Martuwarra First Law Multi-Species Justice
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Summary
Adjunct Professor Anne Poelina has recently completed a Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, Broome Campus, Western Australia. The PhD thesis titled 'Martuwarra First Law Multi-Species Justice' focuses on the 'Declaration of Interdependence: Wellbeing of Land, Living Waters and Indigenous Australian People'. Anne, Wagaba is a Nyikina Warrwa traditional custodian from the Kimberley region of Western Australia, and spoke recently with Alexander Hayes Ph.D from Oethica regarding this thesis of experiential research, poetry, film, peer reviewed publications and book chapters bringing together interconnected stories from Country.
Recommended Citation
Martuwarra, RiverOfLife; Poelina, Anne; Hayes, Alexander (2021): Martuwarra First Law Multi-Species Justice. figshare. Media. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16601504.v1
Episode Notes
“… Dr Anne Poelina is a Nyikina Warrwa (Indigenous Australian) woman who belongs to the Mardoowarra, the lower Fitzroy River in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Poelina is an active Indigenous community leader, human and earth rights advocate, filmmaker and a respected academic researcher, with a Master of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Master of Education, Master of Arts (Indigenous Social Policy) and currently Doctor of Philosophy (Health Science) with thesis title, 'Cultural Determinants of Indigenous Health and Wellbeing’.
She is currently an Adjunct Professor with the Nulungu Research Institute and Senior Research Fellow at the University of Notre Dame, (Broome) Australia, a Research Fellow with the Northern Australia Institute at Charles Darwin University and Chair, of the Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council. Her current work explores the entrepreneurial ‘New Economy’ opportunities for Indigenous people along the National Heritage Listed Fitzroy River, in relation to green collar jobs in diverse, science, culture, heritage and conservation economies.
Commencing in December 2019 she will be a Visiting Fellow with the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University, Canberra Australia in the development and implementation of the Water Justice Hub commencing in 2020 to focus on Indigenous Water Valuation and Resilient Decision-making. She is a 2011 Peter Cullen Fellow for Water Leadership and is a signatory to the Redstone Statement that she helped draft at the 1st International Summit on Indigenous Environmental Philosophy in 2010.
As the Inaugural Chair of the National First Peoples Water Engagement Council in 2011 and later the same year she was elected onto the Broome Shire Council and became Deputy Shire President in her first term of office. In 2017, she was awarded a Laureate from the Women’s World Summit Foundation (Geneva) and in the following year of 2018 she was elected Chair of the Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council.
From humble beginnings growing up in the remote pearling town Broome, Poelina completed a Nurses Aid bridging course and Nursing Diploma, through an Eveline Rosina Henty Scholarship graduating from Western Australian College of Nursing in 1978 and was awarded the Lillian Harris Award at the University of Western Australia, then working across the remote Pilbara region of Western Australia.
As an Aboriginal Health Worker, Poelina developed, managed and facilitated training courses in Kalgoorlie and Broome, lecturing in an alternate mode Aboriginal Health Worker Bachelor degree program at the Sydney University Lidcombe campus, returning to Broome in 1989 take the Principal position at the Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services School of Health. Over the last decade Poelina has also written film scripts, distributing broadcast quality documentary films as Executive Producer and Cultural Advisor and through a Participatory Action Research (PAR) process as a researcher, advocate and community member.
Over the last 30 years she has employed a powerful combination of public engagements, peer reviewed academic papers, podcasts, community meetings, poetry, storytelling to share the lived experiences of Indigenous people. Poelina's leadership in community development, building individual and community capacity as Managing Director of Madjulla Incorporated in remote Aboriginal communities includes the establishment of the Nyikina Mangala Community School in the remote Aboriginal community of Jarlmadangah Buru.
As Managing Director Poelina co-designed and constructed the Majala Wilderness Centre in Balginjirr Aboriginal Community, now a central hub and home for remote education, training and conference facilities in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. She has instigated and managed many cultural development projects with remote Aboriginal communities, championing the development of Nyikina language multi-media format resource kits for teaching, the Nyikina dictionary and filmmaking projects films through which the sharing of Indigenous stories ensures the preservation and promotion of Nyikina language and culture.
By incorporating ancient and contemporary Indigenous Australian stories Dr Poelina is sought after as a powerful public speaker, able to illustrate traditional ecological knowledge, First Law and the rights of nature in regard to the solutions required for planetary health and wellbeing. Her work focuses on her sacred river, the Mardoowarra, also known as the Fitzroy River in the Kimberley region of Western Australia
Resources & Links
Read more about Dr Anne Poelina at https://www.majala.co.au
Visit and support the Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council at https://www.martuwarrafitzroyriver.org
Contribute to the Like Nowhere Else on earth call for submissions to the West Australian Government at https://www.likenowhereelse.org.au/water_paper
