Here are some books that you may find useful during your studies. Search the Bennies catalogue Accessit for more, or browse the Non-fiction collection NFS.
Dark Emu by 
Young Dark Emu by 
For many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, fishing is as natural and as necessary as breathing. It forms part of the deep cultural and spiritual connection many communities have with their waters and marine resources. Whether saltwater or freshwater, fishing is a matter of cultural practice and is informed by traditional knowledge.
Across south-west Australia, Aboriginal peoples have long built lizard traps by propping up rocks on granite outcrops.
Learn about the discovery of hundreds of stone huts on the banks of an ancient aquafarm which challenges the idea that Aboriginal peoples were nomadic.
Learn about one of the largest and oldest aquaculture systems in the world.
Yindjibarndi educator Irene Hayes demonstrates how to make a soak using knowledge taught to her by her parents and grandparents. The soak utilises found materials and natural filtration processes to clean water for drinking.
Gnamma Holes are scattered across the surface of rocks surfaces in the South of Western Australia. Gnamma Holes were used to collect and store freshwater by Aboriginal people.
This video was made to commemorate the National Heritage Listing (NHL) of the Brewarrina Fish Traps (Baiames Ngunnhu) in Brewarrina, NSW
In Central Australia, there were three kinds of ochre used in the main. They were yellow ochre, white ochre – or white pipe clay – and red ochre. One of the most widely used ochres was red ochre, which was extensively used on the body. And in some particular mines in Central Australia, the ochre has a mica component, and when it’s placed on the body, particularly on the face, it gives off quite a shiny look. And that’s still used today in ceremonies, and is traded all around Central Australia and beyond.
Fish traps are rocks placed side by side to form a circle in water. Traps found in any single area can number from one up to a dozen. When the tide is high, fish swim into these pools, but are trapped when the tide lowers.
For the 60,000 years that Aboriginal peoples have lived in Australia, water has played a critical role—not just for survival in an often arid and harsh environment but also for its significance in Aboriginal culture and identity.
A gnamma is a naturally occurring rock hole – rain falling on the surrounding rock collects in the hole creating an important source of scarce water in Western Australia’s arid interior before the pipeline was built from the Perth Hills into the region.
The rocks surround 12 teardrop-shaped pools across half a kilometre. In the past, fish were herded in through small openings that the locals would quickly close shut with a few rocks.
In regions where creeks run dry and rainfall is scarce, Aboriginal people discovered underground water in natural hollows or permeable sediments.
Aboriginal people have been part of Australia’s landscape for many millennia. There is no exact date of when Aboriginal people first arrived on the Australian continent or satisfactory evidence to indicate they evolved from Australia, but estimates range from 40,000 to 60,000 years ago and up to 110,000 years ago.
Stone-walled intertidal fishtraps were built to control the movements of marine animals.