“Bush Medicine” refers to the ancient and traditional Aboriginal use of native Australian botanicals for physical and spiritual healing,
a practice that’s thousands of years old.
Local bush medicine was the focus of EON lessons at Ngukurr school last term – from boiling up leaves from the local Kuliba tree to help with pain and infection, to blending a native tea tree paste to use on body sores, to learning how to use Ngalangga (red river gum) to ease tooth ache. Plus the students created some amazing seasonal bush medicine calendars.
The lessons drew on the knowledge of the Elders and the community around the medicinal properties of local plants, and the cultural practices associated with harvesting, preparing and using botanicals.
And the students loved it! The EON garden provided the perfect outdoor ‘lab space’ to chop, mash, boil and bubble.
The bush medicine lessons integrated with the school’s curriculum, linking in with ‘learning on country’. What a fantastic example of connecting the traditional knowledge of the Elders with the children’s school-based learning!
