SHARK BAY

The Shark Bay area is significant to Aboriginal people because of their long history of use and occupation, and because they have a cultural obligation to understand and care for the area.

 

Some Aboriginal groups have unique ties to land and are recognised by Australia’s Native Title law. Native title is a form of land title, and indigenous people can apply to the courts to have their native title determined. There are three active native title claims in Shark Bay.

 

The Aboriginal groups surrounding Shark Bay have used the environment around them to survive, includng fishing and the growing of crops. Although this was the only source of food they had to survive on, the Aboriginal peoples looked out for the safelty of their surrounding environment and tried to keep their work as sustainable as possible. Some ways that they managed to do this would be to only catch enough fish for a sufficient feed, and to fertalise and help regenerate growth in the soil once crops had been grown.