The ownership of areas of sea and its resources is often overlooked however, despite Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander connections with the sea being just as important as those with the land.
Most Australians are familiar with the concept of land ownership and understand the meaning of native title, which recognises Indigenous peoples' rights to land to which they are spiritually or culturally connected. The ownership of areas of sea and its resources is often overlooked however, despite Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander connections with the sea being just as important as those with the land. The papers in this volume demonstrate how the concept of customary marine tenure has developed in various communities and look at some of its implications. Originating in a session of papers at a conference in 1996, the papers in this volume were originally published as Oceania Monograph 48 in 1998.
In October of 2001, the Australian High Court confirmed aboriginal title to two thousand kilometres of ocean off the north coast. The decision, which was the result of a seven-year court battle, highlighted aboriginal belief that the sea is a gift from the creator to be used for sustenance, spirituality, identity, and community. This evocative study of the people of northern coastal Australia and their sea worlds illuminates the power of human attachment to place. Saltwater People: The Waves of Memory offers a cross-disciplinary approach to native land claims that incorporates historical and contemporary case studies from not only Australia, but also New Zealand, Scandinavia, the US, and Canada. Nonie Sharp discusses various issues of indigenous heritage, including land claims, concepts of public and private property, poverty, and the environment. Despite dispossession, the aboriginals of northern coastal Australia never faltered in their devotion to the sea, illustrating how profoundly such bonds are preserved in memory. Their moving story of surviving and winning a lengthy court battle provides valuable information for all countries dealing with similar issues of rights to tenure and natural resources. Sharp provides the first book-length study of an integrated statement on the many defining qualities of the cultural relationship of aboriginals, non-aboriginals, and the concept of ownership over the sea, and illustrates the wisdom that different traditions can offer one another.
Over 80 archaeologists from four continents create a benchmark volume of the ideas and practices of landscape archaeology, covering the theoretical and the practical, the research and conservation, and encasing the term in a global framework.
This book addresses the rights of indigenous peoples to marine space and associated marine resources under international law. Examining the rights of indigenous peoples relating to marine space and marine resources both in international human rights law and the law of the sea, the book provides an in-depth critical analysis of the existing legal framework, whilst identifying the gaps, and possible further mechanisms, for recognizing the rights of indigenous peoples to marine space. The book addresses three main issues: 1) the extent to which international law recognizes and protects the rights of indigenous peoples in relation to marine space and marine resources; 2) if and how the law of the sea and international human rights law pertaining to the rights of indigenous peoples to marine space and marine resources interact; 3) whether and to what extent the law of the sea regime limits the capacity of coastal States to recognize and implement the rights of indigenous peoples relating to marine space and resources. In response, and in a context where indigenous marine rights are under increasing threat, the book develops an important critical theoretical and methodological approach which moves beyond the current doctrinal focus of much existing work in this area. The book will appeal to academics, researchers, and practitioners in the areas of indigenous peoples and the law, international law, the law of the sea, and human rights.
This volume offers a state-of-the-art survey of linguistic, anthropological, archaeological and historical work focused on Cape York Peninsula and the Gulf Country, in Australia’s northeast. The volume also honours Bruce Rigsby, emeritus professor of anthropology at the University of Queensland, whose work has inspired all of the contributors. The papers in the volume are organized in terms of five key themes, including the use of historical and archaeological methods to reconstruct aspects of language and social organization, anthropological and linguistic work uncovering aspects of world view embedded in languages and ethnographic data sets, the study of post-contact transformations in language and society, and the return of archival data to communities. Its thematic intersections draw together the varied disciplinary threads in an overview of the cultures and languages of the region, and will appeal to all those interested in Australian Aboriginal studies, linguistics, anthropology and associated disciplines.
Illuminating Hidden Harvests: the contributions of small-scale fisheries to sustainable development (hereinafter IHH) is a global study uncovering the contributions and impacts of small-scale fisheries through a multidisciplinary approach to data collection and analysis. The study provides information that quantifies and improves understanding of the crucial role of small-scale fisheries in the areas of food security and nutrition, sustainable livelihoods, poverty eradication and healthy ecosystems. It also examines gender equality as well as the nature and scope of governance in small-scale fisheries. The IHH study was carried out in support of the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines), themselves developed in recognition of the plight of small-scale fishers, fishworkers and associated communities and released as a contribution to the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture 2022. The purpose of this report is to contribute to a more holistic understanding of what small-scale fisheries are, their importance, and why they are essential to efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By using this knowledge wisely within a human rights-based approach in line with the SSF Guidelines, and by empowering small-scale fishers and fishworkers, a more inclusive, equitable, sustainable and resilient small-scale scale fisheries subsector can be achieved. Realizing this goal would benefit hundreds of thousands in fishing communities and society at large. With this in mind, the IHH report is aimed at all those with a stake or an interest in the small-scale fisheries subsector, in particular decision-makers who are concerned with fisheries, poverty eradication, food security and nutrition, and sustainable development more generally. It is also addressed to small-scale fisheries actors themselves and those who support them.
The question of what rights might be afforded to Indigenous peoples has preoccupied the municipal legal systems of settler states since the earliest colonial encounters. As a result of sustained institutional initiatives, many national legal regimes and the international legal order accept that Indigenous peoples possess an extensive array of legal rights. However, despite this development, claims advanced by Indigenous peoples relating to rights to marine spaces have been largely opposed. This book offers the first sustained study of these rights and their reception within modern legal systems. Taking a three-part approach, it looks firstly at the international aspects of Indigenous entitlements in marine spaces. It then goes on to explore specific country examples, before looking at some interdisciplinary themes of crucial importance to the question of the recognition of the rights of Indigenous peoples in marine settings. Drawing on the expertise of leading scholars, this is a rigorous and long-overdue exploration of a significant gap in the literature.