Fire
Introduction
Across the world, peoples' perceptions of fire vary enormously.
Fire is enmeshed in mystery, magic, religion and ceremony of most,
if not all, cultural groups. Peoples' perceptions of the practical
use of fire is often linked closely to their incorporation into
cultural practices and inseparable from their cultural practices
and belief systems.
Consequently different cultures have wide ranging view about fire,
the use of fire and particularly the use of fire in Australia as
a land management tool. Investigating the contested nature of fire
in Australia provides a useful example of how we can approach the
investigation of the contested nature of knowledge in general. In
the case of fire, the stakes are high: cultural integrity, development
of contemporary land management skills/knowledge, ecological integrity
and in some senses the relationships between cultural groups in
the country, particularly between Indigenous Australians and white
settler cultures.
What is at Stake?
Fire plays an important part in the cultural practices of many
groups of people. In north Australia, the use of fire is an important
part of the way in which different cultural groups operate. However,
the use of fire and the purposes to which it is used are vastly
different, provides an example of how different knowledge systems
contest each other and interact in other ways. In north Australia,
and in other parts of the country as well, the contestation between
different knowledge systems and their use of fire is a microcosm
of the contestation of knowledge systems in general.
The problem lies in understanding that the different concepts of
fire within cultural practice do not necessarily work neatly together.
The issue which is at stake in the discussion of fire is the relationship
between the two (or more) knowledge systems that operate within
the landscape of north Australia and their perceptions on the use
of fire and the role it plays in ecosystem management and maintenance.
The cultures and knowledge systems that operate within north Australia
have conflicted on the use of fire and as more people from other
places arrive here, in many cases, the stronger the fear of fire
and is prevalence in the landscape here limited. With people living
closer together in towns and in the rural areas, there is likely
to be a great fear of the potential damage fire can inflict, if
it is uncontrolled.
Match this with the removal of indigenous people from the landscape,
the prevention (in one way or another) of landowners from carrying
out their responsibilities to the land for which they are responsible,
the increasing fuel loads and the ensuing larger and uncontrollable
fires and there is a need to reinstate active management of land
that includes fire in one way or another.
Many scientists recognise the importance of fire in north Australian
ecosystems and they recognise the importance of Indigenous people's
use of fire as a land management tool. The difficulty in many cases
is to understand the importance of how fire is at once a tool and
a cultural practice. Within settler cultures, relationships between
utility and cultural practice is either denied or not understood
and it is difficult therefore to be able to identify the inter-relationships
between the two in other cultures.
Think about:
- When you don't see the cultural aspects of fire in your
own culture, how easy can it be to see the cultural component
to fire use in another culture?
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As a consequence, current land managers are attempting to develop
land management techniques based upon Indigenous land management
that are firmly embedded within a scientific framework. The difficulty
lies, however, in the political inequality of the knowledge systems
that operate within north Australian landscapes.
What is the Status Quo?
Western cultures have a long history and relationship with fire.
It has a strong religious and spiritual significance which ranges
from fire's life-giving, cleansing and purifying qualities to the
more sinister characteristics related to death, punishment and hell.
From the Beltane fires of Celts to the burning of witches at the
stake, from the flames of God's spirit descending upon his elect
to the modern Olympic flame, fire has and still contains an element
of mystery and a connection with important spiritual issues.
For settlers in the north of Australia, fire is essentially a tool
for providing warmth, light and power. Unrestrained fire also acts
as a weapon, and in western culture, fire that is burning uncontrolled
is dangerous, and must be put out before it destroys, crops, livestock
or people. From a settler perspective, there was little understanding
of the connection of fire and the maintenance of landscapes. The
very landscapes which attracted people to the north of Australia
were the ones which in many cases began to disappear when the use
of fire as a land management tool and fire as a part of important
cultural practices was constrained.
In many places in the north, settlers were able to become aware
of the importance of fire and the functionality of fire in removing
fuel loads from landscape and cleaning up bush. In other cases,
the settler fear of fire and the damage it could do, prevented its
use and the landscape altered as a result. Changes to the landscape
through the absence of fire promoted an increasing concern and fear
of fire as wildfires ignite the built-up fuel loads in southern
forests. Ash Wednesday fires in Victoria and South Australia in
1983 are a good example of the destructive nature of fires in the
modern Australian landscape and the justifiable fear they generate
in settler cultures.
In north Australia, an increased understanding of fire and the
need for fire has developed an acceptance of its presence in the
landscape. Scientists spend a great deal of time and resources attempting
to understand its role in the landscape and to harness the productive
role of fire in managing the landscape resources in the northern
savannas.
What are the Alternatives?
For Indigenous people, fire is an important component of their
cultural practices. It has a strong utilitarian component, but it
is impossible to separate the fire from its broader cultural and
religious significance.
People talk about the importance of fire and their responsibility
to burn the land they own. There is a need to clean up grasses,
provide resources which will attract animals and fulfill their responsibilities
to their country and their ancestors. It is impossible to separate
fire usage into utilitarian and spiritual or ceremonial uses. The
use of fire for hunting, signaling and cleaning country are all
part of a spiritual responsibility aim to maintain with their land.
Fire is a tool and an element of ceremony.
With the use of fire over thousands of years, the landscape in
north Australia has been shaped by fire. Systems of plants and animals,
now exist in an interdependent relationship with the presence of
fire within the landscape.
What Happens When Different Knowledge Systems
Speak to Each Other?
When different knowledge systems in north Australia begin speaking
to each other about fire and how it is used within the landscape,
what opportunities exists for an equitable interaction? Much time
and money is being spent at the moment by scientists trying to understand
the role of fire in ecosystems in north Australia. They recognise
the importance of Indigenous fire practices and are attempting to
engage with Indigenous people in learning how they manage land with
fire.
- Is this really possible?
- Can scientists, who are interested in ecology, really
engage Indigenous people in discussing fire, particularly
when it is so crucially culturally bound?
- Can the different knowledge systems enmesh with each
other in an equitable way, or is it likely that one system
of knowledge will subsume the other in some way?
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Scientists need to look for ways of engaging with Indigenous scientists
and meeting them on an even epistemological ground. Since the times
when indigenous people were removed from the landscape, many areas
of country have been neglected and responsibilities for managing
fire have not been carried out. It is likely that there are ways
of achieving this and people are in the field trying to do this
at the moment. As resource managers, the dilemma is how to ensure
that both groups end up being winners in the process of the different
systems speaking to each other.
- How do scientist do this without appropriating knowledge
and removing it from its cultural context?
- Similarly, how do Indigenous people deal with issues
of cultural sensitivity from their own perspective?
How appropriate is it now to return to that country with
scientists and ecologists, hoping to manage land and resources
appropriately in this contemporary context?
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Resources
These readings will provide you with a starting point for looking
at the contestation of knowledge about fire.
Reading 5.8
Bradley, J. Bayuma R.H. and Marrngawi D.N. 1997 'Burning for the
ancestors, burning for us: A case study from the south west Gulf
of Carpentaria' in Bushfire '97: Proceedings of the Australian
Bushfire Conference 8-10 July 1997 eds. B.J. McKaige, R.J. Williams
and W.M. Waggitt, CSIRO, Darwin, pp 75 - 80.
Other references
Bright, A. 1995 'Burn Grass' in D.B. Rose (ed) Country in Flames:
Proceedings of the 1994 symposium on biodiversity and fire in North
Australia, DEST and North Australia Research Unit, Darwin, pp
59 - 62.
Kohen, J. 1995 Aboriginal Environmental Impacts, UNSW Press,
Sydney.
Rose, D. B. 1997 'Indigenous Ecological Knowledge and the Scientific
Community' in Bushfire '97: Proceedings of the Australian Bushfire
Conference 8-10 July 1997 eds. B.J. McKaige, R.J. Williams and
W.M. Waggitt, CSIRO, Darwin. pp 69 - 74.
Yibarbuk, D. 1998 'Notes on the traditional use of fire on uppr
Cadell River' in Langton M. Burning Questions: emerging environmental
issues for indigenous peoples in northern Australia, CINCRM,
Darwin, pp 1 - 6.
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