First Nations of the region
Please note all content on this page is in negotiation.
Australia’s First Nations (also known as Traditional Custodians or Traditional Owners) have holistically managed Australia and its waterways for countless generations.
First Nations in the area covered by today’s CQSS2030 region are represented by registered Cultural Heritage Bodies/Parties, Native Title Applicants, and Native Title Prescribed Body Corporates. Some individuals and groups prefer to be acknowledged as First Nations, while others prefer Traditional Custodians or Traditional Owners (First Nations is used throughout the CQSS2030, however it is always polite to check with individuals and groups you speak with).
Access to country still presents challenges to several First Nations who need access to their lands to care for Country. Currently, there are 16 First Nations Groups recognised by either State or Federal legislation (you can learn more about First Nations’ cultural heritage and Native Title by clicking the buttons below).
All sixteen First Nations were invited to participate in consultations about the CQSS2030 in March 2021. Consultation on natural resource management to date was expressed as long overdue but participants were willing to exercise trust and build relationships to ensure their concerns, interests and recommendations were better integrated in current and future natural resource planning and management. A key difference between western and First Nation’s approaches to planning and management is the line drawn between culture and nature. For First Nations, there is no division; the whole landscape is cultural, and people and Country are inseparable from one another.
Our cultural, spiritual and traditional connections to Country define us as Bidjara People.
We believe that the whole landscape should be considered a cultural site as Kanolu People and Country
cannot, and should not, be treated as separate from one another. All species have significance to us, and all have a relationship within the ecology on Kanolu Country.
We are connected to Country and have traditional rights and interests to all Wadja land and waters through our traditional law and customs, and built through countless generations living in intimate connection with Country.