I have been reading people’s opinions about the money being charged to see Princess Parrots and can hold off no longer. There is an underlying racism that lurks, a nasty little secret, beneath the comments of many. How else to explain well-meaning discussions along these lines (and I paraphrase): ‘If it teaches them – Indigenous people – to run birding tours then I approve’ (for our – whitefellas’ – benefit, of course); ‘If they share the money among their community then I approve’ (since when were Europeans called upon to share their profits with their communites?); ‘They’ve been given enough money already so I don’t approve’ (over-simplifying an unbelievably complex situation); and ‘If they can get that sort of money, let them try (but I don’t approve)’. These sentiments imply a superiority and moral high ground we simply don’t possess. They are more offensive for being subtle. People have also objected to the traditional owner’s scruples about (white) birders running around on his land, when we don’t have a clue what it means to be custodians of the land. To protect the animals, birds and plants; to have a spiritual connection; to be diminished when the land is trampled on and ignorantly invaded. Look at how we have managed custody of our own (stolen) lands, here in our cities and degraded, agricultural areas – we know only how to exploit. I am fed up with reading this correspondence, couched in economic terms but informed by ugly, masked racism. From now on, could it be limited to the facts?
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Thanks very much Helen, and sorry for the delay in sending this – I’ve been ill. I think the subtleties are difficult for many to grasp, but I felt I had to try. and here I’m going to expand on what I wrote in light of some other comments that have been made.
Andrew, in his excellent email, mentions the feelings of Douglas, a traditional owner, about trespassers. But the feelings go deeper than just the act of trespassing. My relatives view white strangers with alarm, particularly when they appear on country. I shall give a relatively recent and graphic example of why.
Some years ago, senior women relatives told me of police officers in Arnhem Land who were assaulting Bininj (Aboriginal people). One of my sisters-in-law was beaten nearly unconscious by an officer in an attempted rape. Another case involved a police officer trying to speak to a relative who, frightened of the officer, had been avoiding him. The policeman, a bull of a man, twisted my skinny little relative’s arm up behind his back, and in agony and fear, my relative bit him. The testimony of myriad Indigenous witnesses differed, of course, from that of the one white witness. The result? Gukguk (grandson) spent nine months in jail after being found guilty of assaulting a police officer.
Together we women and some of the men tried to do something about such policemen. This did not go down well. One officer, on discovering I was involved in attempts to have him removed told my relatives I’d ‘vanish’ if I returned to Arnhem Land. Now, if this policeman could openly threaten me, what could he do to Bininj. People were terrified. Men fled to the bush to hide, leaving in many instances, women to cope with the situation.
Such balanda undermined a lot of the good work carried out by other officers, and people in other fields, eg medical staff and teachers, and Bininj were suspicious of virtually everyone. I’ll never forget driving into a very remote outstation in central Arnhem Land with my father-in-law, the senior traditional owner for that place, only to find it deserted. The women, having heard a strange vehicle, fled in terror with the children. They told us two balanda strangers had turned up some weeks before, and they felt threatened.
Yet there is so much the wider society could learn, particularly from people such as the Kunwinjku For example, at least on outstations, they do not ‘waste’ people – everybody is seen as useful, from toddlers to old people, and all have a role to play in the community. Contrast the attitudes to seniors, particularly women, between western and Kunwinjku society. Among my relatives, it is a compliment to be addressed as ‘old lady’, as I often am. Now, who among the Birding Aus chatliners would own up to being an ‘old lady’ a derogatory term in western society?
And then there are the children. Whereupon westerners like to think of children as sacred, in reality they’re treated as useless and incompetent. Yet among the Kunwinjku children learn to take responsibility for others and themselves from the time they’re knee high to a grasshopper. My son, Rowan, was only three when he was presented with a newborn infant and told he was a ‘little daddy’. This is how Kunwinjku kids learn to become competent parents and responsible members of society. The traditional ways of education resemble that of Montessori education – learn by doing.
And then there’s the negative attitudes. Helen, remember Rowan, my son? I think you last saw him in 1995, when he was ten. He is ‘little daddy’ to several Aboriginal children. When his school mates found out about this relationship, they told him it was ‘nothing to be proud of’, because all Aboriginal people were ‘dirty drunks’.
How does one fight such attitudes? My very shy semi-traditional son, an Anglican minister, and biological father of Rowan’s children visited Rowan’s class and tried to explain in his limited English, Rowan’s role as a ‘little daddy’, and how proud he was of his little brother. Djedje (meaning ‘my child’) was so scared he was shaking. Courage to me is a small Aboriginal man facing a class of children who had labelled him and his children, and trying to defend his little brother.
Then take the efforts of the Anangu elders to free Lindy Chamberlain, a person they believed to be innocent. This despite, their negative attitudes towards both white people and in particular tourists who visited Uluru. I only know of their efforts, because, after failing to make an impression on Alice Springs police, elders sent messages through my Larrakia relatives, asking me to help. Such people are my heroes. Sports stars and twitchers with huge lists simply cannot measure up to such courage, in my opinion.
We’re still fighting. It’s not just about recognising culture, but about building trust and friendship. And there are many ways of doing this, and anyone interested is welcome to read my book ‘Quiet Snake Dreaming, about being a member of an Aboriginal clan. I’m prepared to make copies of ‘ available, free of charge, to any Birding Aus chatliner who wants more in-depth knowledge of people such as the Kunwinjku.
Kunwinjku elders said QSD and another of my stories, ‘The Baby’ would ‘bring about understanding’ between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. And they’re still hoping. So am I.
‘The Baby’, originally published by Ita Buttrose, back in the early 1990s, is widely available on the web.
By the way, ‘old’ to my relatives means ‘wise’. Denise
on 3/12/10 10:51 AM, Helen Larson at gobywan2001@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
href=”mailto:John.Harris@donvale.vic.edu.au”>John.Harris@donvale.vic.edu.au wrote: href=”mailto:john.harris@donvale.vic.edu.au”>john.harris@donvale.vic.edu.au href=”mailto:birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au href=”mailto:birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au href=”mailto:birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au href=”mailto:birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au href=”mailto:birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au
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and Good on you Denise. I just read through the pile of Princess Parrot emails and was amazed at some of the comments.
It’s clear that many (dare I say southern) balanda have no idea of Aboriginal culture, knowledge and attitudes. Mind you, my knowledge is not the same as yours… Helen
< ')////==< ________________________________; Brian Fleming ; Birding Aus Sent: Thu, 2 December, 2010 9:55:48
In 1988 my relatives in western Arnhem Land decided they wanted to become involved in tourism. This came about because, over the years, they¹d met, and generally liked, some of the birders I guided these were mostly Americans, but some were Australian. I agreed to help only because family and clan elders asked me to. I was the only family member with any expertise in the area.
To explain the decision-making process, I¹ll give an example. Some years ago the Ombudsman¹s Office asked me to become an officer in Western Arnhem Land. I told them that I¹d need to ask my relatives, the most senior of whom were staying with me at the time (among them my two older sisters, Esther Maralngurra and Mrs. Nganjmirra). My relatives told me to take them to the Ombudsman’s office so they could tell staff how they felt about my appointment. There was no way I would have considered accepting that job without their wholehearted approval.
The reasons my relatives wanted to be involved in tourism were threefold. They wanted to Œmake friends¹ with balandas (white people); they wanted to keep young people on their country, and they wanted to make a little money. They didn¹t understand why people would want to visit their country or watch birds. This was voiced eloquently by Mirrar elder, Yvonne Margarula, senior traditional owner in Kakadu, in a newsletter we later published. They didn¹t understand, but they accepted that balandas did such things.
However, my relatives were afraid. Many had had negative experiences with balandas, and, they didn¹t understand bureaucracy or know anything about running a business. Also they thought they¹d have to go into tourism in a big way. They weren¹t wrong. The formal tourism industry in the NT is designed for mass markets (Dean Carson et al argue that it resembles a staples economy, for those interested). When we approached Tourism NT for help, they tried to pressure my relatives into taking on more visitors, and to charge like wounded bulls, all so my relatives could become part of the establishment. We decided to skip the formal industry altogether and go straight to the market.
My relatives had other fears. Over the years they¹d heard tales from the Mirrar about guides, operators and tourists who were ignorant, environmentally insensitive, racist, or sexist. We all knew of a few in the industry with a history of violence towards women.
It took twelve years for all in the clan to agree. I was outside of this process, except for answering questions. For example, I was once asked how we could keep visitors away from dangerous dreaming sites.
The process was Œbottoms-up¹, ie driven by my relatives. As a group we talked over what visitors we wanted, eg. those who would Œfit in¹, and with whom the community would feel most comfortable. Then the senior traditional owners as a group decided on how money was to be treated (it was handed to the most senior woman who dispersed it). My relatives, on my advice, were interested in the sort of people they¹d met at my home eg mainly American couples, although later Australian families and couples, small groups, and American students came too. However, they were still so scared that some ran away when I arrived with the first visitors.
We all realised that we had to keep all women safe. Some of our men had a history of violence, although they had always treated me with great respect as their Œold lady¹. But as a matter of practice, my women relatives never camped alone, and would not let me camp alone. Elders decided that any area with a history of substance abuse or violence towards women was excluded from our program unless they showed behavioural change.
We also excluded some visitors, for instance rabid birders who were prepared to walk over everyone and everything to see a new bird.
Training was built upon my relatives¹ existing skills, knowledge and wisdom, and was holistic, encompassing areas from common and Kunwinjku bird names (we taught literacy using bird names), to basic computer skills, first aid, and how to deal with misbehaving visitors. Some courses resembled episodes of The Goodies, but we had a ball and everyone, including myself, learned and gained confidence.
I trained family members closest to me from elders to children, and then they taught people on other outstations, moving knowledge crabwise and at a pace and in a manner that supported and built upon traditional knowledge and values. There were hurdles – one respected tribal elder whom I call Œson¹, refused to learn computer, saying he was Œtoo stupid¹ (yes, he learned that at school). When he finally plucked up the courage to try, he was typing with ten fingers in one day.
Families seniors, women and children, were involved as guides and hosts, not just men. This preserved family structure and the status of women. And it made women safe. The wisdom of this approach stood in stark contrast to a southern tour operation whose drunk guides sexually harassed a bunch of my American students.
One of our goals was that relatives, male and female, would be able to make informed choices further down the line as to whether they wanted to be involved in tourism, and if so, how. Some talked about guiding serious birders both in Arnhem Land and around Darwin where my saltwater/Larrakia relatives wanted to take visitors into the mangroves to show them birds such as Chestnut Rail, keeping them safe at the same time.
Some government funding enabled me to hire vehicles to get to Arnhem Land, and all was going well. The number of visitors was low enough that my relatives felt they could get to know them personally, and that the situation was always under control. We were getting enquiries from a whole range of interest groups, not just birders. Some visitors had become mentors and we were now hosting American students.
The death of two elders brought things to a temporary halt, but an even bigger setback was the loss of funding. Two reasons were given. The government department involved had decided only to fund courses run in towns. Secondly, neither I, nor any of any of the elders, had a Certificate 4 in training. By that time I¹d one university degree and a postgrad qualification as well as over 25 years¹ experience as a birding guide and training Indigenous people. Elders said that if I wasn¹t qualified, what hope was there for them. There are bureaucrats in the NT who ought to hang their heads in shame.
Readers may ask about the training of Indigenous guides in Kakadu I know little of this as I wasn¹t involved, apart from being questioned about my methods of training Indigenous relatives. However, the feedback from clients, friends (including some senior in BA) was not positive, and from what I heard, it seemed like another Œtop-down¹ exercise designed to satisfy twitchers, without taking Indigenous culture and practice into account. Academics at Charles Darwin University considered writing a paper entitled, and here I paraphrase, ŒHow Not to Train Indigenous Birding Guides in Kakadu¹. They didn¹t, I¹m not sure why. But few lessons will be learned until a paper exploring both the good and the bad of such efforts is written.
I wish the central Australian guides who showed birders the Princess Parrots the best of luck. They have control of birding and I hope they keep it. Given the challenges my relatives faced, the institutionalised racism that exists to this day, and the attitudes of some hardcore birders, they¹ll need it.
But those birders aren¹t alone. Remember the German backpacker, taken by a crocodile in Kakadu some years ago? The Mirrar women were horrified that for years their warnings about crocodiles had been ignored. Yvonne Margarula wrote in our newsletter that the Mirrar wanted Œto keep visitors safe¹. Seeing it ias their responsibility to prevent further deaths, they decided to close off access to waterbodies inhabited by crocodiles.
The response of someTop End tour operators? The Mirrar were just Œbeing greedy¹ and wanted to keep the land and the money it brought all to themselves.
To Debbie, Anthea, John Harris and all the other Birding Aussers who can see past the next new tick, you¹ve demonstrated a breadth of understanding that I wish more displayed. Good on you.
Denise Lawungkurr Goodfellow PO Box 3460 NT 0832, AUSTRALIA Ph. 61 08 89 328306 Mobile: 0438 650 835
Birdwatching and Indigenous tourism consultant PhD Candidate Vice-chair, Wildlife Tourism Australia
http://www.denisegoodfellow.com.au http://www.earthfoot.org http://groups.yahoo.com/group/baby-dreaming http://birderstravel.com
on 1/12/10 12:49 PM, John Harris at John.Harris@donvale.vic.edu.au wrote:
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Thank you, Denise, and Debbie, for your emails and for your sanity and clear thinking. It’s certainly been food for thought for me.
href=”mailto:goodfellow@bigpond.com.au”>goodfellow@bigpond.com.au href=”mailto:John.Harris@donvale.vic.edu.au”>John.Harris@donvale.vic.edu.au; debbielustig123@hotmail.com; flambeau@labyrinth.net.au; Birding-aus@vicnet.net.au href=”mailto:John.Harris@donvale.vic.edu.au”>John.Harris@donvale.vic.edu.au wrote: href=”mailto:john.harris@donvale.vic.edu.au”>john.harris@donvale.vic.edu.au href=”mailto:birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au href=”mailto:birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au href=”mailto:birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au href=”mailto:birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au ============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) href=”mailto:birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au
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Thanks Denise, for the time and effort you put in, in response to this discussion.
Colin.
href=”mailto:goodfellow@bigpond.com.au”>goodfellow@bigpond.com.au href=”mailto:John.Harris@donvale.vic.edu.au”>John.Harris@donvale.vic.edu.au; debbielustig123@hotmail.com; flambeau@labyrinth.net.au; Birding-aus@vicnet.net.au href=”mailto:John.Harris@donvale.vic.edu.au”>John.Harris@donvale.vic.edu.au wrote: href=”mailto:john.harris@donvale.vic.edu.au”>john.harris@donvale.vic.edu.au href=”mailto:birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au href=”mailto:birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au href=”mailto:birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au href=”mailto:birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au ============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) href=”mailto:birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au
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In 1988 my relatives in western Arnhem Land decided they wanted to become involved in tourism. This came about because, over the years, they¹d met, and generally liked, some of the birders I guided these were mostly Americans, but some were Australian. I agreed to help only because family and clan elders asked me to. I was the only family member with any expertise in the area.
To explain the decision-making process, I¹ll give an example. Some years ago the Ombudsman¹s Office asked me to become an officer in Western Arnhem Land. I told them that I¹d need to ask my relatives, the most senior of whom were staying with me at the time (among them my two older sisters, Esther Maralngurra and Mrs. Nganjmirra). My relatives told me to take them to the Ombudsman’s office so they could tell staff how they felt about my appointment. There was no way I would have considered accepting that job without their wholehearted approval.
The reasons my relatives wanted to be involved in tourism were threefold. They wanted to make friends¹ with balandas (white people); they wanted to keep young people on their country, and they wanted to make a little money. They didn¹t understand why people would want to visit their country or watch birds. This was voiced eloquently by Mirrar elder, Yvonne Margarula, senior traditional owner in Kakadu, in a newsletter we later published. They didn¹t understand, but they accepted that balandas did such things.
However, my relatives were afraid. Many had had negative experiences with balandas, and, they didn¹t understand bureaucracy or know anything about running a business. Also they thought they¹d have to go into tourism in a big way. They weren¹t wrong. The formal tourism industry in the NT is designed for mass markets (Dean Carson et al argue that it resembles a staples economy, for those interested). When we approached Tourism NT for help, they tried to pressure my relatives into taking on more visitors, and to charge like wounded bulls, all so my relatives could become part of the establishment. We decided to skip the formal industry altogether and go straight to the market.
My relatives had other fears. Over the years they¹d heard tales from the Mirrar about guides, operators and tourists who were ignorant, environmentally insensitive, racist, or sexist. We all knew of a few in the industry with a history of violence towards women.
It took twelve years for all in the clan to agree. I was outside of this process, except for answering questions. For example, I was once asked how we could keep visitors away from dangerous dreaming sites.
The process was bottoms-up¹, ie driven by my relatives. As a group we talked over what visitors we wanted, eg. those who would fit in¹, and with whom the community would feel most comfortable. Then the senior traditional owners as a group decided on how money was to be treated (it was handed to the most senior woman who dispersed it). My relatives, on my advice, were interested in the sort of people they¹d met at my home eg mainly American couples, although later Australian families and couples, small groups, and American students came too. However, they were still so scared that some ran away when I arrived with the first visitors.
We all realised that we had to keep all women safe. Some of our men had a history of violence, although they had always treated me with great respect as their old lady¹. But as a matter of practice, my women relatives never camped alone, and would not let me camp alone. Elders decided that any area with a history of substance abuse or violence towards women was excluded from our program unless they showed behavioural change.
We also excluded some visitors, for instance rabid birders who were prepared to walk over everyone and everything to see a new bird.
Training was built upon my relatives¹ existing skills, knowledge and wisdom, and was holistic, encompassing areas from common and Kunwinjku bird names (we taught literacy using bird names), to basic computer skills, first aid, and how to deal with misbehaving visitors. Some courses resembled episodes of The Goodies, but we had a ball and everyone, including myself, learned and gained confidence.
I trained family members closest to me from elders to children, and then they taught people on other outstations, moving knowledge crabwise and at a pace and in a manner that supported and built upon traditional knowledge and values. There were hurdles – one respected tribal elder whom I call son¹, refused to learn computer, saying he was too stupid¹ (yes, he learned that at school). When he finally plucked up the courage to try, he was typing with ten fingers in one day.
Families seniors, women and children, were involved as guides and hosts, not just men. This preserved family structure and the status of women. And it made women safe. The wisdom of this approach stood in stark contrast to a southern tour operation whose drunk guides sexually harassed a bunch of my American students.
One of our goals was that relatives, male and female, would be able to make informed choices further down the line as to whether they wanted to be involved in tourism, and if so, how. Some talked about guiding serious birders both in Arnhem Land and around Darwin where my saltwater/Larrakia relatives wanted to take visitors into the mangroves to show them birds such as Chestnut Rail, keeping them safe at the same time.
Some government funding enabled me to hire vehicles to get to Arnhem Land, and all was going well. The number of visitors was low enough that my relatives felt they could get to know them personally, and that the situation was always under control. We were getting enquiries from a whole range of interest groups, not just birders. Some visitors had become mentors and we were now hosting American students.
The death of two elders brought things to a temporary halt, but an even bigger setback was the loss of funding. Two reasons were given. The government department involved had decided only to fund courses run in towns. Secondly, neither I, nor any of any of the elders, had a Certificate 4 in training. By that time I¹d one university degree and a postgrad qualification as well as over 25 years¹ experience as a birding guide and training Indigenous people. Elders said that if I wasn¹t qualified, what hope was there for them. There are bureaucrats in the NT who ought to hang their heads in shame.
Readers may ask about the training of Indigenous guides in Kakadu I know little of this as I wasn¹t involved, apart from being questioned about my methods of training Indigenous relatives. However, the feedback from clients, friends (including some senior in BA) was not positive, and from what I heard, it seemed like another top-down¹ exercise designed to satisfy twitchers, without taking Indigenous culture and practice into account. Academics at Charles Darwin University considered writing a paper entitled, and here I paraphrase, How Not to Train Indigenous Birding Guides in Kakadu¹. They didn¹t, I¹m not sure why. But few lessons will be learned until a paper exploring both the good and the bad of such efforts is written.
I wish the central Australian guides who showed birders the Princess Parrots the best of luck. They have control of birding and I hope they keep it. Given the challenges my relatives faced, the institutionalised racism that exists to this day, and the attitudes of some hardcore birders, they¹ll need it.
But those birders aren¹t alone. Remember the German backpacker, taken by a crocodile in Kakadu some years ago? The Mirrar women were horrified that for years their warnings about crocodiles had been ignored. Yvonne Margarula wrote in our newsletter that the Mirrar wanted to keep visitors safe¹. Seeing it ias their responsibility to prevent further deaths, they decided to close off access to waterbodies inhabited by crocodiles.
The response of someTop End tour operators? The Mirrar were just being greedy¹ and wanted to keep the land and the money it brought all to themselves.
To Debbie, Anthea, John Harris and all the other Birding Aussers who can see past the next new tick, you¹ve demonstrated a breadth of understanding that I wish more displayed. Good on you.
Denise Lawungkurr Goodfellow PO Box 3460 NT 0832, AUSTRALIA Ph. 61 08 89 328306 Mobile: 0438 650 835
Birdwatching and Indigenous tourism consultant PhD Candidate Vice-chair, Wildlife Tourism Australia
http://www.denisegoodfellow.com.au http://www.earthfoot.org http://groups.yahoo.com/group/baby-dreaming http://birderstravel.com
on 1/12/10 12:49 PM, John Harris at John.Harris@donvale.vic.edu.au wrote:
href=”mailto:john.harris@donvale.vic.edu.au”>john.harris@donvale.vic.edu.au href=”mailto:birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au href=”mailto:birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au href=”mailto:birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au
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Well said, Debbie and Anthea! Elizabeth Shaw Phillip Island Victoria
Yes, Debbie is sadly correct.
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing.” (after Edmund Burke)
Regards, Graham
href=”mailto:debbielustig123@hotmail.com”>debbielustig123@hotmail.com href=”mailto:birding-aus@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus@vicnet.net.au href=”mailto:birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au href=”mailto:birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au
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Very well said Debbie,
Congratulations on saying what a lot of us were thinking.
Regards from Colin.
href=”mailto:debbielustig123@hotmail.com”>debbielustig123@hotmail.com href=”mailto:birding-aus@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus@vicnet.net.au href=”mailto:birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au ============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) href=”mailto:birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au
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Spot On, Debbie – very well expressed
Bob Cook
I second that, Anthea!
Having done some birding with guides, I have been more than happy to pay their asking price especially if they are giving up their time and not part of their usual income/employment.
If you think it is too expensive, then dont’ go and don’t whinge about it! Like everything else in this economy driven society, the price is what people will pay for that service.
As for their (indigenous peoples across Australia – Murri’s, Yolgnu, Koories, etc) connection with the land, it is generally deeper than any “WASP or Catholic” could understand. Having lived in indigenous communities in a few places in Arnhem land and only scratched the surface of this connection, I can only begin to appreciate this.
So birders, be thankful that there is a way to see these parrots and benefit a local “economy” than not at all.
Yours in all things “green”
Regards
John Harris Manager, Environment and Sustainability Donvale Christian College 155 Tindals Rd Donvale 3111 03 9844 2471 Ext 217 0409 090 955 john.harris@donvale.vic.edu.au
President, Field Naturalists Club of Victoria (FNCV) Past President, Victorian Association for Environmental Education (VAEE)
Thank you Debbie, I agree with every word! Anthea Fleming
to see Princess Parrots and can hold off no longer. There is an underlying racism that lurks, a nasty little secret, beneath the comments of many. How else to explain well-meaning discussions along these lines (and I paraphrase): approve’ (for our – whitefellas’ – benefit, of course); when were Europeans called upon to share their profits with their communites?); (over-simplifying an unbelievably complex situation); and approve)’. don’t possess. They are more offensive for being subtle. (white) birders running around on his land, when we don’t have a clue what it means to be custodians of the land. To protect the animals, birds and plants; to have a spiritual connection; to be diminished when the land is trampled on and ignorantly invaded. in our cities and degraded, agricultural areas – we know only how to exploit. terms but informed by ugly, masked racism. From now on, could it be limited to the facts? href=”mailto:birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au ===============================
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Well said Debbie regards peter
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Well said Debbie!
Chris Hankel
I suspect (unfortunately) that you are right Debbie, although it is difficult sometimes to express an opinion in ways which cannot be mis-interpreted.
For what it’s worth, my views are simple:
1. If a landholder wants to charge me to access his/her/their land then so be it – that is one of the privileges on owning land. There are many occasions (e.g. sports grounds) when we accept this without question. 2. If people can make money out of bird watchers then that is potentially good – it sets a value on the birds (and the associated environment) and thus may help in resisting demands for other developments which would adversely affect the birds. This is certainly true in many countries where “eco tourism” plays a role in helping to protect remaining rainforests – it may be less relevant in this case. 3. We can all choose how we spend our money (and as others have pointed out this amount is probably less than others spend to fly to Christmas Island or elsewhere to twitch a bird that is not even a native!). I am sorry I missed the chance to participate as I have just got back from birding overseas. The market will set the right price in the end!
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Thank you Debbie, I agree with every word! Anthea Fleming
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