Contingent, Contested and Changing: De-Constructing Indigenous Knowledge in a Science Curriculum Resource from the South Coast of New South Wales

Daphne Nash

doi:10.1375/S132601110000079X

Authors

Daphne Nash The Australian National University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1375/S132601110000079X

Abstract

The nature and status of Indigenous knowledge is often debated, but the idea that Indigenous people's knowledge is local knowledge seems widely accepted: knowledge is place-based and may reference a range of places, from traditional land to other places known from social and cultural connections. Through collaboration with Koori people from the south coast of New South Wales to develop a web-based science resource, other distinctive characteristics of their knowledge emerged. This paper explores some transformations in contemporary Indigenous knowledge, while acknowledging the history of colonisation in south eastern Australia. A focus on two examples of Koori art demonstrates that Indigenous knowledge is contingent, contested and changing in culturally denned ways. These aspects are often overlooked in educational practice that essentialises Indigeneity and Indigenous people's knowledge.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Allen L., & Greeno L. ( 2005). The south-east: the importance of “tradition” in Indigenous fibre work from south-eastern Australia. In Parkes B. (Ed.), Woven forms: Contemporary basket making in Australia(pp. 16– 21). Sydney, NSW: Australian Centre for Craft and Design.

Antweiler C. ( 2002). Local knowledge and local knowing: An anthropological analysis of contexted “cultural products” in the context of development. Anthropos, 95( 4–6): 469– 494.

Atkinson L. ( 1854, 4 February). Native arts No.2, The Illustrated Sydney News, p. 141.

Australian National University. ( 2008). Living knowledge: Indigenous knowledge in science education. Retrieved 30 September, 2008, from http://livingknowledge.anu.edu.au.

Carter L. ( 2004). Thinking differently about cultural diversity: using postcolonial theory to (re)read science education. Retrieved 13 June, 2004, from http://www.interscience.wiley.com.

Castellano M. B. ( 2000). Updating Aboriginal traditions of knowledge. In Dei G. J. S., Hall B. L. & Rosenberg D. G. (Eds.), Indigenous knowledges in global contexts: multiple readings of our world(pp. 21– 36). Toronto, ON: University of Toronto.

Cooper C. ( 1996). Traditional visual culture in south-east Australia. In Sayers A. (Ed.), Aboriginal artists in the nineteenth century(pp. 91– 109). Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press.

Davison C. ( 2008). Gulaga and her sons. Retrieved 30 August, 2008, from http://livingknowledge.anu.edu.au/learningsites/kooricoast/10_gulaga.htm.

Egloff B., Peterson N., & Wesson S. ( 2005). Biamanga and Gulaga: Aboriginal cultural association with Biamanga and Gulaga National Parks. Canberra, ACT: Cultural Heritage Research Centre, University of Canberra.

Goulding M., & Waters K. ( 2005). Eurobodalla Aboriginal cultural heritage study: south coast New South Wales. Hurstville, NSW: NSW Department of Environment and Conservation.

Howitt A. W. ( 1904). The native tribes of south-east Australia. London: Macmillan.

Journals of James Cook's First Pacific Voyage. ( 1768– 1771). Retrieved 7 March, 2007, from http://southseas.nla.gov.au.

Mauss M. ( 1970). The gift: Forms and functions of exchange in archaic societies. London: Cohen & West.

Morgan E. ( 1994). The calling of the spirits. Canberra, ACT: Aboriginal Studies Press.

Munn N. D. ( 1966). Visual categories: And approach to the study of representational systems. American Anthropologist, 68( 4): 936– 950.

Reynolds A. J. ( 2005). Wrapped in a possum skin cloak: The Toolyn Koortakay collection in the National Museum of Australia, Collection Series. Canberra, ACT: National Museum of Australia.

Rose D. B. ( 1990). Gulaga: A report on the cultural significance of Mt Dromedary to Aboriginal people. Sydney, NSW: Forestry Commission of New South Wales and the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Sillitoe P. ( 1998). The development of indigenous knowledge: a new applied anthropology. Current Anthropology, 39( 2): 223– 252.

Tindale N. B., & Jones R. ( 1974). Aboriginal tribes of Australia: their terrain, environmental controls, distribution, limits, and proper names. Canberra, ACT: Australian National University Press.

Wesson S. C. ( 2000). An historical atlas of the Aborigines of eastern Victoria and far south eastern New South Wales, Geography and Science monograph No. 53. Melbourne, VIC: Monash University Press.