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The Returns of Recognition: Ngarinyin Experiences of Native Title, Encounter and Indeterminacy in the Kimberley Region of Northern Australia
Author(s) -
Dalley Cameo
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
oceania
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.356
H-Index - 25
eISSN - 1834-4461
pISSN - 0029-8077
DOI - 10.1002/ocea.5208
Subject(s) - indeterminacy (philosophy) , ethnography , politics , interpersonal communication , perception , sociology , gender studies , ethnology , history , geography , anthropology , political science , social science , psychology , law , epistemology , philosophy , neuroscience
This article explores a contemporary politics of recognition as it relates to Ngarinyin Aboriginal people of the Northern Kimberley region of Western Australia. I focus on the reflections and experiences of a Ngarinyin man, ‘the Alchemist’, who was involved in a native title claim across the region during the 2000s. Through ethnographic examples drawn from along the Gibb River Road, I show that time on country is animated by unexpected encounters imbued with interpersonal recognition and indeterminacy. These encounters involve non‐Aboriginal people (including tourists) and non‐human animals: allies who are co‐opted at a time when people's intimate knowledge of country is becoming further attenuated. This article contributes to a growing literature on Aboriginal people's perceptions of and experiences in country in post‐native title contexts.