Roper River cultural map
In 2023, Traditional Owners from across 20,000 square kilometres of the Roper river catchment travelled to the Australian Parliament to ask for protection of the river from threats posed by new water intensive industries in the catchment and to be at the forefront of decision-making for the river. Representatives presented a 13-metre hand-painted cultural map and associated statement signed by hundreds of remote community residents.
The Roper River Water Statement
We represent the clans and language groups of South East Arnhem Land: Ngalakgan, Alawa, Mangarrayi, Ngandi, Marra, Warndarrang, Nunggubuyu, Ritharrngu-Wagilak and Rembarrnga.
We are the Traditional Custodians of the Roper River and its catchment. We speak as one voice. We have translated this statement into your language, English, to help you understand us. Water is life.
All our songlines follow the water. We are all connected. If you take our water, you kill our culture. If you kill our culture, you kill our people.
We want our Indigenous water rights properly recognised, including:
We want a ban on all further water extraction, licenses and surface water harvesting in the Roper catchment, including the groundwater and floodplains that are the life of the River.
We want evidence that environmental and Indigenous cultural values are protected and made into law.
We want all downstream communities of the Roper to be included in all water joint-decision making from now on. We have never been consulted.
Our scientific and cultural knowledge of freshwater and saltwater Country came long before Colonisation and must be listened to and prioritised.
