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Re-conceptualising desert landscapes: unpacking historical narratives and contemporary realities for sustainable livelihood development in central Australia

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Abstract

Desert landscapes of central Australia have inspired various narratives for nation building. These narratives, based upon discourses of land as a commodity for the colonial project, include the inferior peripheral wastelands of the colonial centre; the wild and pristine haven of ‘noble aborigines’; and the frontier home of heroic explorers and pastoralists. These narratives continue to influence land management policy and practice. However they do not reflect the diverse contemporary realities of individuals living in the region. In this paper I juxtapose these narratives and realities to reveal the multitude of ways in which desert landscapes are known and understood. A case study of a fire management project that involved Aboriginal, pastoral and conservation land managers from the southern Tanami region of central Australia provides evidence as to why desert landscapes should be re-conceptualized as cultural, contested and dynamic. To conceive of these spaces and places in this way can facilitate open discussion and dialogue between land managers from the region. It is the first step in working towards the process of cultural hybridity that I argue is necessary for equitable and sustainable environmental governance and management in Australia.

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Notes

  1. Warlpiri is a central Australian language that is spoken by approximately 3000 people as their first language. The traditional lands of these speakers cover a relatively large area to the north-west of Alice Springs (CLC 2006).

  2. Jukurrpa means Dreaming, Story or Law in Warlpiri. It is “the basis for Warlpiri Law and custom; the period during which the Warlpiri social, moral and physical universe was created, which has an ongoing reality through the continuity of the practice that constitute Warlpiri culture” (Vaarzon-Morel 1995, p. 111).

  3. Spinifex (Triodia spp.) are hummock-forming perennial grasses that grow on low-nutrient soils of sand plains and rocky low mountain ranges in arid Australia and play a dominant role in the region’s fire ecology (Griffin 1984).

  4. The Central Land Council won funding in August 2007 from the Federal government to fund 15 Aboriginal jobs under the Working on Country program (DEW 2007). Some of this work will be fire management.

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Acknowledgements

The paper draws upon research conducted for PhD candidature, 2002–2004 (see Maclean 2007) and was supported by funding from the Australian Government Cooperative Research Centres Programme through the Desert Knowledge CRC. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of Desert Knowledge CRC or its Participants. I would like to thank members of the Desert Fire project team including Grant Allen, Richard Tuckwell and Kasia Gabrys for their assistance in data collection. Also, I would like to acknowledge that this work is the result of the many hours spent with Aboriginal, pastoral and conservation managers in the southern Tanami. Thanks also to Associate Professor Richard Baker and Emeritus Professor Valerie Brown at The Australian National University. I would like to acknowledge Grant Allen for the land tenure map in Fig. 1 and Clive Hilliker for creating Fig. 1. Thank you to Dr Sarah Holcombe and Dr Jocelyn Davies for their helpful feedback on early drafts as well as the comprehensive and much appreciated comments from three anonymous reviewers.

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  1. School of Natural and Rural Systems Management and The UQBoilerhouse Community Engagement Centre, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Kirsten Maclean

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Maclean, K. Re-conceptualising desert landscapes: unpacking historical narratives and contemporary realities for sustainable livelihood development in central Australia. GeoJournal 74, 451–463 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-008-9234-9

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