Indigenous peoples and saltwater / freshwater governance

From an Indigenous worldview, land and water are one. This separation of how the law ‘deals’ with land and sea is a Western construct. We can see that ‘deconstructing aqua nullius’ - both in terms of salt and freshwater - continues to be a major cultural and governance challenge. This challenge is particularly apparent when we are considering Indigenous environmental governance of saltwater and freshwater. In February 2016, we convened an international workshop in Tasmania, on the land and water of the Mouheneenner people, to explore these and other issues in the relationships between Indigenous peoples and their marine and freshwater environments, and the role of law in mediating those relationships. Entitled ‘Indigenous Peoples and Saltwater/ Freshwater Governance for a Sustainable Future’, this gathering featured Indigenous and non-Indigenous speakers, of diverse academic and community backgrounds, from Aotearoa/New Zealand, Canada and the United States, as well as presenters from across Australia.