‘Why can't we speak up for ourselves…?’ Water Futures and Ethnographic Provocations

Abstract

ABSTRACTVia a three‐person dialogue, we engage with an inquiry posed for this special issue: ‘What questions are ethnographers asking about water in Australia?’ Canvassing such an inquiry led us to being both provoked and provocateurs, in part by following Luci Pangrazio's (2016) discussion about the value of provocation in the social sciences. Turning from provocation as heuristic tool, we then focus on the iconic Mardoowarra, Fitzroy River in Western Australia's northern Kimberley, and Aboriginal people's deep and enduring cultural, environmental and emotional interconnections and responsibilities with such a major water source. Contemplated also is the contemporary importance of inquiring into water‐based questions relating to Australian Indigenous people that might be reconceptualized to become questions about ethnographers and ethnography in the 21st century.