Steve Hopper

Similarly with family and movement, there's a fundamental difference, which I've found, and many other people far more than me.

With Aboriginal cultures, they stay in one place and get to know it really well, really intimately.

and manage it precisely.

Whereas, you know, in Western cultures, it's all about moving young people and old people across continents often.

You know, we don't cherish the local environment and see a rich and fulfilling life as one where you stay in one place and begin to understand what its stories are and what the ancestors' stories are.

Those perspectives, I think, have a hell of a lot to teach all of us, all Australians and indeed globally, a better way to care for land, care for country, care for biodiversity than what Western science so far has come up with.

I was very lucky to team up with some archaeologists who had worked in Esperance.

They had an approach to archaeology which was called community archaeology and the idea was they would get to know people, respect them and ask, is there anything we can do in archaeology that will help you achieve what you want to achieve?

I was lucky enough when we moved to Albany in 2013, one of those archaeologists had a contract to work with local families on the peninsula on which I live, called Vancouver Peninsula by Europeans, and was to document the cultural heritage of that peninsula.

So I asked, is there any chance I could tag along?

And he said,

We can ask the elders.

So I had an interesting first meeting where I showed up and I was asked immediately, who are you and where do you come from?

So as soon as I said I was from the University of Western Australia, one of the elders spoke up straight away and said, oh, we know what you're here for.

You ought to plunder our knowledge and make money and leave us wondering what happened.

And I said, well, no, that's not why I'm here.

I'm here to learn.

But if you don't want me here, then I'll go.

And another lady who turned out to be my best Noongar elder friend now, Lynette Knapp, was amongst the other elders there.

And she said, oh, give him a go.