Library Guides: Indigenous Food: Native yams & grains

Don't forget to cite and reference your sources. For help see the Junior School or Senior School referencing guides, and / or CiteMaker.

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Provides additional background information and further reading. Introduces some subject-specific language.

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Lengthy, detailed information. Frequently uses technical/subject-specific language. (Includes most analytical articles)

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Indigenous Food | Native yams: Articles

This native superfood is 8 times as nutritious as potato and tastes as sweet as coconut (Verass, 2018)
"One member of the Australian yam family, the yam daisy (also known as murnong) was once a major food source for Indigenous Australians and is now being reintroduced into the culinary mainstream. Could it become a breakthrough ingredient and achieve gourmet fame?... Nutty, starchy and rather potato-like, the murnong is the edible root of a yellow dandelion-type plant, naturally occurring in southern and south-eastern (cool, dry) parts of Australia." (Verass, 02018)
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Reference / citation: Verass (2018) or (Verass, 02018)
Reference list / Bibliography: Verass, S. (2018). This native superfood is 8 times as nutritious as potato and tastes as sweet as coconut. SBS Food. https://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/2018/02/27/native-superfood-8-times-nutritious-potato-and-tastes-sweet-coconut
University study finds economic window for native grains production (University of Sydney, 2020, November 9)
"Native millet on Gamilaraay country in western New South Wales is the most economically viable native grain for future farm enterprises, a University of Sydney study has found. The University of Sydney Institute of Agriculture study is the most comprehensive trial of Indigenous paddock-to-plate produce in Australia, was done in consultation with local communities and Black Duck Foods, owned by Aboriginal foods expert Bruce Pascoe."
A new perspective on Australian native grasses (University of Sydney, 2020, May 29)
"Using ancestral knowledge for a sustainable food system.... Food production in inland Australia has been based on careful management of native grasslands for thousands of years by Aboriginal people. The system of regenerative agriculture developed over millennia provided them with nourishing food, despite harsh climates and poor soils."

Indigenous Food | Native yams: eBooks

Click on the following book covers or link to access the book online. If prompted, sign in with your School mConnect user name and password. Click HERE for help using these EBSCO eBooks.

Dark Emu: Aboriginal Australia and the Birth of Agriculture [eBook] by Pascoe, Bruce
ISBN: 9781921248016
Publication Date: 2018
‘Dark Emu injects a profound authenticity into the conversation about how we Australians understand our continent... [It is] essential reading for anyone who wants to understand what Australia once was, or what it might yet be if we heed the lessons of long and sophisticated human occupation.'Judges for 2016 NSW Premier's Literary Awards Dark Emu puts forward an argument for a reconsideration of the hunter-gatherer tag for pre-colonial Aboriginal Australians. The evidence insists that Aboriginal people right across the continent were using domesticated plants, sowing, harvesting, irrigating, and storing — behaviours inconsistent with the hunter-gatherer tag. Gerritsen and Gammage in their latest books support this premise but Pascoe takes this further and challenges the hunter-gatherer tag as a convenient lie. Almost all the evidence in Dark Emu comes from the records and diaries of the Australian explorers, impeccable sources.

In particular see the following chapter:

Chapter 1 Agriculture (Pascoe, 2018, pp. 13-67)
"The use of the word ‘agriculture’ in relation to Australian Aboriginal people is not something many Australians would have heard. However, if we go back to the country’s very first records of European occupation, we discover some extraordinary observations that provide a picture of what the Australian explorers and pioneers witnessed, and how it refutes the notion that Aboriginal people were only hunter-gatherers." (Pascoe, 2018, pp. 13-67)
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Reference / citation: Pascoe (2018, pp. 13-67) or (Pascoe, 2018, pp. 13-67)
Reference list / Bibliography: Pascoe, B. (2018). Chapter 1 Agriculture In Dark Emu: Aboriginal Australia and the Birth of Agriculture (pp. 13-67). https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=2043192&site=ehost-live&scope=site&authtype=ip,sso&custid=mggsvic&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_13

Aboriginal People and Their Plants by Philip A. Clarke
ISBN: 9781921719738
Publication Date: 2011
The book is unique, spanning the gap between botany and indigenous studies. It differs from other published Australian'bushtucker'overviews by treating the study of plants as a window upon which to delve into Aboriginal culture. The topic of Aboriginal use and perception of plants is vast and therefore far too large for full treatment of all regions in a single volume. Nevertheless, this book offers an overview to assist readers appreciate the depth of indigenous ecological knowledge about the environment.

Indigenous Food | Native yams: Online resources

Black Duck Foods
"An Indigenous social enterprise committed to traditional food growing processes that care for Country and return economic benefits directly to Indigenous people." Black Duck Foods, n.d.)
Murnong / yam daisy [Microseris lanceolata] (Atlas of Living Australia, n.d.)
"Microseris lanceolata is a perennial herb also known as murnong and yam daisy... The species has edible tuberous roots and was once a vitally important source of food for peoples of Australia. Indigenous communities, particularly in the south-eastern parts of Australia, utilised advanced soil cultivation techniques to reduce erosion and improve crop yields... The introduction of cattle, sheep and goats by immigrating early–colonialist Europeans led to the near extinction of murnong, with calamitous results for first Australians' communities who depended upon murnong for a large part of their food.... Murnong was prepared by roasting or pit baking; the taste is described as "sweet with a flavour of coconut". (Atlas of Living Australia, n.d.)
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Image source:
Photographer: The University of Melbourne Herbarium
Image license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode
Goldfields Chocolate-Lily [Arthropodium strictum] (Atlas of Living Australia, n.d.)

Indigenous Food | Native yams: Videos

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High schoolers cooking with native grains

Source

When using this video don't forget to cite and reference your sources. For more information and help see the Kerferd Library referencing guide and / or CiteMaker APA7.

In text reference / citation

Narrative citation: ASTAR (2020)
Parenthetical citation: (ASTAR, 2020)

Reference list / Bibliography Don't forget to use hanging indents in your reference.

ASTAR (2020, April 22). WMBB Summer Program - Grasses for grains [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/d0qllccXIx8

Angela Pattison from the Faculty of Science at the University of Sydney talks about the Native Grains project.

Source

When using this video don't forget to cite and reference your sources. For more information and help see the Kerferd Library referencing guide and / or CiteMaker APA7.

In text reference / citation

Narrative citation: Pattison (2020)
Parenthetical citation: (Pattison, 2020)

Reference list / Bibliography Don't forget to use hanging indents in your reference.

Pattison, A. (2020, October 7). Native Grains introduction - From Paddock to Plate [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/ONeYmErM-cM

"Ramingining residents Linda, Judy and David show how djitama - a bush yam - is prepared for eating. This is very important because wrong preparation will result in poisoning. In the old days bush yams were one of the main carbohydrate sources for Yolngu people in Arnhem Land before wheat-based foodstuffs became a staple. The ideal season for gathering yams is Midawarr - a transitional season between Wet and Dry. Some yams can be eaten raw while others such as djitama require preparation.... These "chips" of djitama are placed in an open-weave mewana dilly bag, which is then sewn up and placed in a flowing stream for 1 day. It is very important that the water is moving in order to leach the toxins from the djitama. After this leaching process the djitama chips are ready for eating." (ididjaustralia, 2010)

Source

When using this video don't forget to cite and reference your sources. For more information and help see the Kerferd Library referencing guide and / or CiteMaker APA7.

In text reference / citation

Narrative citation: ididjaustralia (2010)
Parenthetical citation: (ididjaustralia, 2010)

Reference list / Bibliography Don't forget to use hanging indents in your reference.

ididjaustralia (2010, February 20). Indigenous preparation of Djitama (bush yam) [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/2wgeBcWXMo0