[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-149063-en":3,"doc-seo-149063-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":4,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":27,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},149063,687207024643,"Rhys","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2",9,"Religion & Spirituality","Recognizing the Martuwarra’s First Law - Right to Life as a Living Ancestral Being","Martuwarra traditional custodians anchor their identity and existence in the Martuwarra (Fitzroy River), whose First Laws are shared across Martuwarra Nations through a common songline that sets out community and individual rights and duties. First Law recognizes the river as the Rainbow Serpent, a living ancestral being from source to sea. The Fitzroy River Declaration (3 Nov 2016) explicitly negotiated both First Law and rights of nature in Australia. The article argues for legal recognition in colonial state laws, by analogy with the Whanganui River, and contends that implementing First Law is fundamental to protecting the river’s right to life.","y into the destruction of 46,000 year old caves at the Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara region of Western Au  \nSubmission 108-Attachment 3  \nTransnational Environmental Law, page 1 of 28 © The Author(s) 2020 . Published by Cambridge University Press  \ndoi:10.1017/S2047102520000163  \nSYMPOSIUM ARTICLE  \nRecognizing the Martuwarra’s First Law  \nRight to Life as a Living Ancestral Being†  \nMartuwarra RiverOfLife,* Anne Poelina,**  Donna Bagnall***  \nand Michelle Lim****  \nAbstract  \nTraditional custodians of the Martuwarra (Fitzroy River) derive their identity and existence from this globally significant river. The First Laws of the Martuwarra are shared by Martuwarra Nations through a common songline, which sets out community and individual rights and duties. First Law recognizes the River as the Rainbow Serpent: a living ancestral being from source to sea. On 3 November 2016, the Fitzroy River Declaration was concluded between Martuwarra Nations. This marked the first time in Australia when both First Law and the rights of nature were recognized explicitly in a negotiated instrument. This article argues for legal recognition within colonial state laws of the Martuwarra as a living ancestral being by close analogy with the case concerning the Whanganui River. We seek to advance the scope of native title water rights in Australia and contend that implementation of First Law is fundamental for the protection of the right to life of the Martuwarra.  \nKeywords: Martuwarra, First Law, Native title, Rights of nature, Indigenous rights, Cultural governance  \n† This contribution is part of a collection of articles growing out of a Research Workshop on ‘Indigenous Water Rights in Comparative Law’, held at the University of Canterbury School of Law, Christchurch (New Zealand), on 7 Dec. 2018, funded by the New Zealand Law Foundation.  \n* Warloongarriy Law, Martuwarra Country.  \n** Nulungu Research Institute, University of Notre Dame Australia, Broome (Australia) .  \n[Email:](Email: majala@wn.com.au)[ majala@wn.com.au](Email: majala@wn.com.au).  \n*** Curtin University and the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) (Australia) .  \nEmail: [donna.bagnall@acf.org.au](donna.bagnall@acf.org.au).  \n**** Adelaide Law School, University of Adelaide (Australia) .  \n[Email:](Email: michelle.lim@adelaide.edu.au)[ michelle.lim@adelaide.edu.au](Email: michelle.lim@adelaide.edu.au).  \nWe acknowledge the equal contribution of all authors to engage in a patient and exploratory, reiterative process of evidence, theory and legal principle-gathering, both domestic and transnational. This research is supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship.  \nWe would like to thank Erin O’Donnell, Ian Perdrisat, and the three reviewers for TEL and our independent reviewers for their helpful comments and feedback.  \nDownloaded from [https://www.cambridge.org/core](https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP)[. IP](https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP) address: [1.126.106.173](1.126.106.173), on 02 Oct 2020 at 06:34:13, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use  \n, available at [https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms](https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms). [https://doi.org/10.1017/S2047102520000163](https://doi.org/10.1017/S2047102520000163)  \ny into the destruction of 46,000 year old caves at the Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara region of Western Au  \nSubmission 108-Attachment 3  \n2 Transnational Environmental Law  \n􀀁􀀃􀀄􀀅􀀆􀀇􀀃 􀀈􀀆 􀀅􀀆􀀉􀀊􀀈􀀋􀀌  \nMy name is Martuwarra.1 Welcome to the River Country – Martuwarra, the sacred River of Life! I pay my respects to the Traditional Custodians of this Country and to Elders past, present, and future. I thank them for their enduring guardianship and our continuing relationship of trust and respect. I welcome you all to Country, to explore, enjoy, and immerse yourself in this sacred and precious place as we go on a special journey through River Country.  \nWhen the Europeans came to me they called me by another name, Fitzroy River","cbCaikEWF1CQ08Zd","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaikEWF1CQ08Zd","pdf",388764,1,28,"English","en",105,"# Abstract\n## First Laws and songlines\n## Rights of nature and the Fitzroy River Declaration\n## Legal recognition and analogy with other river cases\n## Implementation for protecting the right to life","[{\"question\":\"What is the Martuwarra’s First Law, and how is it shared among Martuwarra Nations?\",\"answer\":\"The Martuwarra’s First Laws are shared through a common songline that lays out community and individual rights and duties.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the First Law describe the Martuwarra River?\",\"answer\":\"First Law recognizes the river as the Rainbow Serpent, a living ancestral being from source to sea.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the article argue for legal recognition of the Martuwarra within colonial state laws?\",\"answer\":\"It argues that legal recognition, by close analogy with the Whanganui River case, is necessary to advance native title water rights and to protect the Martuwarra’s right to life.\"}]","Recognizing the Martuwarra’s First Law - Right to Life as a Living Ancestral Being | PDF",1787790907,71,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":86,"head_meta":88,"extra_data":90,"updated_unix":28},"recognizing-the-martuwarras-first-law-right-to-life-as-a-living-ancestral-being","",{"@graph":36,"@context":85},[37,54,68],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,48,51],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":47},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":50},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/religion-spirituality/",3,{"item":52,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":53},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/recognizing-the-martuwarras-first-law-right-to-life-as-a-living-ancestral-being/149063/",4,{"url":52,"name":13,"@type":55,"author":56,"headline":13,"publisher":58,"fileFormat":61,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":62,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":61,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":57},"Person",{"url":41,"name":59,"@type":60},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-08-27",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":4},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71,77,81],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"What is the Martuwarra’s First Law, and how is it shared among Martuwarra Nations?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"The Martuwarra’s First Laws are shared through a common songline that lays out community and individual rights and duties.","Answer",{"name":78,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":79},"How does the First Law describe the Martuwarra River?",{"text":80,"@type":76},"First Law recognizes the river as the Rainbow Serpent, a living ancestral being from source to sea.",{"name":82,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":83},"Why does the article argue for legal recognition of the Martuwarra within colonial state laws?",{"text":84,"@type":76},"It argues that legal recognition, by close analogy with the Whanganui River case, is necessary to advance native title water rights and to protect the Martuwarra’s right to life.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":52,"og:type":87,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":59,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":89,"canonical":52},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":24},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":92},[93,97,101,105,110,115,120,125,128,131,135],{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":94,"show_sort_weight":95,"slug":96},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":47,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":53,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":112,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":117,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":119},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":121,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":122,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":124},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":127},20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":126,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":130},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":132,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":133,"show_sort_weight":132,"slug":134},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":136,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":137,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":138},19,"General","general"]