Aboriginal people have a different worldview or relationship to Country compared with the Western approach to land ownership.
Aboriginal people put Country at the centre. They belong to or have always been part of Country and return to Country and their ancestors. Everything, including people, the skies, waterways and land, are interconnected.
Caring for Country is a cultural right and spiritual obligation that is central to Aboriginal wellbeing. It is long term, with cultural management practices often aimed at producing benefits more than 7 generations into the future to ensure Country and culture is healthy and resilient.
A Western worldview typically puts humans at the centre where land is owned and people have rights and control over plants and animals.
Understanding Country
Aboriginal people read land, water and sky Country like a book.
They understand complex relationships and natural processes and use this knowledge to ensure ecological systems stay in balance.
Maintaining the health of Country allows people to live in harmony with Country. Aboriginal people care for Country knowing that Country will take care of the people that live in it.
Aboriginal Elders are knowledge holders. Aboriginal people listen to Elders as they play an essential part in ensuring Country is cared for through protection and management.
This deep cultural knowledge and adaptability has enabled Aboriginal people to be resilient to major geological changes, such as the Ice Age 20,000 years ago when climatic conditions and sea level changes flooded Parramatta River valley transforming into the estuary we now know as Sydney Harbour.
Reading the night sky
Aboriginal people have rich astronomical traditions. Their songs and stories show that Aboriginal Australians sought the understand the Universe in a similar way to modern science. This knowledge of the sky was used to construct calendars, songlines and other navigational tools, which enabled them to navigate across the country, trading artefacts and sacred stories. For example, the position of the Sun was used for time, and the stars were used for navigation.
Seasonal calendars were used to predict when:
- to harvest certain resources
- to hold ceremony
- water holes would dry up.
Seasons on Country
Aboriginal seasonal calendars have 6 to 8 different seasons for different Country.
Cultural land and water management
Cultural land management integrates the sustainable management and use of natural resources with the protection of cultural heritage.
It uses a range of traditional land and water management practices to maintain a balance within the landscape and ensure Country is healthy.
Healthy waterways and seas
Water is culturally significant for Aboriginal people. Rivers provide drinking water, food and recreation.
Aboriginal people created and maintained various forms of water infrastructure in inland rivers and creeks for fishing. For example, dams and dykes made from wood and stone were used to trap fish, and also slowed the flow of water, removing silt to make the water drinkable.
Traditional structures made for catching fish and other aquatic species. Constructed using natural materials, the design takes advantage of the natural flow of water to guide fish into a trap or weir.
Learn about one of the oldest human-made structures in the world, Brewarrina fish traps or Baiame's Ngunnhu.
Cultural fishing practices handed down orally through the generations include cultural rules about fishing that form the basis of sustainable fishing practices. These rules are widespread:
- don’t take more than you need, or don’t overfish
- don’t take undersized or pregnant fish.
When fish are allowed to breed and grow, their populations are sustainable and can sustain a community when taken at the right time.
Land management
For thousands of years, Aboriginal people have actively managed biodiverse landscapes for the health, productivity and cultural values of Country.
This knowledge of the land and its management has been passed down through the generations and is often referred to as traditional ecological knowledge.
Also called fire stick burning, this traditional cultural land management practice involves deliberately setting ‘cool fires’ to clear the underbrush in a particular landscape to:
- reduce fuel loads
- enhance the health of plants and animals and unlike hot hazard reduction burns, supports biodiversity because animals, including insects, have enough time to escape
- help protect and regenerate native vegetation – young trees can survive and seeds remain intact for regrowth
- avoid use of chemicals – weeds are more susceptible to fire and can be removed encouraging native plants to regenerate.
Cultural burns must be authorised and led by the Traditional Owners (or those who have been granted the rights to) and conducted at the appropriate time to increase the health of Country.
Bringing cultural fire back and saving carbon
Find out about the benefits of fire stick farming and how a partnership between the Aboriginal Carbon Foundation and the City of Sydney is helping reduce carbon emissions in this article about Aboriginal fire stick farming: close-to-home carbon offsetting.
Aboriginal people act as caretakers or stewards of Country and are responsible for protect and manage culturally significant sites, such as rock art, burial grounds, and places of ceremony.
Always on Country
Whether we’re in the city, on the sea or in the bush – wherever we are we’re always on Country.
Support care for Country
Caring for Country is a practice and responsibility that can only be undertaken by Aboriginal people.
Supporting Aboriginal custodianship and cultural management of Country will increase the health and resilience of the land and waterways to benefit us all.
You can support Aboriginal groups and businesses that are caring for Country. For example, by using Aboriginal-owned landscape companies and plant nurseries to help connect your garden and outdoor spaces to Country.
Search for verified Indigenous businesses in Australia on Supply Nation’s database.
Respect Country
- Think about your relationship to nature. Recognise that you are always on Country and appreciate all the life around you that you are part of. Develop a deeper connection with Country.
- Don’t take more than you need from the land and sea. Avoid picking native plants that are food and medicine. Give back by protecting and creating more habitat for native biodiversity.
- Help sea Country by keeping coastlines, waterways clean and free of rubbish.
- Visit Aboriginal-owned plant nurseries or local council nurseries to learn about plants and animals endemic to your place, bush tucker and what you can do to bring more native plants and animals to your place.
- Volunteer to help support the health of Country. Find out more about looking after injured wildlife, getting rid of invasive weeds and planting more habitat in and around Sydney on our native biodiversity webpage.
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River fish traps traditionally used to catch fish to feed people in a sustainable way -
Bush regeneration of threatened species where people have been able to support caring for Country practices -
Aboriginal people guiding cultural fire management of the land
Terms
Aboriginal
The term Aboriginal acknowledges Indigenous, First Nations and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Lore
Aboriginal Lore is cultural knowledge passed from generation to generation.
It describes customs, roles and responsibilities for all aspects of life including protocols and ceremony.