Reciprocal relationships with trees: rekindling Indigenous wellbeing and identity through the Yuin ontology of oneness

ABSTRACT

Studies of Indigenous connections to the environment highlight that reciprocal relationships between humans and the nonhuman world are known to significantly influence human health and wellbeing. This paper builds upon existing approaches to understanding Country from Indigenous and more-than-human geographies, in order to explore the Yuin concept of oneness – an ontological view of relationships which acknowledges the co-creation of wellbeing between trees and people. Attributing sentience and autonomy to plants has been part of diverse Indigenous traditions for millennia, and yet within Western knowledge frameworks, the personification and anthropomorphism in such traditions continues to be viewed as limiting. Taking a decolonising approach, we set aside this deficit model in order to learn and then share what is gained by yarning with trees. We document a journey of the self and the rekindling of the lead authors' Aboriginal identity whereby Yuin knowledge and respectful ways of researching are placed at the centre of knowledge exploration and production. Through a personal journey focused on wellbeing, we show how trees communicate and how they are seen within the self. Accordingly, we demonstrate how the Yuin ontology of oneness transformed an individual's wellbeing, and provides opportunities to heal personal relations with the more-than-human world.

KEYWORDS:

• Wellbeing
• aboriginal identity
• Yuin Country
• oneness
• trees
• more-than-human

Acknowledgments

First, thank you to Country for teaching and guiding the humans involved in this research. A big thank you also to the Yuin Elders and participants, Grandmother tree, Uncle Max Dulumunmun Harrison and Greg. We thank Dr Laura Hammersley for feedback on an earlier version of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 We sought and received permission to undertake this research and to use this approach to knowing, learning, and doing research from senior Yuin cultural knowledge holders, who were participants in this research. This research was also approved by the UOW Human Research ethics committee [Protocol 2019/022].

2 Human participants are referred to in text using their first name, as was their instruction.

3 This research was conducted on Yuin Country on the south coast of New South Wales. The specific locations of the places and trees mentioned have been obscured in observance of Yuin cultural protocols. It is beyond the scope of this paper to fully explain Yuin protocols, however, some are intimated through the results. For example, asking permission from Country and respecting messages from Country about where it is appropriate to travel.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Crystal Arnold

Crystal Arnold is a Gundungurra woman and a PhD candidate in the Australian Centre for Culture, Environment, Society and Space (ACCESS), School of Geography and Sustainable Communities at the University of Wollongong. Her PhD research focuses on human relationships with plants from the Yuin ontology of oneness.

Jennifer Atchison

Dr Jennifer Atchison is Senior lecturer and ARC Future Fellow in the Australian Centre for Culture, Environment, Society and Space (ACCESS), School of Geography and Sustainable Communities at the University of Wollongong. Her research examines human relationships with nature in the context of rapid environmental change. She has had the privilege of learning about people, plants and place from Gadjerong and Yuin Country.

Anthony McKnight

Dr Anthony McKnight is an Awabakal, Gumaroi and Yuin man and a Senior lecturer in the School of Education at the University of Wollongong. His aim is to continuously and respectfully incorporate Aboriginal ways of knowing and learning with a particular interest in validating Aboriginal approaches in academia and schools.