Aboriginal Australian Artworks

Hi, I'm sorry if this sounds incredibly insensitive and ignorant, I just don't know where else to ask:

Aboriginal Australian artworks are sometimes maps, which show the locations of tracks, waterholes, camps, the land, the people etc. Could this information be used like a permaculture sketch map when it comes to restoring the environment in those areas? Especially since some artwork is of stories that happened long ago before the land was destroyed.

I just keep thinking, where did Bill Mollison even get the idea of a sketch map in the first place??? Wasn't he inspired by some Australian Indigenous people in Tasmania (still not sure what specific group btw)- so, do permaculture sketch maps have an equivalent in Aboriginal Australian artworks (like to pass down land knowledge)?

If this is not the place to ask this question I would really appreciate it if anyone could point me somewhere better to ask it. Thank you

I think when dealing with cultural properties sensitivities and permission are exceedingly important. From an objective point of view, it seems like you could use the information within such art for said purpose. Though I'm not sure why you would favor that information over modern GIS data, photos, and ground research which is often freely available.

Google earth, google maps, open street maps, all have very easily browsed map data including fairly up-to date satellite imagery in most cases. Localities will often have more precise contour maps, hydrology information, meteorological data and history, and photos.

L. Johnson wrote:I think when dealing with cultural properties sensitivities and permission are exceedingly important. From an objective point of view, it seems like you could use the information within such art for said purpose. Though I'm not sure why you would favor that information over modern GIS data, photos, and ground research which is often freely available.

Google earth, google maps, open street maps, all have very easily browsed map data including fairly up-to date satellite imagery in most cases. Localities will often have more precise contour maps, hydrology information, meteorological data and history, and photos.

Exactly with you on the permission aspect. I've been researching this a tiny bit more and it looks like too many people trying to read into the art just leads to more abstraction. Sensitive or forbidden knowledge is made abstract, simplified, left out, covered up etc and for good reason. Things like where certain plants were could be considered sensitive information sometimes. Like for instance, the location of an important medicinal plant being hidden (this is just my understanding from what I've read). I'm wondering if, even if I found an artwork that I could vaguely match to a satellite image, could I even properly read the artwork in the first place? Like, the more I read about art being used to pass down how to manage the land, the more I'm like "if my comparison to permaculture is true and these are maps for a similar purpose, then it's not my job to read & find out, it's not my knowledge to know" I'm probably totally misunderstanding in any case.

Main reason I got curious is because these are people who lived for thousands of years on the systems that permaculture was inspired by. And they have teachings that have been passed down. Its like, why redesign the wheel when people already did it in the past and they have all these stories and art about how they used to do it? And how the land used to be like before it was destroyed? The relationship that people had to the land? Just feels like I should be taking more pointers somehow rather than growing native plants and calling it a day.

I am sure that the artwork is beautiful and of great value historically.

In the US (America) we have an office that has geographic maps that can be purchased.

If you live in Australia or even whatever part of the world you are in I would imagine that your country has these geographical survey maps.

We have bought them for every property we have owned.

These geographical survey maps were made many years ago when our country was being explored.

Why not do a search to see if your country has done the same as ours did?

I have not priced the maps online lately though what we paid was a nominal amount.