Author(s):
Lisa Patricia Watts, MA* - University of Melbourne
Simon Fisher, MA - University of Melbourne
Abstract:
DRAFT ONLY
A political ecology of Warlpiri water rights: land alienation and denial of access to perennial water sources on leased lands.
The Warlpiri lands are situated in the Tanami Desert that includes portions of the Great Western Desert in the Northern Territory, Australia. Since the arrival of Europeans in the early 1900s, a radical transition in land and water management regimes has emerged. As a result of this transition Warlpiri people have been marginalized through land alienation and denial of access to perennial water sources on leased land. Political and legal precedence is given to pastoralists over Warlpiri interests to water. This paper examines Warlpiri processes in utilizing Australian legislation based on the foundations of customary law to assert rights to perennial water sources on leased lands.
The Pikilyi Movement comprises Warlpiri traditional owners of the most culturally valued permanent water source in the bioregion referred by Warlpiri as 'Pikilyi'. The Warlpiri combines the Western knowledge system with the Warlpiri knowledge system to develop practical strategies that aim to intercept processes of land alienation and denial of access. A political ecological analysis assists Warlpiri in the development of these strategies that are applied to the Australian legal and political systems to gain greater recognition of Warlpiri knowledge and interests to water. The Pikilyi Movement is a social movement that adopts a collaborative water management approach to prevent further environmental degradation caused by the proliferation of artificial watering points, overgrazing and lack of grazing management.
