Setting the Table: Indigenous Engagement on Environmental Issues in a Politicized Context

ABSTRACT

Environmental issues are often highly politicized. Indigenous peoples may be reluctant to participate in research due to a history of colonization and negative experiences with researchers—described as a “chronic conflict”. We present a case where an acute conflict (an event that creates intense mistrust among stakeholders) occurred during a research project. The project studied a contentious issue: the sharing of dugong and turtle meat by Indigenous Australians. The chronic conflict of colonial history and Western research was exacerbated by media coverage of related issues when the project was starting, making participants unwilling to participate in our research. We adapted established Indigenous engagement protocols and—both literally and figuratively—set the table in response to the sociopolitical context of the research. This engagement process enabled us to establish trusting relationships with participants, and could benefit most researchers seeking to engage people, irrespective of Indigeneity or context.

KEYWORDS:

• Community engagement
• Indigenous research
• traditional hunting

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge:

• Torres Strait Islander Elders Mr. Thomas Sebasio (Brisbane) and Mr. Francis Tapim (Townsville) for their valuable guidance and support of the project.

• Members of the project’s Advisory Committee for their important contributions throughout this research.

• Torres Strait Islanders living in Brisbane, Cairns, and Townsville for taking the time to participate in our project and provide their valuable knowledge and insights.

• Project cultural brokers, Dr. Noritta Morseu-Diop, Rick Phineasa, Josephine Bourne, and Frank Mills.

• The valuable support from the Torres Strait Regional Authority (TSRA).

The project also benefited from the assistance of Eric Babia and Margaret Babia, John Lui, Dimple Bani jnr, Gideon Schembre, Rick Hodges, and Barbara Townson during data collection, and the School of Indigenous Australian Studies in Cairns and staff of the Faculty of Law, Business and Creative Arts, in Townsville, who provided administrative support and cultural guidance. We also acknowledge the reviewers of this article for providing important critical feedback, which enhanced the relevance and focus of the article.

Notes

TUMRA is a Traditional Use of Marine Resources Agreement; ILUA is an Indigenous Land Use Agreement.

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/aatsia2005359/s4.html#torres_strait_islander.

Formally, the ABS includes Atherton in the Cairns region when publishing Torres Strait Islander population estimates (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2011).

Here too, the ABS includes Mackay in the Townsville region when publishing Torres Strait Islander population estimates (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2011).

https://www.crimecommission.gov.au

Torres Strait Islanders, including many of the diaspora, are Native Title holders.