Ethnobiologist - Lorraine Williams

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A large part of my early childhood was spent with my father's people in Darwin and my mother's people on Croker Island, learning about native bush foods and seafoods. I learnt their Aboriginal names and how to collect, catch, prepare and cook them.

Aboriginal knowledge about local plants and animals and how to use them was an important part of my life then, and it is still important now.

I work as an ethnobiologist with the Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory. My work involves listening to Aboriginal elders talk about how they collect and prepare plants for food and medicine or to use as implements. With their special knowledge, these elders are natural scientists who can read their land like a book.

I record the Aboriginal names for plants and then, with the assistance of a botanist, I match them with their scientific names. The information gained from Aboriginal elders is useful to scientists and helps preserve the knowledge for future generations.

Whether I am fishing, cooking a goose on the fire or collecting bush foods, I have learnt that knowing our natural environment the way our elders do is an important part of science. It's great to see that knowledge now being taken seriously by scientists.

My job qualifications are the informal training I received as a child and an Associate Diploma in Applied Science in Park Management, Aboriginal Land and Cultural Resource Management.

There is much that non-Aboriginal Australians can learn from Aboriginal culture. One of the most important issues is how to manage our natural environment to protect animal and plant species. I also believe the contribution that specialised Aboriginal knowledge can make to science will help bridge the gap between our cultures.

 

This work is reproduced from the Women in Science Enquiry Network
PO Box 647 Glebe 2037,
http://www.usyd.edu.au/wisenet

"Science Futures" was produced by Wisenet with the aid of a grant from the Department of Industry, Science and Tourism Science and Technology Awareness Program.