Elders

'Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are of the Land and Sea. We fit into it, we are shaped by it. Our teaching comes from the Earth itself, by knowing the Mangrove, how deep its story, or the Eucalypt tree, where does it go down to, what level. Knowing the earth is the centre of our wisdom. Among us there have been no written laws; our traditions are passed down through the spoken word from one generation to the next. Unity, not division, sharing rather than hoarding is our way. So now, we write to you in your language with our timeless wisdom. Learn from us, as we have had to learn from you.' Mandawuy Yunupingu

'With a wonderful book like this, one wishes that it could be a thousand pages long and that Elders from every nation and every clan within Australia and the Torres Strait Islands could be listened to and their knowledge made available to all. To the Elders not included, an apology is made. Within this book there are seventeen Elders who speak for their country. In doing so they speak about a universal knowledge that connects us and belongs to us all. These pages contain the true voice of the land and the sea.' Lowitja O'Donoghue