Climate change is colonial (mis)management of Country: wildfires and Indigenous cultural burning in Australia

This chapter resonates with the knowledges shared by many Indigenous Peoples that climate change is better understood as the colonial (mis)management of Country, rather than a new environmental crisis. We draw links between colonialism, disasters and climate change, showing that the increase in (for example) severe wildfires is not just caused by climate change; it is caused by the poor management of Country by settler and/or capitalist governments. We weave our own fire knowledges throughout the chapter, reflecting on wildfires and cultural burning in south-eastern Australia, including our Ancestors’ Country in Trouwerner/lutruwita (Tasmania). We discuss Indigenous Knowledges and how our expertise of Country is continually dismissed by Western science and government agencies. We also consider how vulnerability is linked to colonial ideas of protectionism, of both Aboriginal Peoples and Country. Finally, we return to the strength of our Ancestors and the messages of our Old People, who show us how to Care for Country into the future.