Indigenous knowledge highlighted in online videos

Posted on April 29th, 2013

Social media is helping to harness the ancient oral history of indigenous people for contemporary audiences.
A series of short videos offering a rare insight into indigenous knowledge of country and ecology in central Queensland are now available on our YouTube Channel.
Fitzroy Basin Association Incorporated (FBA) developed the videos, which feature traditional owners talking about the cultural significance of different landscapes, and how different plants were used for practical purposes, food, and medicine through funding from the Australian Government’s Caring for our Country program.
FBA CEO Paul Birch said physical and spiritual connections to land and water resources are essential to indigenous culture.
“Indigenous people have valuable knowledge of plants, animals, waterways, and how to manage the environment,” Mr Birch said.
“Sharing the ecological knowledge included in these stories is an important way to improve understanding and maintain the strong and enduring indigenous culture in Central Queensland.
“FBA worked with local film and production company BushTV to collect and produce the stories, travelling to some of the most beautiful and remote reaches of the Fitzroy Basin, such as the Ramsar listed Shoalwater Bay on the Capricorn Coast, and Carnarvon National Park in the west of the catchment.
“The next stage of the project will involve incorporating the videos and the information gathered from CQ Traditional Owners into displays at FBA’s FLOW Visitors Centre in Rockhampton.
“As part of the project FBA also captured lengthier additional video recordings for safe storage in the Keeping Places cultural heritage database.
“Keeping Places is a secure online database for sensitive information only accessible by indigenous people, designed to preserve traditional knowledge, both ecological and cultural, for future generations,” he said.
The process of identifying traditional owners for these longer recordings was supported by Fitzroy Basin Elders Committee.
Free Teacher Kit Available:
A free teacher resource kit will also be made available soon, featuring a DVD of the videos and curriculum-based activity sheets.
Kits can be pre-ordered by emailing admin@fba.org.au or phoning (07) 49992800.