Death by 1000 cuts: how to ensure we do not die this way

Our lands are our birth right and you would think that having our native title rights and interests recognised, by the highest court in Australia, would entitle Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to have a greater say over our traditional lands.

For custodial groups, who deal with mining and exploration companies, there is little opportunity to gain further leverage through the Native Title process over this industry. Lingchi is a process of ‘slow slicing’ or ‘death by 1000 cuts’ and unless there are changes to the policies and practices, custodial groups may still struggle to achieve genuine equality in negotiations with mining and exploration companies. If systems are not altered then our traditional lands, and our sprits, will continue to die as a result of the slow slicing.

This presentation will challenge the audience to critically reflect on what currently happens with regards to heritage work and propose that current processes should ensure greater adherence to legislation, reduce cultural heritage incidents, provide greater leverage, influence the way activities are currently undertaken and increase the opportunities for repatriation of country after activities have concluded to enable us to heal – both in terms of our country and sprits. 

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