Cultural Enterprise Project

Dr Peter Twigg, Curtin University

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Research question: how can a remote community develop economic and business opportunities based within Aboriginal culture and the traditional knowledge of Spinifex country?

The research project is based at Tjuntjuntjara Community in partnership with Pila Nguru Aboriginal Corporation. Central to the research is an endeavour to ‘map’ Spinifex Country and bring forward the deep cultural and biological knowledge of traditional owners.

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Research question: how can a remote community develop economic and business opportunities based within Aboriginal culture and the traditional knowledge of Spinifex country?

The research project is based at Tjuntjuntjara Community in partnership with Pila Nguru Aboriginal Corporation. Central to the research is an endeavour to ‘map’ Spinifex Country and bring forward the deep cultural and biological knowledge of traditional owners.

Research MethodsHard Mapping:

Bush expeditions to ‘chart the unchartered territories’

Capture Sources: Collating information and data from previous land and heritage projects.

Spinifex Arts Project.Northern Spinifex Heritage Project.Ethnographies.

Historical Sources:Battye Library, Museum of SACundeelee Mission and Oldea

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Research Methods…

An archival/data system with appropriate management protocols will be developed to store, organize and articulate the body of cultural knowledge into an active mapping system that covers Spinifex Country

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Research OutcomesEconomic Development Model

• Potential enterprises based within a broad land management and culture framework will be researched with a view to developing models and approaches that allow Aboriginal people to realize the full economic value of cultural knowledge manifest within a land base.

•  • Future culture and heritage work• Land Management umbrella

• Rangers• Survey work• Access development and control• Targeted Tourism

• Mineral Sands Mine Zone work• Environmental monitoring• Cultural awareness program• Zone control

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Research Outcomes…..Connections across borders

• This research project aims to increase the economic participation of remote Aboriginal people by careful and appropriate utilization of a substantial but often unrecognized cultural knowledge base.

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Achievements

Registering (visiting) of almost 50 new Spinifex sites.  The visits have involved large bush trips to find sites and each place has been logged with GPS (for mapping purposes) and recordings made at the site.  Photos on GPS camera also collected for each site.  

Database development underway.  Have assessed 3 options and are looking at 2 more (one next week in Darwin).  A significant amount of information from previous projects has been identified and/or collected that will be ultimately incorporated into the data base.  Visits have been made to Battey Library and  Ara Irriditja identifying material in the collections.   

Pilot tourism trip organised for later in the year and also working on various land management initiatives based around creating a ranger program for Spinifex Country.

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• Project Partners• Curtin University• Pila Nguru Aboriginal Corporation

• Contact details• Dr Peter Twigg, Curtin University• Ilkurlka Community• PO Box 1014• via Kalgoorlie WA 6430• (08) 9037-1147• 0418 942 502• twigg@spinifex.org.au

Partners of Ninti One