Indigenous Ecological Knowledge
Kapok flower Cochlospermum fraseri. Called man-djedj in Bininj Kunwok. The cotton-like fluff from the seedpod is used for ceremonial body decorations and the flower is an indicator that turtle and freshwater crocodile eggs are ready for harvesting.
The Australian National Herbarium has an extraordinary collection of Australian flora and fungi, yet these specimens are named using western scientific principles making them inaccessible to anyone not versed in botanical nomenclature.
Working with Indigenous communities, rangers and scientists, this recently completed project demonstrated how natural history collections can be used to underwrite Indigenous-led science and support Indigenous languages and culture. The aim was to expand the function of the Australian National Herbarium collection so that it may support language and Indigenous Ecological Knowledge (IEK) maintenance and transmission in Indigenous communities.
As part of her CERC Postdoc Project, Alexandra Marley worked with Indigenous communities and rangers in west Arnhem Land to build a bilingual and bicultural plant encyclopaedia. Alexandra also conducted an audit of indigenous knowledge in the Australian National Herbarium and made recommendations for its management.