AustLit

'Take a walk with Uncle Kuu in The Trees, a picture book about caring for Country and respect for Indigenous knowledge.

'Looking after the trees is important for keeping Country happy and healthy. First Nations People have cared for the trees on Country for thousands of years. In return, the trees look after the people and provide them with gifts of seeds, flowers, wood and more. This creates the balance between giving and taking from the land.

'Featuring stunning artwork by Sandra Steffensen, The Trees is a powerful and timely story to help future generations manage our landscapes and ensure that they thrive. At the back of the book, you will find lyrics to a song written by author Victor Steffensen with the title, ‘We are the Trees’, and a QR code to watch the song's YouTube video.

'This book is the follow-up to Victor Steffensen’s Looking after Country with Fire, which explains Aboriginal burning practices for children.' (Publication summary)

'Mother Nature has a language. If we listen, and read the signs in the land, we can understand it.

'For thousands of years, First Nations people have listened and responded to the land and made friends with fire, using this knowledge to encourage plants and seeds to flourish, and creating beautiful places for both animals and people to live. Join Uncle Kuu as he takes us out on Country and explains cultural burning. Featuring stunning artwork by Sandra Steffensen, this is a powerful and timely story of understanding Australia’s ecosystems through Indigenous fire management, and a respectful way forward for future generations to help manage our landscapes.' (Publication summary)

'With the proliferation of global information and communications technologies (ICT), the concept of community no longer has geographical limitations. Yet, from ecological and social perspectives, connecting people and communities to their immediate environment is now more urgent than ever. In this paper we show how an Indigenous led initiative reaches across geographical and cultural gulfs by using digital media in ways that are profoundly embedded in the values associated with specific places. We refer to a grass-roots Indigenous created and led organization that with support from numerous partnerships across Australia has for many years used media to convey cultural and environmental values. The methodology of Traditional Knowledge Revival Pathways (TRKP), co-created according to the ancient knowledge system of the Kuku Thaypan Traditional Owner Elders in Cape York Peninsula, illustrates the way media can be used to traverse disciplinary boundaries and connect both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to places.'

'We start by describing how the simple act of picking up a camera to film this ancient knowledge system led to the creation of Traditional Knowledge Revival Pathways (TKRP). Then, we explain how the methods of using various media are anchored in the Indigenous sense of country and interconnectedness, embedded in the spiritual, philosophical and ideological perspectives of Traditional Knowledge. We outline processes that scaffold these methods, such as the way media is controlled by participating Indigenous communities and incorporated into practice and research in environmental management. This leads us to discussing some of the roles of different media in reflecting on practices, within and between communities, and translating and communicating across worldviews. We conclude by indicating how using media can connect people to place and inspire their reflection upon the mediation by media in these connections. We propose this provides new insights for improving media tools, training methods and approaches to solution making to issues of environmental, social and economic concern. ...'