Queensland South Native Title Services
www.qsnts.com.au
Visualising Contemporary Land Use
Mapping in Native Title
Mapping in Native Title doesn’t have to be just
marking sacred sites or drawing boundaries.
Data visualisation can bring to light new
complexities or quickly simplify a conceptual
jumble.
Think creatively!
Queensland South Native Title Services
www.qsnts.com.au
Traditional Land Use and Occupancy
In the QSNTS area there is limited continuing knowledge of
sacred sites useful for Native Title claims.
However, mapping contemporary use of land can reveal a
detailed picture of life lived on country – the contemporary
exercise of traditional practices and the core of Native Title
evidence.
Queensland South Native Title Services
www.qsnts.com.au
Why GIS?
GIS is a simple tool that allows you to:
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Visualise
Compare
Interpret
Analyse
Queensland South Native Title Services
www.qsnts.com.au
Visualise What?
As something always happens somewhere most
data sets can be represented visually.
As Native Title is fundamentally a question of
relationships to land, mapping the somethings of
life past and present in the somewhere of country
can be very useful.
Queensland South Native Title Services
www.qsnts.com.au
Visualise What?
Maps can be used to show continuing associations with country through visualising:
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Hunting and fishing sites
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Foraging and harvest sites
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Camp sites
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Caring for country (areas of weed control, feral animal eradication, burning off)
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Bush medicine sites
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Animal and human trails
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Important animal sites (nests, hatcheries, dens, protected areas)
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Vegetation (weeds, native vegetation, different varieties)
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Bio-regions (dry/wet sclerophyll, Mitchell grass downs etc.)
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Hydrological features (drainages, inter-tidal zones, seasonal watercourses/wetlands)
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Demographics
As well as:
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Story or sacred sites
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Traditional boundaries or contemporary boundaries
Queensland South Native Title Services
www.qsnts.com.au
Queensland South Native Title Services
www.qsnts.com.au
Queensland South Native Title Services
www.qsnts.com.au
Queensland South Native Title Services
www.qsnts.com.au
Queensland South Native Title Services
www.qsnts.com.au
Queensland South Native Title Services
www.qsnts.com.au
Visualise What?
All of these visualisations help to build a clear and
detailed picture of contemporary use of the claim
area and surrounds.
Strengths and weaknesses can become abundantly
clear – some types of usage are favoured, some
regions of the claim appear unvisited.
Queensland South Native Title Services
www.qsnts.com.au
Making Comparisons
Once you have data mapped, GIS layers can be used to
compare quickly and easily and to interrogate data.
Make use of existing data sets from other sources
(GeoSciences Australia, www.ga.gov.au; Google Map
Engine) – including the research of colleagues in differing
disciplines (Geography, Hydrology, Ecology, Archaeology
etc.) or contact rangers working in and around the claim.
Don’t be afraid to take an interdisciplinary approach to data
comparisons.
Queensland South Native Title Services
www.qsnts.com.au
Making Comparisons
Other possibilities for comparisons could include:
• Demographics of use and occupancy – which generations are
accessing country? Where? When? For what purposes?
• Seasonal use – what types of use occur in different seasons?
• Use and occupancy spread – which areas are most visited?
• How do the spread of activities (such as hunting) compare with:
hydrological features of the landscape? Topography? Bioregions? Animal and human trails?
• How have vegetation types (such as weeds) increased or
decreased over time? Is this related to caring for country
activities?
Queensland South Native Title Services
www.qsnts.com.au
Queensland South Native Title Services
www.qsnts.com.au
Interpreting data
Things are not always as they may first appear. Correlation does not equal
causation.
Areas of “empty” usage on the claim area may simply reflect harsh or generally
inaccessible terrain, or perhaps an infestation of invasive weeds.
A conglomeration of sites may not necessarily reflect a diversity of uses; just as a
scarcity of sites may not necessarily imply a lack of detailed knowledge.
Visualisations of data may not always reflect accurately the actual use and access
of the claim group – known sites are different from accessed sites.
Queensland South Native Title Services
www.qsnts.com.au
Interpreting data
Access expert information where required to assist in interpreting
data (www.ga.gov.au).
There are useful field guides published by professional botanists,
ecologists, resource managers and developers
(http://www.santos.com/library/Santos_Qld_Field_Guide.pdf).
Contact your Parks and Wildlife authorities or State and Federal
Environmental Department websites (www.environment.gov.au)
Queensland South Native Title Services
www.qsnts.com.au
Analysis
What does the visual picture help illustrate about continuity? Discontinuity? Change and adaptation?
It’s important to bear in mind that maps are only as good or bad as
the data used to generate them.
Maps can only help to interpret, elaborate and illustrate features
already present in the data; they are no substitute for a good
connection report.
BUT they can greatly assist the arguments, analysis and overall
drive of a connection report.
Queensland South Native Title Services
www.qsnts.com.au
Other considerations
Before beginning a project make sure you have a clear goal and
project design as well as a long-term plan and strategy for how the
maps will, might or could be used by yourself and others.
This is critical for sourcing and formatting your data sets and most
importantly – for designing and maintaining your database.
It is of the utmost importance to have a logical, accurate and well
maintained database that you can expand in the future if necessary
to continue to add further categories to your data sets.
Developing a good plan and strategy will ensure the longevity, scope
and overall usefulness of your GIS project.
Queensland South Native Title Services
www.qsnts.com.au
Sources and resources
Tobias, T. (2000). Chief Kerry’s Moose: a guidebook to land use and occupancy
mapping research design and data collection. Union of BC Indian Chiefs and Ecotrust
Canada. (http://www.ubcic.bc.ca/Resources/tus.htm#axzz2KadxHVNA)
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Tobias, T. (2010). Living Proof: The Essential Data-Collection Guide for
Indigenous Use-and-Occupancy Map Surveys. Ecotrust Canada.
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Brody, H. (1997). Maps and Dreams: Indians and the British Columbia Frontier.
Waveland Press.
Geosciences Australia (www.ga.gov.au)
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Santos field guide to Trees and Shrubs of Eastern QLD Gasfields
(http://www.santos.com/library/Santos_Qld_Field_Guide.pdf)
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http://livingatlas.org/ - Nuu-Chah-Nulth GIS project, Clayoquot Sound – Vancouver
Island.
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http://www.nativemaps.org/ - mapping resources, news and forums for practitioners
working with Aboriginal peoples.
Queensland South Native Title Services
www.qsnts.com.au