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29 Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Border Theory and Justice 339
by sporadic fighting or treaties, and in the worst instances, the systematic genocide or
“clearing” of indigenous populations from the most desirable settlement sites
around Australia’s Southern and eastern seaboards. Protectorates were gradually
established to “civilise” and “Christianise,” which in truth left most indigenous
people officially classified as “native flora and fauna.” From 1869 to 1969, Aboriginal
children, particularly “half-caste” children, were removed from their mothers and
communities and placed in the care of the state with the ultimate hope of “breeding
out” black blood lines. The effects for these children, known as the “stolen genera-
tions,” continue into the present (Read 1981). In 1969, Aborigines finally won the
right to be counted in the census of the Australia (human, as opposed to animal
and plant!) population, which roughly coincided with their obtention of an unquali-
fied right to vote. And in 1992, the High Court of Australia reversed the doctrine
of terra nullius (meaning land belonging to no-one) and recognised “native title,”
giving rights to Aboriginal peoples as the traditional land owners of Australia
(Connor 2005).
Despite these recent attempts at recognition, Borrows (2005 p. 2) argues that “(i)
ndigenous peoples, by and large, are not sharing the benefits of colonisation.” The
2005–2007 Australian Bureau of Statistics figures suggests that while Aborigines
constitute only 2.6% of Australia’s total population, an indigenous person is 11
times more likely to be in prison, and twice as likely to be a victim of violent crime.
Only 39% of Indigenous Australians remain in school until Year 12, compared to
75% of non-indigenous people. A mere 4% of Indigenous Australians hold a bach-
elor’s degree or higher. In response, the Australian government has formulated the
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Policy (AEP) to increase
educational participation with mixed success. Chronic unemployment, alcoholism
and substance abuse are all systemic in some communities, and overall, life expec-
tancy of the average Aboriginal male is around 12 years less than the rest of the
community’s. A bleak picture indeed! The landmark formal apology made by
the Australian Parliament to all Indigenous Peoples on February 13, 2008 saw the
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd express the hope of “embrac(ing) the possibility of new
solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed.” In view of previous
administrations’ refusal to apologise for past wrongs against Aborigines, it signalled
for many, the opportunity for a real start towards reconciliation at last.
This chapter draws together the three strands outlined here of borders and
boundaries, TEK and story lines from Australian Aborigines. Specifically, it responds
to a call to explore new solutions to enduring problems of how to accord epistemo-
logical and other forms of justice to indigenous peoples and non-western scientific
knowledges. We commence with a discussion of newer and more complex theori-
sations of borders and border spaces/places drawn largely from the field of cul-
tural studies. More complicated ideas about borders better reflect the intricate
interconnections of diversity within contemporaneity, and are hence, necessary to
address science education’s theoretical shortcomings that have seen borders typi-
cally represented until now as unproblematic lines between cultures and knowledge
that need to be crossed. Some of this thinking has been commenced elsewhere (see
Carter in press) but much remains to be done. We move on to apply these ideas