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ABC News
5 days ago
- Science
- ABC News
Indigenous knowledge is key to saving the great desert skink and other species
When Christine Ellis was young, she would watch her mother cooking with an open fire in the Tanami Desert. One meal she remembers being prepared was warrarna, the Warlpiri name for a great desert skink (Liopholis kintorei). Measuring up to 44 centimetres long, these desert lizards can be coloured like a sunset, with bright orange back scales that transition to a yellow belly. Ms Ellis's mother would cook the lizards on the coals and peel the charred skin from their back and belly. "We'd just wait patiently to when it was cooked and then mum would cut it in half," Ms Ellis said. "The tail was nice, it was like fish. "It was nice, but now we look after them [warrarna]." The warrarna was added to Australia's national threatened species list in 2000 after cats, foxes and a lack of fire management in some parts of its range contributed to a population decline. The decline in lizard numbers is impacting the cultural wellbeing of desert communities where the warrarna is recognised in art, stories and song. That's because of its status as a significant entity in "tjukurrpa" (which refers to both a historical creation period for the world by ancestral beings and a current living force). But there are hopes the lizard could one day be brought back to a point that is strong both in population and cultural health. Such an outcome may even see it sustainably eaten again. And now the knowledge of Ms Ellis, a Warlpiri ranger and expert tracker, and other traditional owners is at the forefront of preventing the lizard's extinction. Two years ago, traditional owners from Australia's central deserts worked with scientists and the federal government to create the first national Indigenous-led species recovery plan. Recovery plans are a set of management actions and plans to stop the decline or improve the numbers of flora and fauna on Australia's threatened species list. Having a set 10-year recovery plan enables funding to Indigenous ranger groups to utilise "two-way science" — a mixture of Western science with traditional knowledge and land management techniques. "We've been teaching other rangers how to track [warrarna]," Ms Ellis said. Warrarna live in burrows in the desert sands in family groups of four or more, she added. She has shown other rangers how to spot the burrows, which are close to communal latrines used by the skinks on the surface. Indigenous Desert Alliance ecologist Rachel Paltridge, who helped assemble the recovery plan, said it had become competitive between ranger groups to find the most burrows. "We've got a trophy now and awards for who gets the most burrows and who does the best work with the schools," she said. Sharing tracking skills across ranger groups has also helped them to find the best places to put traps for feral foxes and cats that hunt the lizards. "We've got some great projects going on with ranger groups using the latest technology in cat control," Dr Paltridge said. "One group that has got hardly any great desert skinks left … they're using grooming traps around the burrows and knocking off foxes and cats pretty regularly." There has also been more funding for fire management. Research earlier this year showed mosaic burning patterns, long used for land management by Aboriginal desert groups, was beneficial to lizards compared to uncontrolled wild fires. Tjakura in Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra languages Warrarna in Warlpiri language Tjalapa in Pintupi language Mulyamiji in Manyjilijarra language by Martu people Nampu in Manyjilijarra language by Ngalia people Aran by Anmatjere people Arabana woman and conservation scientist Teagan Shields, who was not involved in the lizard's management, said the recovery plan had been a significant development in Indigenous-led conservation. Dr Shields, who investigates how to empower Indigenous land and sea managers in biodiversity conservation, said one of the key achievements of the plan was how it incorporated traditional knowledge. "One of the really interesting things when you look at the plan is they talk about the active use of that species as being a key success of that plan," she said. "The other thing it really did was open the pathway for other Indigenous-led plans." The federal government is currently considering another Indigenous-led recovery plan for the golden-shouldered parrot, known by the Olkola people as "alwal", in Far North Queensland. Dr Shields, who works out of Curtin University, said the draft plan for the parrot went further than a single animal in terms of its cultural relationship with the broader ecosystem. "The thing that it has, which probably hasn't been seen before, is that interaction of these culturally significant species within the system," she said. The plan details how removal of dingoes, known as ootalkarra by the Olkola and revered as their "boss", can be detrimental to the parrot. That's because the presence of the dingo is believed to protect nests from predators of the bird. "What we're starting to see in these plans is the marrying of species … [and] talks about that whole systems approach," Dr Shields said. There is momentum building behind integrating traditional knowledge from around Australia into conservation planning by governments. In June, the South Australian government passed new biodiversity legislation that included the concept of "culturally significant entities". These entities can be a particular plant or animal species with strong cultural significance to traditional owners or even a place or ecosystem. The legislation enables a First Nations committee to be established and requires a new policy to be developed for identifying and managing entities. Lisien Loan, the director of conservation and wildlife from the state's parks service, told the ABC such recognition would not block development but instead inform departmental planning. "So things like a [state-level] threatened species recovery plan would need to consider whether that species is a significant cultural biodiversity entity, and involve First Nations in that development of the plan and recovery actions." South Australia was the first state or territory to recognise culturally significant entities in its law, but a project co-led by Dr Shields could lead to national change. The project aims to come up with a nationally accepted definition of the concept, in consultation with First Nations people from around the country, that could be adopted federally. Dr Shields said the idea wasn't new, and drew on generations of knowledge. "It just so happens that at the moment we're getting some traction in this space, which is really positive," she said. The definition, to be made public soon, would also encompass species that may not be considered threatened at a state or national level. Dr Paltridge said in the communities she worked with that the Australian bustard and emu were two species were considered culturally important but were not listed as threatened despite anecdotal decline in desert areas. "They [ranger groups] would like to have more research on how we can increase them and look after them better," she said. "We don't want to wait until they're so threatened that it's difficult to recover them."
CBC
20-06-2025
- Health
- CBC
This First Nations chef went into a diabetic coma at 21. Now he teaches healthy traditional cooking
Social Sharing Kirk Ermine was 21 years old when he fell into his first diabetic coma. At the time, he didn't know what was going on. The first doctor he saw did blood work, but didn't test for diabetes. The second doctor assumed some sores on Ermine's mouth were connected to an STI outbreak in Prince Albert, Sask., where he was living at the time. In reality, the symptoms were from Type 1 diabetes. Some signs of diabetes include extreme exhaustion, sores that don't heal quickly, frequent urination and infections, extreme thirst and blurry vision. WATCH | Diabetic chef focuses on healthy cooking using traditional ingredients: Diabetic chef focuses on healthy cooking using traditional Indigenous ingredients 7 hours ago Duration 2:46 Ermine was finally diagnosed after he experienced exhaustion so extreme he couldn't get out of bed and had to be rushed to hospital. His blood sugars were nearly 10 times higher than they should have been. "It took them about nine days to bring my sugars down to normal," he said. "In that time I ended up in a coma." Doctors told him he had juvenile Type 1 diabetes. He has been insulin-dependent ever since. Type 1 diabetes is a condition in which the pancreas does not produce any insulin, a hormone that helps our bodies control the sugar in our blood. About 10 per cent of people living with diabetes have Type 1. The other 90 per cent have Type 2 diabetes, which is more common in older adults. It's also becoming more common due to obesity, but it can be prevented or postponed with lifestyle changes, such as limiting fat and sugar intake, exercising more and not smoking. Both types of diabetes are also more prevalent among Indigenous populations. According to Diabetes Canada, rates of Type 1 and 2 diabetes are 17.2 per cent in First Nations people living on reserve, and 12.7 per cent for those living off reserve, compared to about five per cent of the general population. Nearly 10 per cent of Métis people are diabetic. Ermine was born and raised in Sturgeon Lake First Nation. He admits his diet was not the best. "Eating convenience foods — the Kraft dinners, the ramen noodles, a lot of breads — a lot of hollow carbs that really turn into sugars when they're in your body," Ermine said. After his diagnosis, he became more interested in how food can affect us. He started to notice that people used food to either harm or heal their bodies, depending on their emotional state. "So when we're harming ourselves, we tend to go for the fast foods, the comfort foods, something that's going to get into us quickly," Ermine said. "But we don't realize the high cholesterol, the high salt, the high sugars that we're putting in our bodies. And that's like sugar bombing our pancreas." Ermine was working as a firefighter in the bush when he started paying closer attention to his blood sugar levels. He could tell when he needed to eat, so he started cooking for himself and the crew. "I got tired of the physical labour. So I decided one day that I might as well go and do something that I can have a passion about." He completed the Saskatchewan Polytechnic Professional cooking program in 2007, graduating with honours. Since then, he's worked for SIGA, Prairieland Park, Dakota Dunes Casino Restaurant and the University of Saskatchewan. After adopting his children, he decided it was time for a change of pace. He stayed home to care for the kids, and started a catering and consulting business, teaching others how to cook health-conscious meals using traditional ingredients instead of processed food. "I encourage people to eat less of it, or be creative with it," Ermine said, adding that people can also incorporate more nutritional density to their food by adding vegetables, eggs and other simple proteins. Even the pickiest of eaters can be swayed, Ermine said. He said it's all about working with flavour profiles that a person likes, and testing different types of vegetables using different cooking methods. He suggests having fun with it, with a taste test. "Kind of like a black box challenge," he said. "They start tasting stuff and they'll realize, oh, this is actually good." One staple ingredient Ermine loves to use is sweet potato, because of its high fibre content and low glycemic index. He also said game meats like moose or venison can be swapped into recipes if people don't have access to beef. Pemmican is another food that he likes to experiment with. The staple of many First Nations diets is made of dried meat, dried berries and animal fat. He said it can be modified to suit anyone's taste. "You can add more nutrition by adding different ingredients, different flavours, and different berries, [you] can add traditional nuts, like hazelnuts and pecans," he said. Ermine does pemmican teachings with the Saskatoon Public School Board, and presents at cultural camps with the University of Saskatchewan and First Nations University of Canada. He's also held workshops on his home reserve, showing kids and families how they can make healthier meals in their own kitchens. "Some of the recipes that we were doing, I was surprised to see how many kids never tried certain vegetables," Ermine said. "But once they tried it in different cooking techniques and different flavour profiles, they actually enjoyed vegetables." Ermine said he may branch out in the future and start creating videos and recipes he and his kids can share online. At some point, he may even write a cookbook. For now, he said he will keep perfecting his recipes and inspiring others to eat healthier. "It makes me feel really good inside knowing that through my illness, my disease, that I can create a positive change in the world, taking a negative and creating a positive out of it." Ground bison with sweet potatoes and wild mushrooms, over a bed of basmati and wild rice Chef Kirk Ermine shared one of his recipes with CBC. It's a hearty and nutritious meal using traditional ingredients that anyone can make in under 20 minutes. Ingredients: 1 sweet potato peeled and cut into half-inch cubes. 900 grams ground bison meat. 500 grams of dry, wild mushrooms, re-hydrated. 1 tablespoon minced garlic. Three pinches of allspice. Salt and pepper to taste. One cup of basmati rice. 2 cups of wild rice, cooked and cooled. 1 tablespoon butter. Instructions: In a medium pot, add basmati rice, butter, and two cups of water. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat. Simmer until water is absorbed. In a large frying pan, heat two tablespoons canola oil, add sweet potato cubes and sauté for 10 minutes. Add mushrooms and sauté for another two minutes. Add the ground bison, allspice, salt, pepper and garlic. As the ground bison cooks, break it up into smaller pieces until it's fully cooked and mixed. In a separate bowl, add hot basmati rice to the cooked wild rice and combine evenly. Put a bed of rice onto a plate, and top with the sauteed bison, sweet potato and mushroom mixture and enjoy.
