PhD scholar
Indigenous traditional resource management: An Australia and New Zealand Comparison
E-mail: sarah.hemmingsen@anu.edu.au

Over the past few decades, recognition of issues important to Indigenous peoples within the ex-settler countries has gained momentum and thrown open many complex debates. The most significant issues are resource sovereignty and the impact of colonisation on Indigenous relationships with the environment. However, while non-Indigenous populations are beginning to realise the value of Indigenous resource management, the ability of Indigenous peoples to carry out appropriate management methods is often restricted or not recognised. In coastal areas, colonisation was a major obstacle for Indigenous ownership, use and management, as colonists viewed coastal areas as a homogeneous water column to be managed as public 'commons'. This framework poses many difficult dilemmas for Indigenous peoples as they face insecurity in their aspirations to control their marine territories and associated resources using traditional management methods.

This research undertakes a comparative study between Australia and New Zealand, to investigate the continuing impact of colonisation on Indigenous management of coastal environments. In spite of the different experiences of colonialism, alienation from land and resources was experienced by both Aboriginal and Maori communities. Understanding how colonialism has impacted on Aboriginal and Maori environmental relationships in the past and continues to influence their ability to participate in coastal management today is an important part of redress.