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This is well-written article discussing Bruce Pascoe's book "Dark Emu", issues surrounding his Aboriginal heritage and how he's been criticised by certain right

• thomasfromcdnjs 6y ago
  That book is sitting right in front of me, funny to see it mentioned here. My sister brought it home the other day from her work, she is an Aboriginal arts officer who works at the thetorch.org.au/about/ (arts program for prisoners and ex-offenders) At family gatherings we don't really eat any native plants, mostly Taro. Where we are from in FNQ (coastal), we eat a lot of turtle, periwinkles, mudcrab and other shell fish. Fun fact: On your native tribal land in Australia you are allowed to eat green sea turtle and dugong which is illegal for the rest of Australia. In my life so far, I've had some green sea turtles but never heard of anyone eating a dugong.
  • Baeocystin 6y ago
    They're both endangered animals. Legal or not, I have to ask- why?
    • thomasfromcdnjs 6y ago
      I don't really have enough time to flesh out a thorough answer. But I would say in short, most of the culture was completely destroyed, and the turtle population of sea turtles shortly after by modernity (fishing/pollution). Cuisine generally being a pillar of most cultures, some perhaps think it may be a little unfair to also take that away. They could easily ban the number one killer of turtles, trawlers, in larger portions of their habitats. Because aboriginals are also a low socioeconomic class of Australia, they don't even own boats so the likelihood of them even catching a fraction of what the fishing industry kills is quite low. ---- Another reason why? Food. Take the example of Efate island in Vanuatu. It is the main hub for the native populations, but also now a tax haven and a tourist destination. The island itself has probably ~50,000 Ni-van (natives) who make a minimum wage of $95 a week. The price of western goods is marked up more than it cost in Australia, so a beer might cost $8. So although they work, to get ahead and enjoy themselves they usually also try to eat off the land. Fishing being one of their main staples. But with the influx of resorts over the decades, the government declared that you essentially can't fish anywhere in surrounding waters around the island. Mostly because they wanted as many fish as possible for the snorkeling business for the resorts. Think gentrification but not only making the cost of living too expensive but also taking away the food supply. ---- One last edit. Most aboriginals only eat turtle/dugong on special occasions e.g. an elders 60th The hunting laws also only allow traditional methods, spear and hand. (people do use engine boats though) It is also in the best interest of the indiginous to not kill off the populations. From my own personal experience this seems to be respected. I don't have any strong opinions myself, sociological nuance isn't quite science. A lot of Australian wildlife conservation momentum comes through aboriginals who fight to protect heritage. I'm sure, at the end of the day there is some immeasurable balance of allowing them to live their culture, eat and protect.
      • ch4s3 6y ago
        This is a really interesting peak into a part or Australia that I don’t know much about. Thanks for sharing!
      • Baeocystin 6y ago
        Thanks for taking the time to answer. I appreciate it.
  • pvaldes 6y ago
    > never heard of anyone eating a dugong. Hydrodamalis gigas will not be in the menu anymore, that's for sure.
• LilBytes 6y ago
  Well written is an understatement. Journalism leaves a lot to be desired here in home (Australia), but the writing on this site is incredible.