Gamilaraay Peoples Food Sovereignty Working Group

The above quote comes from Reverend L. E. Threlkeld’s 7th Annual Report of Mission to the Aborigines New South Wales, 1837. By this stage, Threlkeld was lamenting the impending “annihilation” of the First Nations People of the Lake Macquarie region, NSW, particularly the Awabakal and their neighbouring nations. Threlkeld’s reports and other correspondences during the 1830’s are heartbreaking to read. 

Ngiyani Gamilaraay, burrulaa mari walanbaa, wii-djuul warraylanha. We are Gamilaraay, our people survived as “a little one” who have now “become a thousand”, we Gamilaraay are a “strong nation”. All across Australia First Nations knowledge remains, not annihilated but only sleeping, little sparks now stirring. There is a movement growing, a movement which seeks to embrace our sleeping knowledge. As these sparks of change ignite and catch fire all around, these littles will become thousands. This nation of Australia can become strong as we embrace our history in all its hurt, hope and opportunity.

This work is about native grasses, more specifically it is about the grain they produce which was consumed by Australia’s First People’s and the potential as a food crop. The rationale being that native grasses are drought tolerant, long-lived, nutritious, grow on marginal and degraded land, don’t require fertiliser, don’t require irrigation, sequester carbon, filter water, and benefit biodiversity. However, First Nations People have a relationship with native grasses that goes back at least 60,000 years in Australia. It is therefore inevitable that, in focusing on native grains, we must also unlock the potential of the people who are intangibly connected; it becomes the work of nation building. 

The lack of consideration for First Nations people in the bushfood space is exemplified by Australia’s largest academic institution partnering with the world’s largest seed and agrichemical company to breed new cultivars of native grains on Gamilaraay Country. Native grains are incredibly important to Gamilaraay people culturally; but we also see the opportunity to shift paradigms through the re-awakening this food system. 

In response to the unsanctioned breeding program, yarns are now taking place between Gamilaraay people with the intention of setting up our own structure that is modelled off our decision-making protocols and governance frameworks, with the intention to use this body as a vehicle for self-determination in the native grains space, and then into the broader food and agriculture industry. Self-determination in this context is synonymous with nation building. 

By asserting our rights to lead this indsutry on our homelands, we are also asserting our rights under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigneous Peoples, particularly Articles 31 & 32 (see below). Our hope is that through leading this re-emerging industry on our terms, we can simulataneously increase industry supply; reconnect people to Country and heal Country; improve social cohesion and improve health outcomes; improve our food sovereignty and food security; and grow economic opportunities for all peoples in regional communities.