Walking Together: Djaara Women’s Journey to Restore Food Plants and Heal Country
摘要
For many generations, Djaara women have been unable to collectively practice caring for Country due to the immense and multi-layered impacts of colonisation. In response, a Djaara Women’s Knowledge Group has been formed. Together with a post-graduate ecology student, they have begun exploring pathways for an unfolding of knowledge to return traditional food plants to Country. In this chapter, we explore our cross-cultural knowledge-sharing journey. It brings together the community of Djaara women—often geographically dislocated and disparate—who are walking towards understanding and Healing Country, and a non-Indigenous researcher walking alongside. This researcher helps uncover and share new information about the plants in their current context, facilitating a cross-cultural dialogue. The journey has highlighted the importance of several key principles for walking together: (1) Putting cultural safety first—acknowledging power dynamics between knowledge systems and the grief and loss felt when reconnecting with damaged Country; (2) Earning trust through long-term relationship building; (3) Communicating research regularly and accessibly; and (4) Being adaptable in maintaining engagement—especially during challenges like the pandemic and floods. Finally, we reflect on the challenges and successes we’ve encountered in learning to walk together, with the goal of bringing back the food plants and healing Country.