Cultural indicators, country and culture: the Arabana, change and water

Abstract

Water is of paramount importance to all people who live in Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, Australia, but to the Arabana people, one of the Indigenous peoples of the region, it also holds immense cultural significance. Having lived in the region for thousands of years, Arabana people have developed their own methods to assess the ecological condition of their water sites. This paper presents the results of a collaborative project designed to develop a suite of cultural indicators for water sites in the Kati Thanda region. Based on field trips and a comprehensive desktop review, this paper presents the indicators or ‘signs’ used by the Arabana to assess condition. Key results show that although water has multiple values for the Arabana, water itself is understood as a series of sites within one country rather than as a series of ecosystems or types of water body. Further, the cultural indicators or the ‘signs’ by which Arabana people assess conditions are potentially synergistic with scientific indicators and include fauna, flora, quality, soil, and climatic dimensions. However, Arabana people also assess a site according to its history and the level of cultural knowledge about the site. The paper concludes with a reflection on whether or not these indicators can be used in more generic ways across the region to assist in broader river assessment processes. A cultural indicator schemata is suggested as a starting mechanism for identifying cultural indicators in other parts of Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, but the paper concludes by arguing that any effective implementation of such a schemata must involve Indigenous peoples at every level.