Washing your hands before dinner is easy in the bush – Indigenous people discovered that some leaves rubbed between the hands are ideal for washing hands.
FOOD
Traditionally, Indigenous people were hunters and gatherers of food, and adjusted their diet to suit the seasons and the availability of foods. Plantfoods were the staple of their diet, complemented by meat or fish as often as it was available.
The types of foods eaten varied around the country depending on what was available, but Indigenous plants, animals, fish and insects have sustained Indigenous people for more than 60,000 years.
Indigenous people’s low-impact approach to food collection, by not clearing or farming the land but simply taking what they needed and using almost every part of the plant or animal they collected, has no doubt ensured the continuing supply of native foods and made them Australia’s earliest conservationists.
Traditional Indigenous people found food and water in the harshest terrains, even in places which seem like wastelands and are inhospitable to others. Many a white person has perished through lack of water in places an Indigenous person could find ample water and survive for a lifetime.
Water can be found in frogs, in roots and branches of boab and other trees, and in between layers of paperbark.
Traditional Indigenous people learnt where to look for water holes and soaks, how to collect water by evaporation, how to conserve water and how to clean it, such as by straining with spinifex grass.
Small family groups, or hearth groups who camped together and shared a single fire, worked together in the daily search for food.
Men tended to hunt the animals while women and children collected plants, insects and small animals and processed the food.
Techniques such as pounding, grinding and baking were used to prepare food. Seeds were ground to make flour for use in damper and fruit was pulverised into balls to be stored for later consumption.
Young Indigenous people learnt early in life which plants were poisonous or forbidden –
This ‘coolman’ carrying vessel was used in traditional times by women when collecting food, to carry small foods like seeds, grubs and berries.
for example, dugong was reserved for men, in some places big creatures like turtles were not allowed to be eaten by boys going through initiation ceremonies, and the gristly yellow fat pad between the knee joints of an emu was not allowed because it was thought that would lead to creaky or sore knees.
Australian ‘bush food’ has become trendy in some cities and around the world, where native plants, animals, insects and fish are served in gourmet meals showcasing Indigenous food and culture.
Traditional foods eaten around the country by Indigenous people include: frogs, yams, honey and green ants, bardi and witchetty grubs, nectar, rock-pigeon eggs, acacia gum, truffles, mistletoe fruit, wallaby, kangaroo, bobtail, birds, grasses, pods, flowers, quandongs, mulga apples, goannas, emus, bees, barramundi, mullet, flour from pigweed and woollybutt seed, snakes, desert raisins, dingo pups, bandicoot, moths and mussels.
