ABSTRACT

In the southwestern corner of Australia, bordered by ocean and arid land, lies an island-like area, the South-West Australian Floristic Region (SWAFR). Canvassing some 300,000 kilometers, it is old, weathered, and nutrient-deficient, and yet is home to an incredible diversity of species. Science plays a critical role in illuminating environmental impacts through quantifiable measurements. Other means of imparting information, such as memoir, also play an important part in conveying the importance of the natural world. Writers, like the canary in the coalmine, have begun to express anxieties about extinction, climate change, and the pressure of swiftly growing human populations. Despite mounting critical attention to these renditions of self and environment, an account of the role which memory plays in shaping such texts has been largely overlooked. Collaborative life writing is not unusual for Indigenous Australians. The bond between Indigenous people, country and memory can survive destruction.