So, about the Australian bushfires
As most of you will know, I grew up in Australia. For me, living there was a daily struggle with cognitive dissonance.
I connected with the land but was expected to abide by British rules of behavior and the ever-stronger influence of American culture, even though Australia is on the other side of the planet with different seasons, a different sky, different peoples, and different spirits. I know this is a struggle for others, too, of course, especially the First Australians.
It began in 1770, when Captain James Cook landed at Botany Bay in what was to become Sydney. He reported that Australia was “terra nullius” (uninhabited). The very personhood of those who had lived on Australia for 65,000 years - the aboriginal people - was denied and a very effective attempt was made to exterminate them. Their intimate knowledge of the land was likewise dismissed.
But Australia is the oldest, flattest and driest (inhabited) continent, with the least fertile soils. So, treating it like Britain, and bringing sheep and cattle to graze on grass that isn’t there, using egregious amounts of water trying to grow lawns, ignoring native foods and ecosystems and planting wheat, and introducing foreign animals instead of learning about the local ones was always going to lead to disaster.
As of January 7, 2020, 12 million acres in Australia, an area approximately the size of the U.S. states of Vermont and New Hampshire combined, has burned and it is far from over. The smoke from the blazes in the southeast of the country is visible from space, and it is spreading so far that it is causing haze in New Zealand, more than 1,000 miles away.
The continent is on fire, because people didn’t accept where they presently were.
It was just after World War II that fire started getting out of hand. Missions, burgeoning towns, and cattle stations held the promise of work and education and drew Aboriginal people away from their homelands and with them, indigenous fire management.
Perhaps, after this catastrophe, immigrant Australians in power will finally accept where they are, understand that looking after country is a full time job, and allow indigenous Australians to lead the way.
“Indigenous [fire management] knowledge is really Indigenous science and must be recognised as this.”
— David Claudie, Kuuku I'yu Northern Kaanju traditional owner.
As always, there is hope. About a year ago, indigenous cultural burning was reintroduced in central Victoria after almost 200 years. And there are suggestions being made about changing the understanding of what being Australian is, changing the understanding of the value of water, changing the understanding of (immigrant) Australians’ relationship to other life forms, and changing the understanding of what fire is.
As always, it’s a matter of dissolving ego. On the part of those who have inhabited the land for 250 years, it’s a matter of acknowledging the present moment, asking for help, and changing behavior . On the part of those who have inhabited the land for 65,000 years, it’s a matter of acknowledging the present moment and forgiving.
Like all spiritual growth, this is not complicated, it is just emotionally uncomfortable. While we wait to see what happens, please pray for rain.