This story is edited by Mununjali author Ellen van Neerven for SBS Voices and is part of a NAIDOC Week essay series inspired by the 2021 theme 'Heal Country’, elevating the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers.
'How you gonna heal a country that's broken?' was asked at a live music gig I witnessed, by proud Barkindji rap artist Barkaa, in her song titled 'Let Them Know Something'. It stays with me because it is a big question, and I can understand the despair that young people are born into, being confronted with sick lands, and waterways, and feeling the helpless dread.
What's now known as the nation state of “Australia” was manifested on Aboriginal land, yet Aboriginal people now have little access to be able to repair that. So in this modern society we are all implicated in climate change now, no matter how much damage we have done ourselves. I am praying that we can heal country though, through ancient practices such as strategic fire management and tree planting. I'm hoping we can all devote the next 20 years of our lives to revitalising country, I've heard that's how long it takes, generally. I think it is possible, it has to be.
One of the first places I went overseas was Thailand. It was a cheap flight because they were trying different ways to recover from a major financial crisis. Food prices for Thai citizens had increased by up to 80 per cent, and I distinctly remember the command of media by the Thai leadership at the time, because they were giving everyday people practical advice. They said to devote the use of two thirds of any yard space, or available land, to growing their own food. That was over 20 years ago... At the time I was thinking that kind of useful advice would never be offered by so-called leaders in Australia, and it still hasn't happened. We are in a Climate Crisis now, and if we expect governments in Australia to solve the problem for us, then we are simply looking for love in all the wrong places.
Change will only happen in our backyard, or in places where we can do guerilla planting, but we need to do our research to ensure we are replacing species endemic to specific places, and also helping to rid or consume relevant weeds.
Change will only happen in our backyard, or in places where we can do guerilla planting, but we need to do our research to ensure we are replacing species endemic to specific places, and also helping to rid or consume relevant weeds. Planting native riparian vegetation on river banks will also work to help prevent erosion, which is useful during flood times. Even if we don't have much access to land and need to plant native plants in pots, then at least we will be helping bees on their travels to their next flower source. Every garden is an opportunity for biodiversity.
After hundreds of years of land clearing, some of the areas on my Traditional homelands in Migunberri Country, in the area now called the “Scenic Rim”, get so devastated by drought and fire that the farmers are now forced to hand-water plants and animals. At other times there's flooding. It's distressing, but as a custodian for that place I am determined to devote my next decades to repair. Getting some land handed back within the Yugambeh Scenic Rim area in South East Queensland would help the cause, for a place to base a seed network, and nursery, and also serve as the grounds for a Tree Planting festival, camping on country. We have called this process Land Rights in Australia for a long time, but the #LandBack movement is another successful campaign originating online for North America, that has also recently seen positive outcomes for Black and White interests alike in Australia. If you have land you are not using properly, then why not return it so Blackfellas can get busy healing country, Indigenously? They say that the world’s best fire management system is in Australia, lets use it. Our strategy as a nation needs to be led by sovereign Traditional Owners and custodians, using old knowledge to help mitigate negative impacts, contributing to the wellbeing of all Australians.
Tree planting is not new, Aboriginal people have been doing this for a long time - carrying, spreading, trading and gifting native plants by hand for thousands of years.
This kind of practice helps caring for country now, while also redressing some of the damage done from the height of colonisation, but it is also future-proofing at the same time. Tree planting is not new, Aboriginal people have been doing this for a long time - carrying, spreading, trading and gifting native plants by hand for thousands of years. Bundjalung people of the east coast of Australia have been doing all of this and hand planting traditionally. One example is the Black Bean Tree, which is valuable food, originating from one 'Mother Seed' and is found planted inland, far away from the carry way of rivers, along the peaks of mountains in the Great Dividing Range. The Native Black Bean Tree is known as boogem in Bundjalung, which is also a word used for 'love', that's how significant they are. We all need to think of trees as people too.
We all need to get back into hands on resource management, knowledge exchange and fostering plants for food sovereignty and ceremonial use. Maintaining the cultural practice of a healthy human and plant interface, can help ensure the microbiome is balanced in climate sensitive soil ecosystems, and likewise in our own gut microbiome or DNA. We have a lot to learn from our forests, but if you think this doesn't apply to you personally, then try to contemplate the worst that can possibly happen, and then multiply that. How else are we going to gain access to sustainable foods and clean water at breaking point?
Jenny Fraser was born in Far North Queensland and her old people originally hailed from Yugambeh Country in the Gold Coast Hinterland on the South East Queensland/Northern New South Wales border. You can find Jenny on Instagram at @dot_ayu
The illustration for this piece is by Tori-Jay Mordey, an established Indigenous Australian illustrator and artist based in Brisbane. Growing up she openly shared both her Torres Strait Islander and English heritage, which is often reflected in her contemporary Indigenous art practice - producing work based around her family and siblings as a way of understanding herself, her appearance and racial identity.
National NAIDOC Week (4 – 11 July 2021) celebrates the history, cultures and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Join SBS and NITV for a full slate of , and follow NITV on and to be part of the conversation. For more information about NAIDOC Week or this year’s theme, head to the .
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