What do indigenous people know about the natural environment?
Over many thousands of years, Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander people have learnt much about the native plants and animals in the areas in which they lived. They discovered the best ways and the right time to collect and catch them for food. They passed this knowledge on from generation to generation.
Aboriginal people set fire to certain places to clear an area of bush. Fire makes many native plants regrow quickly. This meant there would be more seeds and fruits eat sooner that if the plants grew normally.
It was the women's job to gather plants and insects to eat. Yams were an important root vegetable.
A digging stick was used to dig it up. Then it was crushed and washed in water to drain away the bacteria.
It was the men's job to hunt animals. They worked in a group using weapons like boomerangs and spears to catch animals such as kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, emus and fish.
An eel trap was a clever way to catch long, thin eels. Meat was put at the tip of the closed end. Then it was placed in a flowing stream.
The eel would get caught and could not swim backwards against the water's flow to escape.
Aboriginal people knew which plants to use to make things like carrying baskets and rope. Swamp reeds and sea grasses were woven to make carry baskets. Bags made from grass stalks could be knotted so tightly they could carry honey!
Strong ropes were made from a special kind of palm vine and used to help climb trees to get bush honey and reach animals.