‘Everything is Country’: these 4 projects blend First Nations knowledge and science to rewrite our understanding of the past

By Sally Hurst, Adjunct Fellow - Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University
Marissa J. Betts, Lecturer in Earth Science, University of New England
Steve Ahoy, Anaiwan Elder and Aboriginal Cultural and Heritage Advisor, University of New England

A lot of things scientists study are part of Country – the lands, waters and skies to which First Nations peoples are connected. In Australia, there has to date been little respect for the significance or value of cultural knowledge in scientific practice.

Here is how one of us (Steve Ahoy, Anaiwan Elder and cultural knowledge holder) puts his perspective:

Everything is Country. To Aboriginal people, fossils are artefacts. We don’t see or distinguish between our artefacts and a fossil. Our artefacts come from Mother Earth; a fossil comes from Mother Earth. I…

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© The Conversation - Sunday, December 1^st 2024

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