HSC Geography · People, Patterns and Processes · 7.6

Spatial Patterns of the World's Indigenous Peoples

A cultural spatial pattern — where Indigenous peoples are, why, and why it matters · NESA Syllabus 2022

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised this presentation may contain names or images of people who have died.

Where we're going

By the end you can…

Describe the global distribution of Indigenous peoples & explain why it's uneven
Use the concept of Country
Explain how colonisation reshaped Indigenous spatial patterns
Compare the Australian & Canadian cases
Evaluate the value of Indigenous knowledge for sustainability

7.6.1

Who & where

7.6.1 The global pattern

≈ 476 million people · ≈ 90 countries · 5,000+ groups

Uneven distribution — often in remoter, marginal environments (a legacy of colonisation).

7.6.2

Cultural depth

7.6.2 Continuity & connection

Among the oldest living cultures

65,000+ years

Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander cultures — continuous, through oral tradition, kinship & law.

"Country"

Not just land — an interconnected living whole of land, water, sky, people, stories, law & identity.

People's relationship with place is cultural & spiritual, not only economic.

7.6.3

Colonisation

7.6.3 The reshaping process

Dispossession → assimilation → rights → recognition

Describe impacts accurately — but centre resilience & continuity, not only loss.

7.6.4

Australia & Country

7.6.4 Place study — Australia

Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander peoples

Hundreds of nations · ~250 languages pre-1788

A rich cultural map, not an empty land. Native title now recognises ongoing connection to Country (Mabo 1992; Native Title Act 1993). "Caring for Country" — fire & land management — is increasingly valued.

A cultural spatial pattern persists beneath the modern settlement map.

7.6.5

Case study: Canada

7.6.5 Case study — Canada

First Nations, Métis & Inuit

≈ 1.8 million

(2021 census, ≈5% of Canadians). Inuit across the Arctic north; First Nations & Métis nationwide (reserves + cities).

Live issues

Land & treaty rights · resource/pipeline disputes · reconciliation (Truth & Reconciliation Commission).

Different history & geography to Australia — same themes of dispossession & rights.

7.6.6

Indigenous knowledge

7.6.6 Value for sustainability

Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK)

Understanding of land, water, fire, seasons & species — increasingly valued in conservation & climate adaptation.

Te Awa Tupua — the Whanganui River (NZ, 2017)

Māori relationship recognised in law by granting the river legal personhood — a world-first: nature as a living ancestor with rights, not just a resource.

7.6.7

Rights & the future

7.6.7 Where the pattern is heading

Recognition & self-determination

UNDRIP (2007) — UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Self-determination · land rights · language revitalisation
Closing gaps in health, education & wellbeing; reconciliation

Recognising cultural patterns links social and environmental sustainability.

End of 7.6

Recap

Uneven global distribution · Country · colonisation reshaped the pattern · Australia vs Canada · Indigenous knowledge & sustainability. Next: 7.7 — Spatial Patterns of the World's Languages.