129- Cultural Fire Is Back with Bhiamie Williamson

Good Fire podcast is back! This is a bonus episode where we get to listen to the very knowledgeable, very passionate, and very engaged Bhiamie Williamson. We talk about cultural fire in Australia and the difference between western and Indigenous perspectives on fire, and our relationship to it. Episode highlightIn this podcast, Bhiamie Williamson discusses the connection of Indigenous peoples to the land, and how cultural burning is a way to preserve the environment and cultural heritage. ResourcesStrength from perpetual grief: how Aboriginal people experience the bushfire crisisRoyal Commission into National Natural Disaster ArrangementsSponsorsThe Canadian Partnership for Wildland Fire ScienceSupport from:●       California Indian Water Commission●       Firesticks Alliance Indigenous CorporationQuotes12.00 - 12.10: “There is so much trauma in our communities, people have never had the opportunity, I feel, to kind of pick themselves up and dust themselves off from colonization.”TakeawaysFire is a shared resource (5.58)As an Aboriginal child growing up in Australia surrounded by his culture, Bhiamie “always had a love for country”. He studied environmental and political sciences at university, and discovered the benefits of cultural burning. Land is at the center of healing (11.26)Bhiamie points out that fire plays an important role in Indigenous healing practices. Cultural burning can also prevent wildfires, thus preventing the trauma of losing ancestral lands.Sharing the load (19.04)Bhiamie has written an article that has inspired governments and agencies to provide trauma-informed support to Aboriginal peoples after natural disasters.The land is a living museum (24.42)Bhiamie informs that Aboriginal peoples have connections to land, and the animals, trees, stones, and petroglyphs are all part of the cultural heritage. “The best form of protecting is prevention” (30.22)Bhiamie recommends engaging Indigenous peoples in emergency management and prevention conversations which can help in high-pressure conditions. “Think ahead and be happy to be unsettled” (38.37)Bhiamie comments on the impacts of colonization and “centuries of oppression”, and the need to overturn it. True reconciliation (46.59)Bhiamie expresses his preference to have Indigenous peoples design their own emergency management programs across different lands in Australia.Children of the future (59.19)A majority of the Aboriginal population is young, which brings up the need to provide educational and developmental support along with family and social support. “It’s just not good enough to ignore us anymore” (1.02.37)Bhiamie observes that even when Indigenous peoples are invited to share their opinion, they are marginalized, with tokenized opportunities that contain the impact they can have. Indigenizing masculinity (1.08.41)Bhiamie’s Ph.D. research is on Indigenous men and masculinity, exploring masculinity from an Indigenous perspective. “You can call that decolonization, I just call that common sense” (1.14.13)In Bhiamie’s opinion, the first step to decolonization is to employ Indigenous peoples in senior roles. Land justice and repossession by Indigenous peoples, as well as cultural burning to manage climate change, are the next steps. You can get in touch with the hosts of this podcast via email: [email protected] and [email protected].

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