Traditional Knowledges as sources of information
Researchers have benefited greatly from bridging Traditional Knowledges and the predominant Western systems of knowledge keeping. For example, Noongar (western Australia), Wiradjuri (eastern Australia), Yolngu (northern Australia) Warlpiri (central Australia) and many more Nations, have been specifically acknowledged by modern astrophysicists as keepers of navigational and calendar systems, as well as notable astrophysical phenomena of cyclical and individual incidence (Forster, 2021; Norris, 2016).
Indigenous genetic knowledge has been demonstrated in Indigenous marriage systems. Briefly, traditional marriage is often determined by the moiety to which a person belongs (Turner & McDonald, 2010, p. 23). These moieties have their own names in their Nation’s language, but may be referred to in English as “skin groups” in some regions; these moieties have strong connectedness with Country for which members of that group are responsible (Turner & McDonald, 2010, pp. 25, 28, 30). Gamilaraay academic Dr. Jarrod Field demonstrated mathematically the genetic benefits of the Gamilaraay traditional marriage system (Field, 2021). Such systems, which differ between Aboriginal Nations, prevent “wrong-way” marriages (Turner & McDonald, 2010, pp. 25, 29), resulting in lower than expected relatedness in contemporary populations of such small size that western tradition would assume the opposite (McWhirter et al., 2014).
Through the demonstrated anthropocentric Knowledge and given the close relationship of Indigenous peoples in Australia to Country, it is understood that Traditional Knowledges carry in-depth scientific understanding for the complexity of the environment. In cases where the oral history of an area can be shared, Traditional Knowledges can accurately indicate changes in weather or resources use, or add to our understanding of inter-species interactions, particularly for species that are poorly studied. In the context of determining the drivers and/or impact of ecological change, there is no doubt that sedaDNA studies would benefit from the inter-connectedness with millennia of oral history and Traditional Knowledges.