Paragons of Sustainability: A Cornucopian Landscape, Governed by the Whadjuk Nyoongar People of Western Australia
English
Resumo
Abstract
The Whadjuk Nyoongar people were the First Nation people of the Swan River Colony (SRC) of Western Australia (WA), established by British settlers in the mid-nineteenth century. Living in the South West (SW) region of WA, an area governed by a Mediterranean climate with cool wet winters and hot dry summers, it is fortunate that they were a moral community, grouped by their Dreamtime creation concept. The Dreamtime handed down to their elders by their Ancestral Beings ensured that they were anchored to a belief system believing that all human, physical and sacred parts of their world were an interconnected whole. Their systems thinking approach ensured that they used every part of their cultural landscape in a sustainable economic way. The Nyoongar people remained resilient, reinforced by a extensive climate knowledge and mental map of the SRC and its bounty learned from more than 40,000 years of occupation, which maintained their strong connections and obligations to their spiritual beliefs about animals and plants. The Southwest of WA was recognized in 2005 by Conservation International as a biodiversity hotspot with nearly 80 percent of its plant species found nowhere else in the world. This article views Nyoongar culture as a paragon of sustainability because, whilst the people were guardians of the Swan River Colony of present-day Western Australia, native orchids such as the Cowslip Orchid (pictured above) grew prolifically. Now there are only isolated pockets where these exquisite native orchids grow.
Referências
Works Cited
Archer, M. et al. From Plesiosaurs to People: 100 Million Years of Australian Environmental History. Department of the Environment, 1998. http://www.environment.gov.au/node/21370.
Armstrong, F. “Manners and Habits of the Aborigines of Western Australia,” in Neville Green (Ed.), originally 1836, pp. 181–206.
Australian Museum. “The Land,” 2014. http://australianmuseum.net.au/Indigenous-Australia-The-Land (accessed 23 Jan. 2022).
Aveling, Marian (Ed.). Westralia Voices. University of Western Australia Press, 1979.
Bates, Daisy. The Native Tribes of Western Australia. National Library of Australia, 1985.
-----. My Natives and I. Hesperian Press, 2004.
Beeley, Fergus, et al. Planet Earth, The Future: What the Experts Say. BBC Books, 2006.
Berndt, Ronald Murray, and Catherine Helen Berndt. The World of the First Australians. Ure Smith, 1968.
Berndt, Ronald Murray, and Catherine Helen Berndt (Eds.). Aborigines of the West: Their Past and Their Present. University of Western Australia Press, 1979.
Bindon, Peter, and Trevor Walley. “Hunters and Gatherers: The Life of the Swan River Nyungars.” Landscope, Spring, 1992, p. 31.
Carter, Bevan. Nyungah Land Records of Invasion and Theft of Aboriginal Land on the Swan River 1829-1850. Advance Press, 2005.
Carter, Jennie. Bassendean: A Social History 1829–1879. Town of Bassendean.
Cathcart, Michael. The Water Dreamers: The Remarkable History of Our Dry Continent. Text Publishing Company, 2009.
Cooper, Dani. (2011). “Aboriginal DNA Dates Australian Arrival.” ABC News. September 23, 2011. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-09-23/aboriginal-dna-dates-australian-arrival/2913010 (accessed 23 Jan. 2022).
Cooper, J. S. “Drainage and Irrigation.” Western Landscapes, edited by Joseph Gentilli. University of Western Australia Press, 1979, pp. 235–253.
Davis, Jack. “Warru.” The Penguin Book of Australian Verse, edited by Harry Heseltine. Penguin Books, 1973.
de Garis, Brian (Ed.). Portrait of the South West: Aborigines, Women and the Environment. University of Western Australia Press, 1983.
Flannery, Timothy. The Future Eaters: An Ecological History of the Australasian Lands and People. Reed New Holland, 1994.
-----. The Weather Makers: The History and Future Impact of Climate Change. Text Publishing, 2005.
-----. Here on Earth: An Argument for Hope. Text Publishing, 2010.
Gentilli, Joseph (Ed.). Western Landscapes. University of Western Australia Press, 1979.
-----. (1998). Wanneroo Joondalup Yanchep: Environment People Planning. City of Wanneroo, 1998.
Green, Colin Charles. The Water Cycle: Concepts and Processes. Cassell Australia, 1979.
Green, Neville. Broken Spears: Aborigines and Europeans in the South-west of Australia. Focus Education Services, 1995.
Flood, Josephine. Archaeology of the Dreamtime: The Story of Prehistoric Australia and Her People. Williams Collins, 1983.
Hallam, Sylvia J. Fire and Hearth: A Study of Aboriginal Usage European Usurpation in South-Western Australia. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, 1979.
Head, Lesley. Cultural Landscapes and Environmental Change. Hodder Arnold, 2000.
Hill, Alan L. “Sharing Sweet Water: Culture and the Wise Use of Perth’s Wetlands.” 1st Australian National Hydropolis Conference. Perth, Western Australia, Stormwater Industry Association, October 2006.
Leybourne, Marnie, and Andrea Gaynor (Eds.). Water Histories, Cultures, Ecologies. University of Western Australia Press, 2006.
Machado, Antonio. “An Index of Naturalness.” Journal for Nature Conservation, vol. 12, 2004, pp. 95–110.
Maddock, Kenneth. The Australian Aborigines: A Portrait of Their Society. Penguin Books, 1982.
McLaughlin, Terrence. “Carl Sauer’s Notion Of A Cultural Landscape And Why Is It Useful For Understanding The World.” Bartleby Research, 2015. https://www.bartleby.com/essay/Carl-Sauer-s-Notion-Of-A-Cultural-P3GQGCECF99X (accessed 22 Jan. 2022).
McMichael, Tony. Planetary Overload Global Environmental Change and the Health of the Human Species. Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Nannup, Noel, and David Deeley. “Rainfall and Water as Cultural Drivers.” 1st Australian National Hydropolis Conference. Perth, Western Australia, Stormwater Industry Association, October 2006.
O’Connor, Rory, et al. Report on an Investigation into Aboriginal Significance of Wetlands and Rivers in the Perth-Bunbury Region. Western Australian Water Resources Council, 1989.
Pettit, P. “What Does Wilderness Mean To Us Spiritually and Emotionally?” Planet Earth, The Future: What the Experts Say, edited by Mart Colwell, et al. BBC Books, 2006.
Powell, Joseph. Watering the Western Third: Water, Land and Community in Western Australia 1826–1998. Water & Rivers Commission of Western Australia, 1998.
Ray, Arthur, J. I Have Lived Here Since the World Began: An Illustrated History of Canada’s Native People. Key Porter Books, 2005.
Seddon, George. Sense of Place: A Response to an Environment, the Swan Coastal Plain Western Australia. University of Western Australia Press, 1972.
South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council (SWALSC). SWALSC Newsletter, August 2013.
Stanner, William . The Dreaming and Other Essays. Black Inc. Agenda, 2009.
Suzuki, David. The Sacred Balance: Rediscovering Our Place in Nature. Allen & Unwin, 1997.
Taylor, S.G. “Naturalness: The Concept and its Application to Australian Ecosystems.” Australian Ecosystems: 200 Years of Utilization, Degradation and Reconstruction, edited by D. A. Saunders, et al. Ecological Society of Australia, 1990, pp. 411–418.
“The Darug: Traditional Owners of Western Sydney.” http://www.fairfieldcity.nsw.gov.au/upload/iklrx62797/The_Darug.pdf (accessed 1 Mar. 2014).
End Notes
1 Anna Ciuppa is currently employed in the Health Service Delivery Division, Services Australia. Her academic achievements include a Bachelor of Social Sciences with First Class Honours in Geography (Edith Cowan University, 2003); Graduate Research Certificate in Research Commercialisation (Curtin University of Technology, 2010); and a Doctorate in Public Policy from the Newcastle Business School, Faculty of Business and Law, University of Newcastle, Australia (2015). Her two theses entitled a Historical Geography of the Bayswater Wetlands (2003); and The `Wicked’ Policy Problem of Sustainable Water Use in Western Australia (2015) focused on the loss or modification of 70–80% of wetlands on the Swan Coastal Plain in the Southwest region of Western Australia; and sustainable water use, which has remained a ‘wicked’ policy problem since climate change affected the region in the mid-1970s. These environmental issues remain a crisis because of lower winter rainfall, higher summer temperatures, declining groundwater resources and continued anthropogenic pressures that threaten the Southwest Region of Western Australia, an internationally renowned biodiversity hotspot.
2 “Caladenia flava – Cowslip Orchid.” The Orchids of Western Australia. 2022. http://orchidswa.com.au/caladenia/cowslip-and-fairy-orchids/caladenia-flava/ (accessed 22 Jan. 2022).
3 In the Noongar language, the word Noongar means “a person of the south-west of Western Australia,” or the name for the “original inhabitants of the south-west of Western Australia.” The Nyoongar are one of the largest Aboriginal cultural groups in Australia. There is no evidence that there has been any other group than Nyoongar in the Southwest region of Western Australia. Archaeological evidence establishes that Nyoongar people have lived in the area and had possession of tracts of land on the country for at least 45,000 years. Nyoongar is also spelled Noongar, Noong-ah and Nyungar, as illustrated by other references. For more information on Nyoongar culture, see https://www.noongar.org.au/.
4 Dreamtime refers to the time of creation in the mythology of Australian Aboriginal people. See, for instance, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dreamtime.
5 Kaleep also means camping grounds. See, https://www.noongarculture.org.au/glossary/noongar-word-list/.
6 Palaeolithic refers to the early part of the Stone Age, often associated with Neanderthal humans, an early form of humankind, living between 40,000 and 100,000 years ago. See, for example, “History World International,” http://history-world.org/stone_age.htm.
7 Nyoongar boodja describes the country covering the entire south-western portion of Western Australia.
Archer, M. et al. From Plesiosaurs to People: 100 Million Years of Australian Environmental History. Department of the Environment, 1998. http://www.environment.gov.au/node/21370.
Armstrong, F. “Manners and Habits of the Aborigines of Western Australia,” in Neville Green (Ed.), originally 1836, pp. 181–206.
Australian Museum. “The Land,” 2014. http://australianmuseum.net.au/Indigenous-Australia-The-Land (accessed 23 Jan. 2022).
Aveling, Marian (Ed.). Westralia Voices. University of Western Australia Press, 1979.
Bates, Daisy. The Native Tribes of Western Australia. National Library of Australia, 1985.
-----. My Natives and I. Hesperian Press, 2004.
Beeley, Fergus, et al. Planet Earth, The Future: What the Experts Say. BBC Books, 2006.
Berndt, Ronald Murray, and Catherine Helen Berndt. The World of the First Australians. Ure Smith, 1968.
Berndt, Ronald Murray, and Catherine Helen Berndt (Eds.). Aborigines of the West: Their Past and Their Present. University of Western Australia Press, 1979.
Bindon, Peter, and Trevor Walley. “Hunters and Gatherers: The Life of the Swan River Nyungars.” Landscope, Spring, 1992, p. 31.
Carter, Bevan. Nyungah Land Records of Invasion and Theft of Aboriginal Land on the Swan River 1829-1850. Advance Press, 2005.
Carter, Jennie. Bassendean: A Social History 1829–1879. Town of Bassendean.
Cathcart, Michael. The Water Dreamers: The Remarkable History of Our Dry Continent. Text Publishing Company, 2009.
Cooper, Dani. (2011). “Aboriginal DNA Dates Australian Arrival.” ABC News. September 23, 2011. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-09-23/aboriginal-dna-dates-australian-arrival/2913010 (accessed 23 Jan. 2022).
Cooper, J. S. “Drainage and Irrigation.” Western Landscapes, edited by Joseph Gentilli. University of Western Australia Press, 1979, pp. 235–253.
Davis, Jack. “Warru.” The Penguin Book of Australian Verse, edited by Harry Heseltine. Penguin Books, 1973.
de Garis, Brian (Ed.). Portrait of the South West: Aborigines, Women and the Environment. University of Western Australia Press, 1983.
Flannery, Timothy. The Future Eaters: An Ecological History of the Australasian Lands and People. Reed New Holland, 1994.
-----. The Weather Makers: The History and Future Impact of Climate Change. Text Publishing, 2005.
-----. Here on Earth: An Argument for Hope. Text Publishing, 2010.
Gentilli, Joseph (Ed.). Western Landscapes. University of Western Australia Press, 1979.
-----. (1998). Wanneroo Joondalup Yanchep: Environment People Planning. City of Wanneroo, 1998.
Green, Colin Charles. The Water Cycle: Concepts and Processes. Cassell Australia, 1979.
Green, Neville. Broken Spears: Aborigines and Europeans in the South-west of Australia. Focus Education Services, 1995.
Flood, Josephine. Archaeology of the Dreamtime: The Story of Prehistoric Australia and Her People. Williams Collins, 1983.
Hallam, Sylvia J. Fire and Hearth: A Study of Aboriginal Usage European Usurpation in South-Western Australia. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, 1979.
Head, Lesley. Cultural Landscapes and Environmental Change. Hodder Arnold, 2000.
Hill, Alan L. “Sharing Sweet Water: Culture and the Wise Use of Perth’s Wetlands.” 1st Australian National Hydropolis Conference. Perth, Western Australia, Stormwater Industry Association, October 2006.
Leybourne, Marnie, and Andrea Gaynor (Eds.). Water Histories, Cultures, Ecologies. University of Western Australia Press, 2006.
Machado, Antonio. “An Index of Naturalness.” Journal for Nature Conservation, vol. 12, 2004, pp. 95–110.
Maddock, Kenneth. The Australian Aborigines: A Portrait of Their Society. Penguin Books, 1982.
McLaughlin, Terrence. “Carl Sauer’s Notion Of A Cultural Landscape And Why Is It Useful For Understanding The World.” Bartleby Research, 2015. https://www.bartleby.com/essay/Carl-Sauer-s-Notion-Of-A-Cultural-P3GQGCECF99X (accessed 22 Jan. 2022).
McMichael, Tony. Planetary Overload Global Environmental Change and the Health of the Human Species. Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Nannup, Noel, and David Deeley. “Rainfall and Water as Cultural Drivers.” 1st Australian National Hydropolis Conference. Perth, Western Australia, Stormwater Industry Association, October 2006.
O’Connor, Rory, et al. Report on an Investigation into Aboriginal Significance of Wetlands and Rivers in the Perth-Bunbury Region. Western Australian Water Resources Council, 1989.
Pettit, P. “What Does Wilderness Mean To Us Spiritually and Emotionally?” Planet Earth, The Future: What the Experts Say, edited by Mart Colwell, et al. BBC Books, 2006.
Powell, Joseph. Watering the Western Third: Water, Land and Community in Western Australia 1826–1998. Water & Rivers Commission of Western Australia, 1998.
Ray, Arthur, J. I Have Lived Here Since the World Began: An Illustrated History of Canada’s Native People. Key Porter Books, 2005.
Seddon, George. Sense of Place: A Response to an Environment, the Swan Coastal Plain Western Australia. University of Western Australia Press, 1972.
South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council (SWALSC). SWALSC Newsletter, August 2013.
Stanner, William . The Dreaming and Other Essays. Black Inc. Agenda, 2009.
Suzuki, David. The Sacred Balance: Rediscovering Our Place in Nature. Allen & Unwin, 1997.
Taylor, S.G. “Naturalness: The Concept and its Application to Australian Ecosystems.” Australian Ecosystems: 200 Years of Utilization, Degradation and Reconstruction, edited by D. A. Saunders, et al. Ecological Society of Australia, 1990, pp. 411–418.
“The Darug: Traditional Owners of Western Sydney.” http://www.fairfieldcity.nsw.gov.au/upload/iklrx62797/The_Darug.pdf (accessed 1 Mar. 2014).
End Notes
1 Anna Ciuppa is currently employed in the Health Service Delivery Division, Services Australia. Her academic achievements include a Bachelor of Social Sciences with First Class Honours in Geography (Edith Cowan University, 2003); Graduate Research Certificate in Research Commercialisation (Curtin University of Technology, 2010); and a Doctorate in Public Policy from the Newcastle Business School, Faculty of Business and Law, University of Newcastle, Australia (2015). Her two theses entitled a Historical Geography of the Bayswater Wetlands (2003); and The `Wicked’ Policy Problem of Sustainable Water Use in Western Australia (2015) focused on the loss or modification of 70–80% of wetlands on the Swan Coastal Plain in the Southwest region of Western Australia; and sustainable water use, which has remained a ‘wicked’ policy problem since climate change affected the region in the mid-1970s. These environmental issues remain a crisis because of lower winter rainfall, higher summer temperatures, declining groundwater resources and continued anthropogenic pressures that threaten the Southwest Region of Western Australia, an internationally renowned biodiversity hotspot.
2 “Caladenia flava – Cowslip Orchid.” The Orchids of Western Australia. 2022. http://orchidswa.com.au/caladenia/cowslip-and-fairy-orchids/caladenia-flava/ (accessed 22 Jan. 2022).
3 In the Noongar language, the word Noongar means “a person of the south-west of Western Australia,” or the name for the “original inhabitants of the south-west of Western Australia.” The Nyoongar are one of the largest Aboriginal cultural groups in Australia. There is no evidence that there has been any other group than Nyoongar in the Southwest region of Western Australia. Archaeological evidence establishes that Nyoongar people have lived in the area and had possession of tracts of land on the country for at least 45,000 years. Nyoongar is also spelled Noongar, Noong-ah and Nyungar, as illustrated by other references. For more information on Nyoongar culture, see https://www.noongar.org.au/.
4 Dreamtime refers to the time of creation in the mythology of Australian Aboriginal people. See, for instance, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dreamtime.
5 Kaleep also means camping grounds. See, https://www.noongarculture.org.au/glossary/noongar-word-list/.
6 Palaeolithic refers to the early part of the Stone Age, often associated with Neanderthal humans, an early form of humankind, living between 40,000 and 100,000 years ago. See, for example, “History World International,” http://history-world.org/stone_age.htm.
7 Nyoongar boodja describes the country covering the entire south-western portion of Western Australia.
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