There will be discussion and dissent for this work, subtitled An Aboriginal Yarn, about the need for more recognition of past, present and future Indigenous farming.
Gilbert, though pale-skinned and blue-eyed, is proud of his Indigenous heritage and his links to the Worimi people of the Gloucester-Bulahdelah region of New South Wales. His convict ancestor, James Bugg, in the mid-1820s came to work for the Australian Agricultural Company (AACo) which had been granted a million acres on Worimi land. The AACo long ago moved from that country but still operate Australia’s largest cattle herd on about 6.5 million hectares.
Bugg took a Worimi woman named Charlotte as his partner and eventually they were allowed to marry. He went on to raise sheep on his own property and for four generations since, the family has raised cattle.
So Gilbert, a university graduate in law and accounting, comfortable in the bush or the boardroom, wants to show that Indigenous people have deep connections to their land, that they not only belong on horseback mustering cattle but also can use new agricultural technologies to determine the best genetics in their herds. He believes they can thrive as farmers, and are already doing so, but in many cases hiding their Aboriginal heritage.
The yarns he tells include his maternal and paternal family histories, although diagrammatic family trees would have been useful.
He writes that in the 60 000 years before colonisation, not only did Aboriginal people know how to hunt and gather, but they also used precious resources wisely, from burning the country appropriately, to planting native foods, and using fence-like structure to herd kangaroos.
Gilbert writes lovingly about country towns, like Boorowa, where he grew up, after being born in Gloucester, where he has returned to live. He is deeply involved in Indigenous affairs, the environmental sector and sustainable agriculture at a national level, but also Wingham Beef Week, and raises Clydesdale horses.
His research shows that the US has a trademark applied to products created by Native Americans, putting a value on the farming methods used by those producers.
In current discussions about regenerative agriculture, improving rather than depleting country, he finds that Indigenous ideas and knowledge are often interpreted by non-Indigenous people.
The whole book is focused on what Gilbert considers recognition and identity, and climate change’s role in farming, with all would-be farmers facing huge financial hurdles to even get started, despite family history and/or Indigenous knowledge of the land.
He firmly believes in sharing knowledge between Indigenous and non-Indigenous farmers, putting culture back into agriculture so that the broader community can understand the farming business, restoring the pride farmers once felt in their vocation.
He bemoans the lack of data on the size and scale of Indigenous agriculture in Australia, with the cotton industry the only one to ask its members if they identify as Indigenous.
Gilbert contends that an Indigenous agricultural research and development corporation is needed as well as an organisation to attract young Indigenous people, providing education and scholarships, looking beyond native foods to the broad agricultural sector.
He sees the way forward as either proactive, bold and unfamiliar; or passive, meek and ordinary, hoping Indigenous voices will eventually be heard. His ideas are bound to start conversations.
Reviewed by Jennifer Somerville
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ABOUT THE AUTHORJoshua iGilbert s a Worimi man, whose family ancestors are recorded as having the first recorded birth in a cave in the Gloucester mountains. His connection to the Worimi nation stems through both his parents, tracing back to the Bugg family.
He is a socially and commercially focused, Aboriginal man with extensive experience across Indigenous affairs, the environmental sector and sustainable agriculture. Josh works across government, corporate and social organisational levels to develop and lead change through sharing the narration of Indigenous identity through agricultural and environmental truth-telling in light of modern contexts. Josh is a deep, strategic thinker and manages business change effectively through empathy. He is passionate about creating change through effective investment and societal understanding.
He is the current Indigenous Co-Chair of Reconciliation NSW and on the Boards of Indigenous Business Australia, the Aboriginal Housing Office and the Australian Conservation Foundation.
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