Tyson Yunkaporta is an Apalech man who is an academic, researcher arts critic & father. He is also the author of Sand Talk,  an extraordinary reading experience.  Like many of Australia’s First Peoples, he has a complex identity and history but it's this that gives him authority to write and speak in a way which connects the wisdom of the past to the needs of the future. 

The way he thinks demands a longer term perspective.  He is both philosophical and practical,  compassionate yet realistic. He is filled with an other-worldly understanding of humanity.  In this conversation he urges us to consider the non linear complexity of the world. 

He challenges our expectations, points out cultural shortcomings and invites us to recognise indigenous concepts and their history. Importantly he shows how these patterns have the potential to be incorporated into our non indigenous thinking which  builds hope and possibility to benefit us all.

“I don’t have answers but I know that stories connect us to country. Country knows the answers. Notice it and be a custodian".

Episode Summary
Minimising abstractions between lore and land
The illusion of the environment which is hidden by siloed systems
Let’s look like dickheads for a minute while we work out the path forward
Looking for seasonal signs and responding to them
Lore carries recipes for how to live our lives with story and pattern
Coming back into rhythm with the natural world
Running out of time - the time to reconnect with country is now
The dominating authoritarianism in the western world demands people are disconnected from the landscape
Mutual aid activism - not about throwing bombs but making sure everyone is fed.
Self determination being thwarted by authoritarianism
Stop looking at things and look at structures, systems and patterns instead
Quietly getting on with it - syndicate your neighbourhood with the next neighbourhood
The bullshit of nation building is key in the decimation of connection to country.
Activism is an industry 
Positive and negative feedback loops to understand how symbioses interlock with others
Story, ceremony and ritual for real thinking and real meaning making
Until art became capital it was something that every human did every day to understand their place in the world
How do we find a way of storytelling without reducing it to words
"Image, dance, song - can all portray story but they have no depth of meaning if they don't have place"
The lore is in the land 
"Leave those who are pecking over the carcass of the earth to their dying beliefs and the rest of us can get on with rebuilding relationships, stories, knowledge and place. Quietly and with people"
Why we need to stop self flagellating acknowledgments of country and start building relationships

References

Viktor Stefanson - fire country management
Sand Talk - Tyson Yunkaporta
The other others - podcast.

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