Story

Post 220

A friend put me onto the book Traditional Knowledge and Climate Change, which was just released yesterday

These selected essays from across the Global South take a human-centric understanding of genetic resources, seeds accessibility, and benefit sharing amongst First Nations and local communities. The volume highlights the equitable importance of prac-tices and creative methodology from the cultural background of indigenous and tribal peoples, the first custodians of our planet. Investigation into critical issues and solutions through local practices unveils the potential of incorporating Tradi-tional Knowledge in policy formulation on environmental management and climate governance. This book advocates incorporating Traditional Knowledge in climate justice, which has been absent from our mainstream academic and legal discourse. 

The First Chapter features our very own Professor Anne Poelina and incorporates the work being done in the Fitzroy River in the Kimberley, Western Australia, through The Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council, which is an entirely Indigenous led organisation, guided by a diverse representation of senior elders with cultural authority, knowledge holders on the front line, defending against the destruction of cultural heritage, ecological damage, poverty and climate change.

There is a lot to unpack in the chapter and the story, though what it has resurfaced for me is the meaning and history of ‘Law’, that the only meaning and strength that is in any law is directly proportional to the meaning and strength we give it as a culture

First Law is the system of governance and law that Indigenous Australians have developed over tens of thousands of years. Under First Law, the Martuwarra continues to be a sacred living ancestral being. Traditional Aboriginal law focuses on maintaining the balance of the earth so that all things can prosper. This sustainable model, known as Earth-centred Law, is the basis for the Fitzroy River Declaration (Poelina et al., 2019). Two traditional First Laws, Warloongarriy (for the River) and Wunan (for the entire Kimberley region), are ancient laws for a holistic approach to regional governance that continues to be shared and respected by the Indigenous nations. These First Laws ensured the health of the Martuwarra and its Traditional Owners (Poelina et al., 2019). This Plan seeks to build on, support and sustain these approaches. These laws are founded on the principle that the priority of law is to protect and manage the sustainable harmony of the land over the self-interests of humans. First Laws are framed around values and ethics of co-management and coexistence, which continue to facilitate inter-generational relationships between the shared boundaries of the River nations through ancient Songlines, and contemporary customs and practices. Under First law, the Traditional Owners of the Martuwarra regard the River as a living [sacred] ancestral being (the Rainbow Serpent), from source to seas, with its own “life-force” and “spiritual essence”. It is “the ‘River of Life’ and has a right to live and flow” (Poelina et al., 2019).

You can’t even finish the paragraph without recognising the stark difference between First law, a law absorbed from Country, by First People, from the principles of life itself, compared to the laws of the day based on individualization and the retention of power… A system of law decoupled from the land and principles of the living systems is really just a narrative of power that is shaped through power

Just like a financial system decoupled from an element of the earth, its last connection to anything tangible, it is now shaped through a narrative of power where not even a country owns its currency, and money is produced through the creation and sale of debt, a modern system of slavery

Governance, Economy, Law… these are all such big subjects that we feel we have no power against the might of institutions and the established. Do we even have the answer ourselves for how to transition without total destabilisation? How do you and me, the common we, have any voice at the table in a world gone mad and against such insurmountable odds?

All we have to remember is that this entire modern world is only a story, a narrative that we have created in our own minds and share because we designed it comfortably enough, for enough of us, to be ok enough, to get just enough, to be able to collapse on our couches at the end of the day under a semi-secure roof and feed ourselves and our families, and a carrot just big enough at the end of a string being pulled in front of us leading us into the next day

This modern world is no more than a dream that we once had, and so can be dreamed forward, can be evolved, can be reconnected to natural systems and the living world, can be dreamed back into harmony and deep relationship with each other and all the incredible conscious beings we share this dream with

So lets make a commitment to each other, you and I, to start telling ourselves a new story this morning about this beautiful day we are about to start, in this beautiful world, in this constant beating pulse of this living conscious moment.

We start with ourselves, and we radiate this out to others while we help them see the true light of the day, and we start to share the stories of place and the living world, the stories of the people who have decided to dedicate their lives taking responsibility for the living world in their own place

And as we share stories and raise awareness, we shape the narrative in the hearts of the people, and the trickling waters of story, just like our drained-out river systems, will start to flow again with more strength, renourishing the passion of local communities, rejuvenating their energy to see past the problems of the day, and activating the strength of the genius in each of us to contribute what we each uniquely have to contribute to this world

The story I am starting with today is ‘I am enough as who I am, I have worth and something unique to contribute to the world, and I am going to see the same in each and every person I deal with today, and I am going to hold the reality in my mind that I am not in this world but of this world and in deep relationship with everything I see today’