From Earth Ethics Australia Vol.1 (AELA, 2019), pp.1-6. Mary Graham is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Queensland and a member of the Kombumerri Peoples. There are two basic precepts of Aboriginal law: the land is the source of the law, and you are not alone. In Aboriginal law, the land is a sacred entity, not property or real estate; it is the great mother of all humanity and is the source of life and law. The two most important kinds of relationship in life are, firstly, those between land and people and, secondly, those amongst people themselves, the second always being contingent upon the first. There are four essential attributes to the relationist ethos: a custodial ethic, locality, autonomy and balance. Ethics only come from having empathy and from looking after something outside ourselves. If there were an Aboriginal equivalent to Descartes' 'I think, therefore I am', it would be: 'I am located, therefore I am.'
A Relationist Ethos: Aboriginal Law and Ethics
From Earth Ethics Australia Vol.1 (AELA, 2019), pp.1-6. Mary Graham is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Queensland and a member of the Kombumerri Peoples. There are two basic precepts of Aboriginal law: the land is the source of the law, and you are not alone. In Aboriginal law, the land is a sacred entity, not property or real estate; it is the great mother of all humanity and is the source of life and law. The two most important kinds of relationship in life are, firstly, those between land and people and, secondly, those amongst people themselves, the second always being contingent upon the first. There are four essential attributes to the relationist ethos: a custodial ethic, locality, autonomy and balance. Ethics only come from having empathy and from looking after something outside ourselves. If there were an Aboriginal equivalent to Descartes' 'I think, therefore I am', it would be: 'I am located, therefore I am.'
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