Finally getting stuck into prepping bunya nuts (was gifted 2 pine cones), hopefully for pesto. Leaving them for a bit helps loosen things up. So easier to break up the cones. .
Please note, i am not a bunya nut expert. Have done this twice before, after YouTubing heaps of advice. So fingers definitely crossed. #bunya #bunyanuts
Bunya pines are native to Australia though not specifically from my region (up in south east Queensland). They are culturally significant to first Nations peoples here.
"A collaborative cross-cultural research team have discovered that movement of the culturally significant Bunya Pine by Indigenous Peoples varied among regions and intensified in south-east Queensland to maintain cultural connectivity following European colonisation."
(Link to article in next toot).
Bunya nut article link below.
“We are increasingly aware that what we thought of as ‘wild’ ranges of species did not take into account traditional indigenous activities,” Maurizio said.
“Indigenous Peoples have manipulated environments and species for millennia. However, conservation and restoration science often overlook ancient human plant dispersal," he said.
As the Bunya Pine dropping season begins, new research shows that Indigenous Australians increased the spread of Bunya Pine to preserve culture following European colonisation
When I taught “ancient civilisations”, at year 7 level so fairly basic, we looked at 2 stages of farming. The first involved managing the land & natural resources so as to maximise productivity. It seems to me that this is what many Indigenous Australians did.
The second involved actively sowing crops (I think Indigenous Australians did do that with yam daisies/murnong), domesticating animals, fencing off land etc. On the one hand, it was easier to secure good surpluses, freeing up labour to engage in developing other skills, crafts etc. OTOH, fencing off land led to ownership led to class led to inequality… And whether human civilisations became “more developed” or more self destructive from this point is probably a matter of opinion.
Poesie
Looking for explanations…