Aboriginal people were sophisticated farmers There is “strong evidence” of “sophisticated farming and agriculture practices”. Early explorers watched women harvesting yams, onions, and cultivating the land, creating reserves of flour and grain.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have traditionally used their natural environment to make musical instruments, and they continue to make things like clap sticks, didgeridoos and drums this way.

For over 50,000 years, Australia’s Indigenous community cared for country by using land management that worked with the environment. Using traditional burning, fishing traps, and sowing and storing plants, they were able to create a system that was sustainable and supplied them with the food they needed.

Bill Gammage has been awarded the Prime Minister’s Prize for Australian History for his work The Biggest Estate on Earth: How Aborigines Made Australia. Based on extensive research, he sets out the case that Aboriginal people managed the land with fire.

Bill Gammage has discovered this was because Aboriginal people managed the land in a far more systematic and scientific fashion than we have ever realised. Once Aboriginal people were no longer able to tend their country, it became overgrown and vulnerable to the hugely damaging bushfires we now experience.

Aboriginal people worked hard to make plants and animals abundant, convenient and predictable. By distributing plants and associating them in mosaics, then using these to lure and locate animals, Aborigines made Australia as it was in 1788, when Europeans arrived.

Could it change the world? This remarkable book is about everything from echidnas to evolution, cosmology to cooking, sex and science and spirits to Schrodinger’s cat. Tyson Yunkaporta looks at global systems from an Indigenous perspective. Most of all it’s about Indigenous thinking, and how it can save the world.

1 originating or occurring naturally (in a country, region, etc. ); native. 2 innate (to); inherent (in) (C17: from Latin indigenus, from indigena indigene, from indi- in + gignere to beget) ♦ indigenously adv.

“Tyson Yunkaporta is one of this country’s finest Aboriginal scholars. He has developed a unique understanding of the many issues that impact on the possibilities of Aboriginal students to achieve success at school.

The framework is expressed as eight interconnected pedagogies involving narrative-driven learning, visualised learning plans, hands-on/reflective techniques, use of symbols/metaphors, land-based learning, indirect/synergistic logic, modelled/scaffolded genre mastery, and connectedness to community.

Use story telling with visual cues in your teaching to support Aboriginal students learn better, rather than having them read and process materials directly.

21st century pedagogy aims to develop the skills and knowledge students need to succeed in work, life and citizenship. • 21st century skills can be applied in all subject areas, and in all educational, career, and civic settings throughout a student’s life.

Yarning is an informal conversation that is culturally friendly and recognised by Aboriginal people as meaning to talk about something, someone or provide and receive information. Yarning Circles are designed to allow all students to have their say in a safe space without judgement.

Unna: Popular among a number of Aboriginal-language groups, “unna” means “isn’t it?” For example, “That’s your deadly car, unna?”

The use of a yarning circle (or dialogue circle) is an important process within Aboriginal culture and Torres Strait Islander culture.

A yarning circle is a harmonious, creative and collaborative way of communicating to: encourage responsible, respectful and honest interactions between participants, building trusting relationships. promote student–student interactions and student–school–community connectedness. enrich learning experiences for students …

Eight Aboriginal ways of learning story sharing, i.e. narrative-driven learning. learning maps, i.e. visualised learning processes. non-verbal, i.e. hands-on/reflective techniques. symbols & images, i.e. use of metaphors and symbols.

Yarning sticks provide a space for mob to come together and be present, pass on knowledge, listen and feel safe. To watch the video with captions, click the CC button in the video toolbar.

The large size Yarning Circle recycled plastic mat is durable, easy to clean, soft and comfortable to sit on or walk on. Use it with small and large groups, including family gatherings and Scout camping trips.

The Yarning Circle® story Yarning Circle® Creator, Lee Townsend, is an Aboriginal woman born and raised in Blacktown, NSW. During her role with the Commonwealth Employment Services she was involved with young people looking for work.