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of collective rather than individual ownership. Ultimately, these are differences in values,
and how and where these values are located.
(Strang 1997: 275)
Strang provides some comprehensive descriptions of people, places, histories, and concepts
of considerable importance to the work described here. Yet as should already be clear, this
project does not emphasise comparative environmental values and differences. Rather it is
focused on the recovery of ecological knowledge and environmental history about a
particular place, and on the ongoing management of that place. It therefore presumes (and
demonstrates) that both groups of people have knowledge of Oriners based not just on
presence there over several decades, but also on joint involvement in pastoral activities. To
adopt the language of Strang‟s title, in some respects it is a project focused on „common
ground‟, at least at the level of empirical observations of landscape, key fauna, major
processes, and histories of variability and change. As Strang herself notes, pastoralists show
respect for Indigenous knowledge in this area:
Aboriginal bush lore tends to be the only aspect of Aboriginal culture that is respected, and
the only knowledge the graziers are prepared to learn from Aboriginal people.
(Strang 1997: 194)
However she also observes that pastoralists evaluate the landscape differently from
Indigenous people:
Information about the natural resources is evaluated through the frame of the cattle
endeavour: grass and water resources according to their potential to sustain cattle and
horses; the vegetation for shade, grazing and unimpeded mustering; the soil as it supports
vegetation and dries out after the floods. Other practical knowledge about the environment
is highly valued- being able to predict rain; to judge the right time for burning grass; to know
the flood patterns- these sorts of things are discussed and debated solemnly by the
managers and head stockmen.
(Strang 1997: 195)
However Strang immediately notes that pastoralists with long term ties to the area can
constitute exceptions in a range of ways, having considerable knowledge of the bush,
extended residence, and a willingness to work alongside Indigenous people. She specifically
names David Hughes and the Finches as examples of this. She also reports comments by
Colin Hughes which demonstrate affective and aesthetic values:
The more hard work you put into it, the more you appreciate it...It‟s a good little spot here:
you got the river not far away, clean water, all you need...You go in [to town] for a week at
a time, and that‟s about it, that‟s enough. I‟d miss the bush life, the quiet life...it‟s a quieter
life and nobody to bustle you around all day (Colin Hughes 1992)
(Strang 2005)
Strang also notes that the Hughes family also have generations of attachment to Indigenous
people, encouraging both a respect for bush lore and a more affective concern for the
surrounding country:
People that own the land, and that have been on the land a long time, they‟ve got a very
strong attachment to it, just the same as the Aboriginals. And you can get other sort of
people that just buy it and do a few things to it and sell it – flog few cattle off it...just to
make a quid out of it. The genuine graziers...they look after it so that they can get the
benefits out of it for years to come (Colin Hughes 1992).
What I worked for, as far as getting a dividend of any sort of dollars that you would be able
to invest anywhere else, it‟ll probably never happen in my lifetime...you‟ve just got to work,
Working Knowledge at Oriners Station, Cape York
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