‘My Country is like my Mother…’: respect, care, interaction and closeness as principles for undertaking cultural heritage assessments

Abstract

Investigation of social values is essential to understanding relationships between people and place, particularly in Indigenous cultural heritage management. The value of long-term ethnographic studies is well recognised, however, such approaches are generally not possible in many heritage studies due to time or other constraints. Qualitative research methods have considerable potential in this space, yet few have systematically applied them to understanding Indigenous peoples’ relationships with place. This paper reports on a qualitative study with Alngith people from north-eastern Australia. It begins by exploring the embodied, experiential nature of Alngith peoples’ conception of Country and their emphasis on four interrelated themes: Respect, Care, Interaction and Closeness when describing relationships to Country. We suggest that Alngith people-to-place relationships are underwritten by these ideals and are central to local expectations for respectful, inclusive heritage practices. The results also reveal new perspectives and pathways for Aboriginal communities, and heritage managers dissatisfied with the constraints of ‘traditional’ cultural heritage assessment frameworks that emphasise archaeological methods and values. The paper further demonstrates how qualitative research methodologies can assist heritage managers to move beyond the limitations of surveys and quantitative studies and develop a deeper understanding of Indigenous values, concepts and aspirations (social values).

Keywords:

• Alngith people
• qualitative research
• Indigenous cultural heritage
• Cape York Peninsula
• Country

Acknowledgements

First and foremost, we would like to thank the people who have participated in and facilitated this research, most notably, the Alngith Caring for Country Committee (Alngith Corporation, Weipa). We owe a special thanks to Karlee Roseblade, Trevor John, John Sigai, Ernest Douglas, Christopher Madua, Matilda John, Jacqueline Madua, Ernest Madua Snr, Robert Madua Snr, Veronica Savo, Donald Callope, Sandra Kemp, and the Alngith Corporation Ltd. We also thank two anonymous reviewers for their generous and insightful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.

Notes

1. Commonwealth Aluminium Corporation Pty Limited Agreement Act 1957 (Qld) (The Comalco Act).

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/qld/consol_act/cacplaa1957590/index.html#sch2

2. A Story Place is a powerful, sacred, named area that an ancestral being travelled through, undertook some kind of activity or action in/upon/through or in some cases, ended its journey at. They are powerful, at times dangerous places towards which certain behaviour is expected, including care and respect. They are central to the system of meaning and knowledge that Aboriginal people have about an area.

3. The first Mabo decision (Mabo no.1) was in 1986, but was determined to be in conflict with the Commonwealth Racial Discrimination Act 1975 and said to be invalid. On 3 June 1992 Mabo No. 2 was decided (Reynolds 1992).

4. A marine bivalve that inhabits the floor of mangrove forests, and also known locally as ‘mudshell’ or Akul shell (Polymesoda erosa).

5. This refers to the period following the Mabo Decisions (1986, 1992) and The Native Title Act (NTA) (1993), when the traditional rights and interests in the land and waters of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were first recognised in Australian law.