ABSTRACT

Whilst there are popular ideas about which champion Aboriginal environmental knowledge, many of these are based more on romantic notions than on any detailed understanding of what might be the content of this knowledge. This book is based on a grounded and broad assessment of less well known details of Aboriginal knowledge and provides both a great deal of detail and a new assessment of rituals and practices. Aboriginal environmental knowledge is examined here as an integrated source of both religious and scientific knowledge. An important finding is that Aboriginal environmental knowledge also includes knowledge about education for attitudes considered appropriate for survival. Though evidence for this is readily available in the literature, it has not been part of current depictions of Aboriginal environmental knowledge.

chapter |6 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|10 pages

Aborigines as Experts on the Environment

chapter 2|22 pages

What the ‘Experts’ Say

chapter 3|12 pages

Contemporary Aboriginal Voices

chapter 4|12 pages

Traditional Ways: the Evidence of Myths

chapter 7|22 pages

Traditional Ways: Beyond the Ego

chapter 9|10 pages

Rational Reverence