Can Indigenous Wisdom Douse Australia's Fires?

Australia is reeling in 2020. Our beautiful continent has experienced devastating fires, plant and animal species brought to the brink of extinction, floods, hailstorms, cyclones and drought, astonishingly all at once. We were warned but did not heed. Images of our Prime Minister Scott Morrison bringing a lump of coal into Parliament to show how safe it is, is the perfect illustration of the hubris that has brought us to where we are today. Why does Morrison think coal is great? Economic advantage, of course.

How rapidly this will change. Add the 2020 coronavirus outbreak to the equation and suddenly our politicians’ smug certainty of living in “the lucky country” dissipates. Make no mistake: Australia will feel the economic effects of environmental conflagration and viral pandemics, and the smirk born of 28 years of consecutive economic growth will be wiped from the faces of these Masters of the Universe.

Change is coming. We feel it. When Morrison’s “quiet Australians” who doubted anthropomorphic climate change started choking on smoke in cities 400 kilometres from active fires, they began to organise climate protests. Children dismayed at their disappearing futures have begun to boycott school to protest in their thousands, and members of devastated communities have refused to shake the Prime Minister’s hand, as they ponder a future of rebuilding or defeat. We still do not know the toll taken on wildlife due to ongoing danger, but current modelling suggests that a billion animals have died.

Aware something is terribly wrong, Australians are turning to Indigenous people, who have thrived and maintained a pristine continent for over 65,000 years. It is a surprising turn of events, not least because Australia’s Indigenous peoples were not legally considered citizens until 1967, and have long been derided for what was seen by white settlers as an “unsophisticated” hunter gatherer existence. Until now

As our country burned – with the final fires being extinguished only in the past week – Non-Aboriginal Australians are finally heeding the insights of Indigenous people who mastered the use of fire long ago. The white settlers who came to Australia undertook controlled burning in linear fashion across the landscape as a fire prevention strategy, but often went too far, resulting in uncontrolled fires and disastrous results. They burned at the wrong times, in the wrong ways. In contrast, Indigenous people have carried out wise practices for millennia: burning in an outward circle, to allow animals to flee, to prevent forest canopy ignition and to remove flammable vegetation. These practices were all done at the right time, the right way, and for the right reasons: food sources, fire prevention, plant regeneration and a holistic ecosystem.

Westerners are now asking Indigenous people to explain differences in fire practices. Indigenous people patiently navigate the limitations of the white mindset, explaining that traditional ways are a different paradigm, not simply a different practice. The aim is not to save a structure or house from the risk of fire; it is part of nurturing the whole ecosystem. The concept of “ownership” is foreign to Australia’s Indigenous culture: no one owns land. We only care for it now, in trust for those who will come after us.

Imagine that: an economy that sustains, provides and protects the people who administer it. An economy that knows its limitations and looks to the needs of future generations. Now consider this: Indigenous people are less than 5% of the world population, but hold custodianship of 80% of its remaining biodiversity. The hopes and burden of the planet’s future inhabitants lie with them.

As an Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity, I am inspired by the deep and profound wisdom of Indigenous peoples. As head of an Indigenous economic charity, I led research that explored the strengths of an Indigenous worldview: what is the meaning and value of “money” and “prosperity”? We put a spotlight on the gulf between the West and Indigenous peoples. Going forward, I will explore how Indigenous economic wisdom can help teach the West to use sustainable values in its economic thinking.

For example, Australia has the most sunlight in the world. It bounces off a land that for millennia has been cared for by its Aboriginal people. Sunlight has the potential to generate sustainable renewable energy that could allow us to keep Australia’s toxic coal in the ground, and point the way toward economies that cater for all that they sustain.

Around the world, people are seeking answers to the problems we have created. When I learned about Oxford-based economist Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics, I was struck by how closely it resembled every Indigenous seasonal system I have ever seen, from Mayan to Inuit to Aboriginal.

You see, when Westerners come up with what they think are new models, they are not. They are replicas of Indigenous knowledge, and the common themes show the universality of ancient wisdom: we live in a carbon-constrained world, with limits. All of these must be built in a way that is mindful of preservation, sustainability and custodianship for those who come after.

The earth around us is changing. If ever there was a time for timeless wisdom, this is it. It is time for the West to engage with its Indigenous people, who have many of the answers they seek about how to stave off a climate emergency.

The views expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity programme, the International Inequalities Institute, or the London School of Economics and Political Science.