Aboriginal Peoples and Terrestrial Invertebrates in Australia

Aboriginal peoples have deep connections with Australia’s terrestrial invertebrates, going back millennia. This book focuses on these historical and cultural relationships, describing the role of insects and other arthropods as totemic ancestors and spirit beings. It also explores Aboriginal nomenclature, foraging techniques and the use of land-based arthropods and molluscs as food, medicine and for making artefacts.

Through the lens of ethnoentomology, Philip Clarke examines the cultural significance of invertebrates, highlighting their role in shaping Aboriginal identities and their interactions with the unique Australian environment, blending scientific and Indigenous sources. By taking a historical perspective, Aboriginal Peoples and Terrestrial Invertebrates in Australia examines the gaps between the knowledge systems of Indigenous peoples and Western science, to encourage further collaboration and acknowledgment in the future.

This is a companion work to the author’s successful book Aboriginal Peoples and Birds in Australia.

Cultural sensitivity

Readers are warned that there may be words, descriptions and terms used in this book that are culturally sensitive, and which might not normally be used in certain public or community contexts. While this information may not reflect current understanding, it is provided by the author in a historical context.

This publication may also contain quotations, terms and annotations that reflect the historical attitude of the original author or that of the period in which the item was written, and may be considered inappropriate today.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are advised that this publication may contain the names and images of people who have passed away.