Implications of gendered environmental knowledge in water allocation processes in central Australia

Abstract

The existence of gendered knowledge has been identified as a significant feature of Indigenous Australian culture, and the importance of considering the implications of gendered environmental knowledge in collaborative cross-cultural natural resource management has been highlighted. There is a lack of case studies that demonstrate how Indigenous women's knowledge and laws can be provided for in resource management contexts. From collaborative research with Anmatyerr women in central Australia, we discuss the implications of gender bias in relation to gendered knowledge in natural and cultural resource management, with a specific focus on Anmatyerr women's involvement in providing inputs about the cultural values of water within water allocation planning processes. This research highlights Anmatyerr women's own perspectives of their roles in contemporary contexts and identifies the existence of cultural change and continuity in relation to rights and responsibilities around water.

La existencia del saber generizado ha sido identificada como una característica significativa de la cultura indígena de Australia, y se ha remarcado la importancia de considerar las implicaciones de un saber ambiental generizado en la administración colaborativa de los recursos naturales y culturales. Existe una falta de casos de estudio que demuestren cómo el saber y las leyes de las mujeres indígenas pueden ser tenidos en cuenta en los contextos de administración de recursos. Mediante una investigación colaborativa con mujeres Anmatyerr en Australia central, analizamos las implicaciones de un sesgo de género en relación con el saber generizado en la administración de recursos naturales y culturales, enfocándonos en la participación de las mujeres Anmatyerr en la provisión de información sobre los valores culturales del agua dentro de los procesos de planeamiento de su distribución. Esta investigación resalta las perspectivas de las mujeres Anmatyerr mismas sobre sus roles en los contextos contemporáneos e identifica la existencia de un cambio cultural y de una continuidad en relación a los derechos y responsabilidades en temas relacionados con el agua.

Keywords:

• indigenous knowledge
• gender
• water policy
• cultural values
• cultural and natural resource management

Keywords:

• Saber indígena
• género
• política de agua
• valores culturales
• administración de recursos culturales y naturales

Acknowledgements

The authors are deeply grateful to the Anmatyerr women who worked with us on this project. We also thank the three anonymous referees for their constructive comments and thoughtful critique of the manuscript. Linda Wirf was enrolled in a Masters of Tropical Environment Management and supported by a Charles Darwin University Project Grant. The work was part of the wider Anmatyerr Water Program funded by Land and Water Australia and the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre.

Notes

1. There are various spellings used across a range of different texts. This spelling is the one used by Green et al. (2003), chosen because it appears to be the preferred spelling within the language and culture classes at Ti Tree School, which are conducted by local Anmatyerr people. The previous spelling is the designated name for the statue.

2. Ahakeye (native currant, Canthium latifolium) is an important plant for Anmatyerr people, associated with Ancestral connections to the country.

3. This is an Anmatyerr language word meaning ‘Ancestral Dreaming/Law’.

4. These are traditionally used for carrying a range of things including babies and water.

5. Landscape ecology is a relatively new concept in western land and resource management that can be generally described as a holistic approach to viewing and managing the environment in ways that encompass geography, ecology, social planning and land management in an attempt to capture socio-economic elements as well as biological and physical elements of the landscape (McGarigal n.d.).

6. Subsequently the committee has provided for three Indigenous representative bodies but these have been represented by non-indigenous people with no Anmatyerr language, excepting a short period where one organization was represented by an Anmatyerr man.