Strathernograms of Joint Management in Kakadu National Park
Chris Haynes, Charles Darwin University, Darwin
In his last, posthumously published, book Alfred Gell devoted a long chapter to the reworking of Marilyn Strathern’s `The Gender of the Gift’. The chapter, ‘Strathernograms’, included a brief account of his discussion with Strathern about whether or not diagrams assist understanding of dense and difficult analyses in anthropology, and his decision to use them. In this paper I use such diagrams to illustrate how the cultural identity of the two partners of joint management in Kakadu, the traditional Aboriginal owners and the representatives of the state, has been shaped over the three decades of the park’s life. Following Sherry Ortner’s version of practice theory, I analyse how practice, structure, actors and history influence the co-production of the park’s cultures through this period. These are also the theoretical framings around which I construct the main argument of my PhD thesis – that a once flourishing relationship between the state (as represented by ministers, senior officials and ‘on-ground’ staff) and the traditional owners, in which each group romanced the other, has changed into one of struggle for both groups.
