River of Life

Abstract

Since the turn of the millennium, the concept of the Rights of Nature has been discussed as a way to both preserve the environment and protect the rights of indigenous communities. As it turns out, the Rights of Nature more often than not also have the potential to further disadvantage indigenous communities in favour of Western conceptions of the preservation of nature and economic growth. In spite of this dire outlook, indigenous advocacy for the Rights of Nature becomes ever more intense. By examining the efforts of the indigenous communities living alongside Martuwarra Fitzroy River, Western Australia, this paper seeks to both understand the shortcomings of Western legal thought and the way indigenous people address them.

Keywords

• Rights of Nature; Indigenous law; decolonial theory; post-colonial legal systems