To be sustainable and have a true appreciation for our environment we need to connect with our land and it’s flora and fauna to in turn make good decisions that support it’s well-being!
Conversations about respect for our land are important and we can explore Indigenous culture and practices to provide examples of how this can be done.
Creative Spirits state “they have a profound spiritual connection to land. Aboriginal law and spirituality are intertwined with the land, the people and creation, and this forms their culture and sovereignty. The health of land and water is central to their culture. Land is their mother, is steeped in their culture, but also gives them the responsibility to care for it”. https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/land/meaning-of-land-to-aboriginal-people
So, how can we instill such appreciation and respect, so that connection with land is nurtured in children?
View Aboriginal dancing and talk about the connections with animals. This dance portrays the feeding ground ritual and the shared feeding of the Crane through movement and song. It can show children how movement and dance can communicate ideas and tell cultural stories.
Discuss Aboriginal seasons… there were 6 seasons and these determined what would be hunted to ensure ecosystem viability. For more information: https://www.csiro.au/en/Research/Environment/Land-management/Indigenous/Indigenous-calendars
Explore Indigenous Australia Map… what was our land like 500, 1000, 40,000 years ago? How was food gathered and cooked? How was the land managed? What has changed?
A great book to explore the concept of environmental change is “Where the forest meets the Sea” by Jeanie Baker
Explore Aboriginal story and art and connections with animals and the land. Discuss how these mediums are used for sharing cultural knowledge. Explore children’s understandings of how Aboriginal people viewed connections with fora and fauna.
Discuss totems. Totems were natural objects, plants or animals and the individual or clan was responsible for their totem’s well-being – to ensure it’s survival. Hence, if your totem was a wallaby then you would protect and not hunt this animal.
Have discussions about becoming “animistic”. This means we are all interconnected: humans, animals, plants, natural objects, the stars… we are all equal. Therefore there is great respect for all life!
For more ideas / images please feel free to go to: https://au.pinterest.com/kirstyfantini/embedding-indigenous-culture/
Feel free to share your ideas and experiences.
Look out for Day 9!
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