Nature in Culture: Overturning Aqua Nullius

Water is the lifeblood of civilisations, ecosystems and cultures, however, for years this source of life has been exploited and polluted. As the threat of climate change worsens, academics and scientists are turning to Indigenous knowledge to alter attitudes and encourage sustainable practices. Dr Virginia Marshall is a Wiradjuri Nyemba woman, practising lawyer and legal scholar. She is particularly focussed on critically analysing Indigenous water use – nationally and internationally – and in developing Indigenous culturally appropriate mechanisms for water frameworks and ethical water use. Here Virginia talks along a continuum of interconnected ideas: water, land, Indigenous science, Indigenous knowledge, IP, identity, climate change, policy and truth and reconciliation. She discusses the imperative to secure Aboriginal water rights, that is in disbanding the notion of aqua nullius – that the waters of the Australian continent were outside of Indigenous governance structures and cultural use and thus ‘free’ for colonial claims. She explains the inseparability of land and water and Indigenous identity and of the disaster of creating water property rights in Australia. She discusses the important impacts of climate change on Indigenous Peoples and the need for Indigenous people and knowledge to be central in climate change debates globally, before turning the discussion to creating truth and reconciliation in Australia. Find out more about The Re-(E)mergence of Nature in Culture Series.Timestamps 00:11 Introduction – Christine Winter 02:30 The Birth of Aqua Nullius 09:40 Sacredness of Water and Land 12:10 Epistemology of Indigenous Science 17:00 Who’s Realising the Importance of Indigenous Science? 22:55 Legally Protecting Indigenous Knowledge 26:25 Indigenous Inclusion in Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Decisions32:40 The Importance of Respect Speakers Dr Virginia Marshall, Australian National University Dr Christine Winter, Postdoctoral Fellow, Sydney Environment Institute Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.