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The National Library holds a variety of materials about Indigenous Australian weather and climate knowledge and related resources. There is also a range of reputable online resources about Indigenous Australians’ relationship to weather and climate. You will find a selection of these resources below.
Print resources
The National Library’s print collection contains a range of material about Indigenous Australian weather and climate knowledge and land management practices. These materials include titles like Wulma, a text in the Burarra language of central coast Arnhem Land about the south east wind, Fire Country: How Indigenous Fire Management Could Save Australia, Rivers, the Veins of our Country, Sustainable Land Sector Development in Northern Australia and Landscapes or Our Hearts: Reconciling People and Environment. Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples: the Search for Legal Remedies considers climate and Indigenous peoples globally.
For advice on how to access these materials, see Searching for weather and climate.
Non-print resources
The Library holds a variety of non-print material about Indigenous Australian weather and climate knowledge and related resources, including oral history interviews with Aden Ridgeway where he discusses his work with the National Parks and Wildlife Service and as the Executive Director of the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council as part of the Aboriginal leaders oral history project. Other material includes Walmajarrijarti Wangki Martuwarra Kadaji, a poster documenting Walmajarri knowledge of the seasons in the Fitzroy Valley, Western Australia, and a video interview with Kukuna Mona Chuguna from the same region.
For advice on how to access these materials, see Searching for weather and climate.
Online resources
- The Bureau of Meteorology’s interactive map of Indigenous Weather Knowledge was created in partnership with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) and Monash University’s Centre for Indigenous Studies. It contains detailed traditional weather, climate and seasonal knowledge from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
- The Torres Strait Regional Authority offers a range of online resources about weather and climate on their website, including environmental management and climate change and the Torres Strait.
- The Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH) works in partnership with custodians of traditional knowledge in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to tell the human and environmental history of Australia. Their website offers a variety of content about the past, present and future of Australia’s climate and landscape.
- The Climate Council offers a range of resources about climate change, including information about a number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s efforts to combat climate change.