| In an oral tradition, it's not the schoolroom that's the source of learning of Aboriginal people's deep environmental knowledge. It's being on country. Of walking the land over many, many years with parents, kin and elders – learning by seeing, listening, touching and tasting. Stamping the intimate details of that knowledge into a traditional Indigenous person's being is not done via rote learning. Art practice – singing, painting and dancing the waypoints on a songline – these are what provides a map of how to live. More than that, art practice acts as the means of connecting with others and caring for country. How Yolngu people in NE Arnhem Land learn where to find fish or the name and uses of a particular plant is the subject of the 2nd booklet in the Keeping Country series published by em PRESS and written by Gib Wettenhall in collaboration with IPA Manager Dave Preece and interviews with artists among the Yirralka Rangers. Flip e-books for both booklets are available on the HOME page of this em PRESS Publishing website and the website for Yirralka Rangers. |
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