New map reveals aboriginal knowledge (fwd link)

[Phil Cash Cash]

*New map reveals aboriginal knowledge*
ABC Rural
By Cherie McDonald

Updated Wed 28 May 2014, 9:28am AEST

It's hoped a world-first map recording Aboriginal knowledge
<http://aibk.info/map/> will give Australian researchers and landholders a
greater understanding of the environment.

The online map, curated by the Indigenous Biocultural Knowledge working
group, aims to convert ancient oral knowledge about Australia into an
accessible visual and literary format.

Griffith University anthropologist and ethnobiologist Dr Philip Clarke, who
was a participant in the working group, says the map will help researchers
access little-known Indigenous biocultural knowledge.

"It's a funny thing to map indigenous biocultural knowledge," says Dr
Clarke.

"The Aboriginal tradition is a set of experiences and perspectives, handed
down orally, whereas this map is literature-based.

"Indigenous people see the environment, not just in isolation, but as part
of society. The flowering of a certain plant, for example, will tell them
that fish are now running in the river."
Dr Philip Clarke, anthropologist and ethnobiologist

"But the map will point people, whether they are involved in managing a
station or a national park, whether they be students or researchers,
towards where they will be able to get written records of important
traditional information."





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http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-27/sach-aboriginal-map-indigenous-biocultural-knowledge-2705/5479964

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