Abstract
Globally, Indigenous peoples have fire management practices which are not necessarily supported by the centralised land management and natural hazard institutions of nation states. This is changing in Australia with the proliferation of engagements between government authorities and Aboriginal fire management leaders. These engagements raise a series of justice issues that critique the separation of environmental and socio-political matters, and the discriminatory positioning of Indigenous peoples and their interests as local. In this chapter, we share the experiences of Aboriginal people that have been shared with us in three places: Central Arnhem Land, the Western Desert and the Australian Capital Territory. The theory/practice of Disaster Justice offers new opportunities to ensure these socio-natural engagements are ‘just’, which requires careful attention to whose values matter, whose knowledge is important and whose political-legal rights and entities are recognised and resourced.
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- 1.
We use the term ‘Aboriginal’ to refer to Indigenous peoples who burn country in Australia, which is the preference of some of our Aboriginal fire manager colleagues. We note that this is not strictly accurate as there are likely Aboriginal fire managers who also identify as Torres Strait Islander people. We use the term ‘First Nations’ in a settler-colonial context, and ‘Indigenous’ in a global context. We also use ‘traditional owner’ and ‘traditional custodians’ where appropriate to the case studies.
- 2.
Unknown, no date. Sighted on Facebook in 2018.
- 3.
Lukasiewicz, Anna, Steve Dovers and Claudia Baldwin, ‘Disaster Justice Workshop’, 19–20 November 2018, Australian National University, Canberra.
- 4.
We draw on Fraser’s use of this term to signal the political imaginary of mutually recognising sovereign territorial states—an international system whereby these states are presumed to have sovereignty over ‘domestic’ affairs (Fraser, 2007, 30, footnote 2).
- 5.
There is one long-disregarded exception. In 1835 a treaty was made between a farmer and the First Nation for the land that is now known as Melbourne.
- 6.
Mabo v Queensland (No 2) [1992] HCA 23.
- 7.
For example, the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit, The Washington Court on Capitol Hill, United States, October 24–27, 1991.
- 8.
The longest and widest points are 88 kilometres and 30 kilometres respectively.
- 9.
Unfinished business is a term used in Australia to describe the outstanding work needed to prepare the foundations for good relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.
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Acknowledgements
We thank all the people who have supported our research and work, especially our Aboriginal friends and colleagues. We hope that we have been some small aid to an improvement in Disaster Justice for Aboriginal people by representing their shared information, but the responsibility for any errors or omissions is our own.
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Weir, J.K., Sutton, S., Catt, G. (2020). The Theory/Practice of Disaster Justice: Learning from Indigenous Peoples’ Fire Management. In: Lukasiewicz, A., Baldwin, C. (eds) Natural Hazards and Disaster Justice. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0466-2_16
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