Aboriginal people across Australia have developed a multitude of uses for plants through scientific observation and testing over the longest time imaginable. Plant knowledge has been central to the longevity of Aboriginal communities, who use plants for medicine, nutrition and technologies, such as watercraft, tools and traps.
Brooke Wandin, a Wurundjeri woman and Woiwurrung language speaker and educator, provided the Woiwurrung language overlaid on these plant specimens from the University of Melbourne Herbarium collection, in collaboration with Madeline Critchley, Jax Plumley and Zena Cumpston.
Each of these plants are from Wurundjeri Country and are an important part of Wurundjeri culture. Language is a powerful repository of cultural knowledge and knowledge of Country, and language reinvigoration and revival is vital to the survival and continuance of identity, relationship to Country and the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal communities and Country.
I am an artist, an educator, and a language worker. I teach and speak publicly to share ancient knowledge and stories that connect the past to the present. By participating in either education or public speaking I can consolidate my understanding about my ancestors and country; therefore, learning and growing myself, strengthening my identity. I weave to honour my ancestors and to continue an ancient practice to deepen my connection to mother earth. I am also a Director of Wandoon Estate Aboriginal Corporation (WEAC). In 2018 WEAC won a National Landcare Award for sustainable land and waterway management. WEAC is currently working on a bush foods project. An early goal will be to produce a variety of trial products for use at kitchen workshops with local chefs. Most recently language has been a focus, it adds another layer to my identity. Re-awakening language is very satisfying, it’s time consuming, it’s part research, part detective and totally worth it. I believe Country has been waiting to hear language again.
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