Country and Climate Yarning Circle: Weaving indigenous knowledges, western science, practices and hope, in stories and conversations for ‘Our Climate, Our Planet, Our Future’
"the most enlightening, informative and thoughtfully curated, cross-disciplined climate event I've ever attended"
Participant feedback Country and Climate Yarning Circle @ The 2022 Desert Song Festival
"Our climate, Our planet, Our future... we can change... it's at the intersection of truth, treaty, voice, now. Now. That's our task and that's our privilege"
Morris Stuart AM Director, Desert Song Festival
Photographer: Narida Yeatman-Morgan
"when I talk about the Ancestors, I think about those ancestors that are the land, the plants, animals, the sky, the wind, the stars, the heavens..."
A/Prof Payi Linda Ford,Rak Mak Mak Marranunggu Northern Institute, Charles Darwin University
Photo: Screen still
"...my mum and me used to go and look for bush food... but you've got this Buffel Grass, and they introduced that for the cattle and destroyed a lot of the natural plants, very important food for us... I still walk around looking for it though..."
"because we haven't cared for Country it's not only scary for us as this generation, but also for our children and our grandchildren and next generations to come, because this is going to be their planet, this is going to be their home and if it's destroyed it's going to be very hard for them to fix it, so we need to take action now"
Lorena, Student OLSHC Traeger Choir
Photo: Screen still
"Count down the little things,
The insects and birds
Count down the bigger things
The flocks and the herds
Count down our rivers
Our pastures and trees
But there's no need to hurry
Oh, sleep now, don't worry
'Cause it's only a matter of degrees"
Lyrics from Paul Kelly's "Sleep Australia Sleep" Performed live by the OLSHC Traeger School led by Jessica Wright: Country and Climate Yarning Circle @ The 2022 Desert Song Festival
"we're not talking about what's just going to benefit us, this statement, if implemented, will benefit all Australians for a better future, that is the plan, it doesn't matter who you are, where you come from, you have the same opportunity to thrive as the person next to you and that's the ultimate goal."
"I've had amazing learning experiences from senior Yolngu people about how important it is to think about knowledge practices and the interaction between Indigenous knowledge practices and what we often call Western Science"
A/Prof Marg Ayre Rural Innovation and Adaptation, University of Melbourne
Photographer: Narida Yeatman-Morgan
"we need to understand that local people have different relationships to Country, and when we think about how we manage Country, that's really important"
Oliver Costello,Bundjalung Conservation Futures, Bush Heritage Australia
Photographer: Narida Yeatman-Morgan
"we have to solve this together... but that notion of togetherness, I think is something that unfortunately, not everyone agrees with"
A/Prof Ben Neville Melbourne Climate Futures, University of Melbourne
Photographer: Narida Yeatman-Morgan
"I'd like to lend my shoulder to the wheel of working to reduce, yes, the risks of climate change but to do that in a way that is consistent also with climate justice..."
Prof John Wiseman Melbourne Climate Futures, University of Melbourne
Photographer: Narida Yeatman-Morgan
"The First Nations people, other than surviving for a really long time, learned so many things and they passed that down from generation to generation... so I think we can learn from First Nations people... I think we should learn from the wiser people"
Valerie, Student OLSHC Traeger Choir
Photo: Screen still
"It's rare that we have the opportunity to be in such close conversation with so many people from so many disciplines together"
Dr Lisa Stefanoff Menzies School of Health Research
Photographer: Narida Yeatman-Morgan
"The scientists here won't be telling you things the Indigenous people don't know about already. And we understand that. We need to come here and share and learn from our Indigenous Brothers and Sisters. I look forward to learning from you."
Prof David Karoly FAA Melbourne Climate Futures, University of Melbourne.
Photographer: Narida Yeatman-Morgan
"it is humbling and a great privilege for us as climate scientists, to work in this space [with Indigenous partnerships]... every choice makes a difference"
Dr Simon Marsland Climate Systems Hub Leader, National Environmental Science Program (NESP), CSIRO
Photographer: Narida Yeatman-Morgan
"it's really important through arts and media to present what the future may look like when climate change becomes a lot more present within society, unfortunately in the Torres Strait Islands we've already seen this... ancestral remains have been washed away... from human impact through climate change [and] is absolutely devastating. It affects the mental health of our people and our sense of spirit and it's a hard thing to try to talk about..."
"there are jurisdictional issues between Victoria and NSW, they have very different ideas about how water is managed, it's a big issue for us in terms of how we protect Country, right now we're having sludge issues... particularly in our Country from the 1880s gold rush era, we're dealing with that now"
Damian Morgan-Bulled,Yorta Yorta Yorta Yorta Traditional Owners Land Management Board
Photographer: Narida Yeatman-Morgan
"Amazing and wonderful symposium - thank you all!"
Participant feedback
Photo: Yarn in the hands of Djarra Delaney, Quandamooka Photographer: Narida Yeatman-Morgan
"we started with one machine in Alice and one machine in Kintore and we started to get people home one at a time from the back of the clinic, and what we realised is, that even just the sniff of getting back home improved peoples health, because hope is a powerful force"
Sarah Brown AM CEO, Purple House
Photo: Screen still
"when we talk about climate, we need to recognise that climate varies and that that heartbeat [the greening and browning] of Australia varies over many, many different timescales and it's the sum of all of those timescales that contributes to what we're experiencing this month and this year..."
Prof Mark Howden Director, Institute for Climate, Energy & Disaster Solutions, ANU
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"will we see maladaptive solutions implemented across Indigenous communities because there's the lack of understanding of the values and the cultural values held in those communities due to history, systemic problems around engagement, listening and power?"
Djarra Delaney,Quandamooka University of Melbourne
Photo L-R: David Karoly, Djarra Delaney, Simon Marsland
Photographer: Narida Yeatman-Morgan
"our mission is to support capacity building and self determination for our people through community led projects, to build collective power and campaign together."
Winona KarenaArrernte, First Nations Clean Energy Network
Photo: Screen still
"continue to learn, continue to inspire, music is a fantastic platform for us to engage with others and is a universal language"
Jessica Wright Music Educator, OLSHC Mparntwe - Alice Springs, Singer, Songwriter, Violinist
Photographer: Narida Yeatman-Morgan
"there is a lot of diversity in the [HEAL] network, ideas coming from younger generations, from communities and importantly from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islands groups and we want to instigate that and make sure that these voices are heard and integrated into our programme of research"
Prof Sotiris Vardoulakis Leader - Environment, Climate, and Health Group, ANU National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health
Photographer: Narida Yeatman-Morgan
"what we're trying to do is overcome the structural barriers preventing more uptake of renewable energy here in the Northern Territory"
Lauren Mellor Original Power, NT
Photo: Screen still
"one of the things I've found is a huge struggle is, the lack of information on Tradional Owner knowledge but also just assimilating all of the available Western ecological knowledge, being able to pull all of that together in a way that helps me as well as many of our Aboriginal partners make decisions on Country, so... a system that we're trying to build, pulls a lot of that information together to make better decisions on Country"
Dr Rebecca Spindler Conservation Futures, Bush Heritage Australia
Photographer: Narida Yeatman-Morgan
"thank you for this opportunity to hear from so many people and their various work - such a privilege"
"... how do we maintain our identity when our songs no longer work or are very ineffective because of climate change? How do we explain to older people about... the north and south poles melting, about more rains in Pakistan, about many cyclones happening, when their country is getting drier and drier? That's what I like to talk about when I sit down with my older blokes, about water..."
Michael Liddle,Alyawarre Central Australian Aboriginal Congress
Photo: Screen still
"For us, we know that there's a whole range of different opportunities that, if and what, we do as practitioners and cultural practitioners of land, needs to have a good value placed on it, so I don't think it's just one method we do as Indigenous landholders, being the oldest land carers on the planet."
Suzanne Thompson,Iningai CEO, Yumbangku Aboriginal Cultural Heritage and Tourism Development Aboriginal Corporation (YACHATDAC)
Photo: Screen still
"the tables are tipping
time it is ticking
the time it will not wait
the power to give
the power to take
the power to break
there's no time to take time
refusing to change"
"I feel like the previous generations have taken so much from our planet and now it's up to us to fix it, but also the Aboriginal people here, they worked with the land and the animals and only took what they needed to survive, I think if we don't change our ways now, it will be too late"
Sunvi, Student OLSHC Traeger Choir
Photo: Screen still
"ultimately the bigger systems are where we need to actually be targeting our advocacy efforts and that comes down to governments and big business and people-led change"
Jimmy Cocking Director, Desert Knowledge Australia
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"the fact that there's already been lots of connections made here is very powerful and also the recognition by ourselves as non-indigenous people, of that powerful connection and the incredible opportunity to learn from First Nations people"
Anna Boustead Director, Indigenous Carbon Industry Network (ICIN)
Photo: Screen still
"...for my future generatons, I'd like to say I'm sorry that we've taken too much from the earth..."
Sunvi, Student OLSHC Traeger Choir
Photo: Yarn in the hands of Dr Lisa Stefanoff
Photographer: Narida Yeatman-Morgan
"there's always talk in Community, especially with young people, about how we can make change, we've got all these issues and there's never been a set way we can make a change, having a Voice to Parliament will be incredible... being able to talk about the issues that directly affect us is the way to make change"
Brydie Zorz, Wiradjuri, Uluru Youth Network
Photo: Day 1 Yarning Circle Brydie Zorz, Wiradjuri passing the yarn to Damian Morgan-Bulled, Yorta Yorta Photographer: Narida Yeatman-Morgan
"well I think that we, well let me phrase this, are stupid and dumb because all the Traditional Owners, they had their ways of working throughout the land evenly and with nature, but us, we're just taking too much..."
Gypsy, Student OLSHC Traeger Choir
Photo: Screen still
"I stumbled into this event by chance on Monday - what a brilliant week - thank you - I deferred my travel north so I could attend every day"
Participant feedback
Photo: Yarn in the hands of Jessica Wright
Photographer: Narida Yeatman-Morgan
"bring in the rain
bring in the rain
is what they keep sayin'
bring in the rain
bring in the rain
to soak this earth
ease the pain"
"not only has there been immense expertise, precious knowledge and valuable conversation shared here, but, it has been underpinned by a huge magnitude of trust between everyone in this gathering - I am humbled, heartened and grateful to all of you who jumped on board and took this journey from my first cold call"
Dr Ann-Maree Graham Program Manager, University of Melbourne
Photo: Screen still
"I think music is important because it's really helpful in spreading messages and lots of people enjoy listening to music, and it's good to think about what the lyrics mean, the deeper meaning"
Niven, Student OLSHC Traeger Choir
Photo: Screen still
Country and Climate Yarning Circle @ The 2022 Desert Song Festival
From 12 to 16 September 2022 the Country and Climate Yarning Circle, a land and climate symposium, wove stories from scientific practice, First Nations knowledge and on-Country practice, knowledge and actions toward a safe and sustainable climate for our planet as a way to inform, inspire and empower the audience.
Brought to audiences by The Desert Song Festival and supported by the University of Melbourne (Melbourne Climate Futures and The Primary Industries Climate Challenges Centre - PICCC), the event was part of the 10-day experience of music, art, conversations and cultural experiences in and around Mparntwe-Alice Springs. Choirs, singers, musicians, climate scientists, Indigenous knowledge-keepers and practitioners fostered a genuine interaction between Climate Science, Indigenous Knowledge and the Arts.
The five day event included voices from over 14 different Mob, 10 research institutions across Australia, 8 First Nations (owned and led), groups, businesses and initiatives with seasoned researchers, active practitioners, emerging leaders and our youth. This was interspersed with short films, poetry, music videos and live performance, and spoke to and with, a diverse audience looking for hope and ways to bring caring for Country and Climate to the forefront locally and nationally.
Programme
The following table encompasses the Country and Climate Yarning Circle programme with links to recordings of presentations, discussions and a variety of media screened at the event. To find out more about those who spoke and their organisations, please look at the listing further down the page.
Monday 12 September
Exploring Us
Tuesday 13 September
Healthy Environments And Lives
Wednesday 14 September
Loss and Damage: Knowledge to Actions
Thursday 15 September
Loss and Damage: Knowledge to Actions
Friday 16 September
Exploring the Way Forward
Chairs Bridget Cama & Tiahni Adamson
One Earth Environmental short film by Romain Pennes
'Garrama' (Respect) Short film, Desert Pea Media i collaboration with the Bundjalung/Weyabul community in Baryulgil, in the Clarence Valley on the North Coast of NSW
Climate Change Story An animated film produced by the Indigenous Desert Alliance with the support of the Purple House Pintupi Luritja Language Group telling a story about climate change and a community taking action to adapt to it.
Live Performance, Arafura Music Collective: Claire Kilgariff (flute) and Francis Diatschenko (guitar). Previous DSF performance here.
Climate Movement Official music video - Formidable Vegetable & Spoonbill.
Regenerating Australia. Licenced screening of Damon Gameau's film - What would Australia look like in 2030 if we simply listened to the needs of its people? Trailer available here
REPRISE: From Little Things Big things grow Kev Carmody, Paul Kelly & Friends. In this film Kev Carmody and Paul Kelly talk about the process of writing the song From Little Things Big Things Grow. From Little Things Big Things Grow tells the story of Vincent Lingiari, a Gurindji stockman who, in 1966, initiated a strike in response to the poor working conditions faced by Gurindji workers, on the Wave Hill Cattle Station.
Yarning Circle People
Those who spoke and contributed to the Country and Climate Yarning Circle comprised a rich and diverse set of extremely knowledgeable and passionate people. The following list provides information about the event speakers and contributors and the Official Programme bios can be viewed/downloaded here.
The Primary Industries Climate Challenges Centre (PICCC) Director, Professor Richard Eckard and Program Manager, Dr Ann-Maree Graham were integral to the Country and Climate Yarning Circle from inception and throughout the planning and convening. The generosity from the PICCC underpinned the University of Melbourne's capacity to deliver this initiative. Ann-Maree led the initiative which, as mentioned above, involved extensive multifaceted engagement and community liaison, networking, coordinating and organising a large number of diverse stakeholders, groups and institutions across the nation, as well as curating a variety of material and resources for this unprecedented event at the Desert Song Festival.
Melbourne Climate Futures came on board and supported this initiative early in the planning and provided valued discussions, expertise and administration.
Ann-Maree and Richard would like to acknowledge the amazing people and resources who/which made this such a unique and successful gathering:
Narida Yeatman-Morgan of the Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development at the University of Melbourne provided invaluable cultural consultation, advice and ideas. We'd like to extend enormous gratitiude for her undivided support to Ann-Maree throughout the planning, organising and running of the event, along with her lovely photos.
We'd like to express warm gratitude to the Desert Song Festival Director, Morris Stuart and Organiser, Rebekah Stuart, for the invitation, opportunity, support and sponsorship of a team of delegates and hard work to make the Country and Climate Yarning Circle a reality, and importantly, to Morris for his vision and care for the 'people, planet and future'.
Thank you to Professors David Karoly and John Wiseman for their time, discussons, guidance and help in the planning and organisation, as well as the running of the event.
Thank you to Melbourne Climate Futures for their support and in particular, the administration assistance kindly provided by Joanne Burns and the support, enthusiasm and contributions from MCF Directorship Professors Jacqueline Peel, Kathryn Bowen and A/Professor Ben Neville.
Jimmy Cocking of Desert Knowledge Australia for his generosity in discussions, sharing ideas and contacts over the course of the planning and for facilitating a wonderful field trip to The Desert Knowledge Precinct for delegates.
Tjoritjia/West MacDonnell National Park Rangers, Mark Anderson and Doug Taylor for their generosity facilitating and guiding the delegates on an enlightening visit to Simpsons Gap.
To all the speakers and delegates (see above) who contributed/participated and shared in the Country and Climate Yarning circle, and the authors of material (poems, songs, videos) that were curated for the event - thank you for sharing your generosity, wisdom and drive in Caring for Country.
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which the Country and Climate Yarning Circle took place, the Arrernte people of Central Australia. We recognise their continued connection to the land and waters of the beautiful central desert country, and acknowledge that they never ceded sovereignty. We respect all Arrernte Elders and Ancestors, and all First Nations people who generously shared in the Yarning Circle.
