Exploring Aboriginal Connections to Fire, Country and Learning

Exploring Aboriginal Connections to Fire, Country and Learning

Exploring Aboriginal Connections to Fire, Country and Learning

Fire has played an important role in the lives, cultures and knowledges of Aboriginal peoples for thousands of generations.

Across Australia, Aboriginal communities hold sophisticated knowledge about fire and its relationship with Country. Fire can be connected with caring for Country, food preparation, warmth, gathering and ceremony, with practices and knowledges differing between Nations and communities.

For educators, exploring fire can open up rich learning across Science, Geography, sustainability, storytelling and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures.

Importantly, Aboriginal fire knowledge is not simply something from the past. Cultural burning continues to be practised today, with Aboriginal Knowledge Holders, communities and ranger groups caring for Country using knowledge passed between generations.

What is Cultural Burning?

Cultural burning is much more than simply lighting a fire.

It involves deep knowledge of Country, including plants, animals, seasons, weather and the right conditions for fire.

Depending on Country and community, carefully managed fire may be used to support healthy ecosystems, encourage plant growth, maintain habitat and care for landscapes.

This creates a wonderful opportunity to help children consider a bigger question:

How can people use knowledge of Country to care for Country?

Learning through a pretend campfire

For younger children, you don't need a real fire to begin exploring these ideas.

Create a pretend campfire using natural materials such as sticks, stones and leaves, together with red, orange and yellow fabric or paper.

Rather than presenting the space as a recreation of a particular Aboriginal cultural practice, use it as an invitation for children to gather, yarn, listen, ask questions and share ideas.

You might ask:

  • What do we already know about fire?

  • What does fire need in order to burn?

  • How can fire be helpful?

  • How can fire be dangerous?

  • What happens to plants after a fire?

  • How might people know when Country is ready for fire?

  • What could we learn by carefully observing Country?

  • Who could we learn from in our local Aboriginal community?

This can lead into conversations about seasons, weather, plants, animals and caring for Country.

Explore fire through Science

Fire also provides an interesting way to connect First Nations perspectives with Science learning.

Older students can investigate concepts such as heat, energy, ecosystems, germination and the effect of fire on different environments.

CSIRO has developed excellent Cultural Burning education resources that explore how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples use fire to manage ecosystems. The resources include teaching sequences, classroom activities, experiments, videos and curriculum links.

CSIRO also has a separate set of fire-starting education resources for Year 8 students exploring traditional fire-starting techniques alongside concepts including friction, motion, energy transfer and energy transformation.

Explore CSIRO's Cultural Burning resources →

Explore CSIRO's Fire-Starting resources →

Try a fire and Country inquiry

Instead of making fire a one-off classroom activity, turn it into an inquiry.

Start with the question:

What role can fire play in caring for Country?

Children could investigate:

Plants – How do Australian plants respond to fire? Are there plants whose seeds respond to heat or smoke?

Animals – What happens to animal habitats before, during and after fire?

Seasons – Why might the time of year matter when using fire?

Weather – How could wind, temperature and moisture affect the way fire behaves?

Country – Why might fire practices be different in different parts of Australia?

People – Who holds knowledge about fire and Country in your local area?

Have children record their questions, predictions and discoveries as the inquiry develops.

Compare Cultural Burning and bushfires

For older primary and secondary students, explore the difference between Cultural Burning, hazard reduction burning and uncontrolled bushfires.

The Australian Museum has a useful educator resource exploring Cultural Burning, including a video and guiding questions for students.

Explore the Australian Museum Cultural Burning resource →

Ask students to consider:

How are the purposes different?

Who holds the knowledge about when and how Cultural Burning should occur?

How can fire affect plants and animals differently?

What observations of Country might inform decisions about fire?

These discussions help position Aboriginal knowledge as a sophisticated and continuing knowledge system rather than something belonging only to Australia's past.

Bring storytelling into the learning

A gathering space can also provide an opportunity to explore oral storytelling and the different ways knowledge can be shared.

Choose books by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors and illustrators and spend time finding out about the author, their Country and the context of the story.

After reading, children might yarn about:

  • What did we learn?

  • What did we notice about Country?

  • How was knowledge shared?

  • What questions do we have?

  • Whose voice is telling this story?

Avoid treating Dreaming stories as interchangeable or retelling culturally specific stories without understanding where they come from. Where possible, seek resources connected to your local Country and guidance from local Aboriginal community members.

Resources to extend the learning

Riley Callie Resources has a range of resources that can help educators extend learning about Country, storytelling, bush foods and Aboriginal perspectives.

Aboriginal Storytelling Cubes
Use visual prompts to encourage children to create, sequence and share stories while developing oral language and imagination.

Natural Story Rollers – Connecting to Country
A hands-on sensory resource that can prompt conversations and storytelling about Country.

Aboriginal Symbols Cards
Introduce children to a selection of Aboriginal symbols while supporting conversations about how symbols can communicate ideas and stories. Use these alongside broader learning and local community knowledge.

Bush Food Resources
Extend the inquiry from fire and Country into native plants, foods and the knowledge Aboriginal peoples hold about Country.

IndigiSTEM Resource Kit
Explore Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives through hands-on STEM activities, providing another way to connect First Nations knowledges with classroom Science learning.

Explore First Nations educational resources →

Further learning for educators

CSIRO – Cultural Burning Education Resources
Teaching sequences, activities, experiments, videos and curriculum connections.

Australian Museum – What is Cultural Burning?
Videos, information and guiding questions for secondary students.

CSIRO – Fire-Starting Education Resources
Explore traditional fire-starting knowledge through Science concepts including friction, force and energy.

Fire provides an incredibly rich starting point for learning. When approached respectfully, it can help children explore Science, Country, sustainability and First Nations knowledges together — while developing a deeper understanding that Aboriginal knowledge is living, diverse and continuing.