'Aboriginal Economics', Gaala Watson (Sustainable Table)

This powerful article explores Indigenous perspectives on economics, wealth, and self-determination in Australia. The article examines both historical context and contemporary challenges while offering alternative frameworks for understanding economic relationships. Key themes include:

1. Historical context:

• Legacy of legislated economic dispossession.
• Systematic exclusion from wealth-building mechanisms and financial rights.
• Ongoing impacts of historical discrimination on current economic conditions.
• Persistence of stereotypes about Indigenous financial capability

2. Different Economic Worldviews:

• Indigenous perspectives on money as a tool rather than a measure of wealth.
• Communal rather than individual approaches to resources.
• Wealth measured through relationships to people, land, and spirit.
• Contrast between "dollar dreaming" and Indigenous values

3. Pathways Forward:

• Need for Aboriginal-led economic solutions based on Indigenous values.
• Economic sovereignty is inseparable from land, community, and spirit.
• Importance of clean air, water, and healthy Country in economic thinking.
• Building systems that balance people, Country, and sustainability

The article concludes with a powerful poem illustrating an alternative vision of economic life based on "goodwill economy" principles.