Negotiating Indigenous Modernity: Kungun Ngarrindjeri Yunnan—Listen to Ngarrindjeri speak

Abstract

The objective of this article is to compare Indigenous and Western modernities by examining how contemporary Indigenous polities are finding inventive ways to assert their sovereignty. Our discussion presents an innovation in Indigenous governance introduced recently by the Ngarrindjeri people in Southern Australia. We explain the conditions in which Ngarrindjeri initiated their process of political reformation; we link our analysis to critiques of Western modernism and imperialism; and we then outline some key political technologies created by the Ngarrindjeri Nation to enable its successful influence in matters affecting their Country and community. We find that these resources remain firmly grounded in Ngarrindjeri ways of knowing, being and doing, yet they are expressed in a contemporary hybrid form that is accessible to non-Indigenous negotiation partners. As a consequence, they have established a modern Indigenous framework for intercultural negotiation of interests previously controlled by the South Australian state and other non-Indigenous organizations.

A new direction for water management? Indigenous nation building as a strategy for river health

“…Highlighting these innovations demonstrates the value of a nation-building approach in which Ngarrindjeri have identified, organized, and acted as a nation to develop their own capacity to engage on more equitable nation-to-nation terms with the State (Cornell 2015a, Rigney et al 2015, Cosens and Chaffin 2016. To further highlight the achievements noted here, the following section provides a case study to outline the Ngarrindjeri nation-building strategy applied to wetland planning.…”

“…South Australian cultural and natural resource management did not have the legislative or policy sophistication to understand or respect this Ngarrindjeri philosophy of being. Ecology and Society 22(2): 13 https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol22/iss2/art13/ political organization and resistance to colonization (Rigney et al 2015). The NRA aims to provide an effective and culturally appropriate governance structure enabling Ngarrindjeri to assert decision-making power and engage in long-term strategic approaches to issues such as water management, aimed at improving Ngarrindjeri wellbeing, rather than responding to short-term consultancy approaches that suit bureaucratic systems .…”

“…Indigenous nations want to see an engagement across epistemologies and ontologies, the sharing of whole world views and institutional insights, rather than a oneway removal of Indigenous knowledge from its context and insertion of it into a mainstream framework (see Muller 2012Muller , 2014. Engaging with Indigenous epistemologies and ontologies as the cultural anchors of Indigenous political authority can inherently change the overarching framework for natural resource management and provide new insight into sustainability (Berkes 1999, Armitage et al 2010, Dolan et al 2015, Rigney et al 2015. The true opportunities and benefits of Indigenous participation in comanagement of lands and waters can only be realized if Indigenous nations are adequately resourced to be in the driving seat of incorporating their own knowledges in planning and management frameworks.…”

“…Heritage assessments for 18 wetlands were conducted and grounded in Ngarrindjeri values and philosophy, incorporating an assessment of the ongoing effects of colonization (Rigney et al 2015). This included initial assessments at the concept design stages and follow-up heritage surveys, if required, during the detailed design phase.…”

“…We share the story of the Ngarrindjeri nation and describe the architecture of nation building that forms the foundations of this new form of Indigenous-led collaborative water management. Ngarrindjeri-led innovations, such as Yannarumi (Speaking as Country) health assessments, displace western forms of anthropocentrism and human exceptionalism (see Birckhead et al 2011, Weir 2011, Bark et al 2012, Jackson and Palmer 2012, Jackson et al 2015, Rigney et al 2015. We provide a case study of the development of Murrundi Recovery Sugar Shack Wetland Management Plan.…”