Contested Knowledges

Introduction

The following essay is based on fire and contested knowledges. This paper will discuss different perspectives on fire and fire management.

The way you are brought up usually determines how you understand the world. Every person is different, so what one may perceive as fact, may be wrong in another's view. The answer is no-one is wrong. All different races have their own knowledge system, which they consider right. Everybody's culture sees things differently, varying with the circumstances and it creates competition and conflict.

The marriage of science and cultural practices is not the same in different societies

Discussion

There are so many complex rules in every culture. Trying to marry these together is a very difficult task.

How can you expect people with different worldviews to instantly understand what you are trying to say and do without all the historical and cultural background that you intrinsically know? Western resource managers need to be aware that other knowledge systems exist. Aboriginal people also have solutions to problems and modes of operation that might cut across the accepted practices of 'western' people.

Land and resource management is all about conflict and contestation. Different people's perceptions meeting, clashing and hopefully negotiating. You can't expect to be involved in managing resources without being placed in situations where different systems of knowledge meet on different and often uneven terms. The fact of the matter is that we need to negotiate solutions, often where there seems that no solution might exist.

There is an obvious contestation of knowledge between Indigenous and non-Indigenous systems. However, there is a less obvious contestation of knowledge within the Indigenous community.

As Joe Morrison points out "expecting urban based Aboriginals to be fully equipped with the understanding of not only the socioeconomic situation that surronds Indigenous communities across the savannas, but also;

• The understanding of the complexities of working within the framework of Indigenous culture;
• Understanding the role culture plays in shaping natural resource management from the Indigenous perspective and;
• To be able to contructively develop initiatives through a clear understanding of language and/or accessing interpreters

Clearly the challenges that await people who are not adept to these issues are huge and sometimes overwhelming."(2001)

Summary

A hurdle to the success of combining various cultural land management strategies is the lack of confidence in another's system. Through trial and error, cooperative development is slowly being achieved. I believe there is a growing respect for both the traditional landowners knowledge and the western style of land management.

Since land was given back to indigenous people in the Northern Territory, government and non-government organizations are trying to encourage Aboriginal involvement in collaborative land management.