as ‘Other Values’ in a section considerably smaller than that devoted to ‘Aboriginal Land and Water Values’ (Daly Region Community Reference Group 2004, p. 58).

6. The draft CRG report supported the Northern Land Council's recommendation for an economic development plan for Aboriginal people in the region.