Caring for Ngarrindjeri country: collaborative research, community development and social justice

Abstract

On 23 March 2007 at Goolwa near the mouth of the Murray River in South Australia, the Ngarrindjeri Nation launched the Ngarrindjeri Nation Yarluwar-Ruwe Plan: Caring for Ngarrindjeri Sea Country and Culture (the ‘NNYR Plan’). The NNYR Plan is the first Indigenous nation plan developed in South Australia and marks a major change in the way that the Ngarrindjeri leadership proposes to do business with non-Indigenous interests on Ngarrindjeri country. The NNYR Plan provides a strong statement of Ngarrindjeri rights, identity, authority and responsibility, but it is also a conciliatory document charting a vision for future, just collaborations between Ngarrindjeri and non-Indigenous institutions, governments, business and individuals.