Oral Presentation AFSS/NZFSS Joint Conference 2019

Cultural science and western science collaboration - can/do they co-exist? (#94a)

Phil Duncan 1
  1. Australian Freshwater Science Society, Pagewood, NSW, Australia

First Nations people comprise a minority of the global population up to 300 million of 7,000 million. Many of those First Nations ‘peoples are oppressed, marginalised and dispossessed of land, water, knowledge and a cultural life.  The legacy of the dispossession continues in economic, social and political disadvantage. In the Aboriginal world view, people and Country (including lands, waterways and seas) are interdependent entities that are intrinsically linked in the landscape through cultural and spiritual significance. This means that there is no separation of nature and culture, thus the health of the natural environment and cultural wellbeing of Aboriginal people is directly influenced by the health of the cultural landscapes. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have complex knowledges which support and reinforce their relationship and deep connection to Country as the Traditional Owners of their cultural landscapes. Please join with me in a workshop in which I aim to demonstrate where indigenous knowledge and cultural science meet wester science and discuss if and how they can coexist.