Expressions of Indigenous rights and self-determination from the ground up: A Yawuru example

While recognition is one way self-determination for indigenous peoples can be enacted, the processes and models of recognition are fraught and complicated (Coulthard 2014). Additionally, the act and process of recognition for indigenous peoples tends to occur within existing dominant Western frameworks and is imbued in power relations; therefore, the extent to which recognition may effectively address the issues of structural injustice remains questionable (Fraser & Honneth 2003, Andersen 2014, Coulthard 2014). One of the challenges in enabling self-determination for Australia’s Indigenous peoples stems from the increasing influence of neoliberalism in Indigenous policy (Altman 2007, Humpage 2008, Howard-Wagner 2010).