Western Australian schools are finding more ways to incorporate Indigenous knowledge into everyday learning, with a recent trip to the bush by a group of teachers revealing a very useful tip for bushwalkers and hikers.
Key points:
- Aboriginal Australians have used bracken fern to treat insect bites for thousands of years
- Science teacher Lindsay Stirling and his students have tested how the plant works
- Denmark Senior High School is trying to find more ways to combine Indigenous knowledge with school learning
In the biodiverse region of Denmark, almost five hours south of Perth, the vibrant green bracken fern — which has special medicinal qualities — grows among the tall karri trees.
Staff from Denmark Senior High School learnt of the native plant's use when Menang elder Larry Blight took them on a cultural tour of the surrounding bushland.
The fern, which can be found in the southern regions of WA and parts of New South Wales, has long been used by Indigenous Australians for its soothing properties when applied to painful insect bites.
Mr Blight said Mundan, which is Noongar for bracken fern, could be used to treat bites from bull ants.
"It's actually quite incredible what it can do, it can potentially save your life," he said.
"You can crush it up and put it straight onto the sting and within 10 seconds the pain is gone."
Mr Blight said Indigenous Australians had used the plant as a medicine for generations.
"This knowledge has been passed down to me from my elders and aunties," he said.
"If we take care of the environment then it will look after us."
Sharing with those eager to learn
Denmark Senior High School science teacher Lindsay Stirling, said when Mr Blight told him what bracken fern was used for, he was fascinated.
"I wanted to figure out why bracken was able to counteract a bull ant bite," he said.
Mr Stirling decided to conduct personal research and eventually created experiments for his years 9 and 11 students.
"After many tests we found out the bracken sap was acidic," he said.
Results found the plant contained high amounts of aluminium sulfate which, Mr Stirling said, was probably what made bracken fern so effective in soothing the bites.
He said the chemical, which is found in commercial insect sting treatments, was able to break down toxins from alkaloids in insect stings, which quelled the pain.
Mr Stirling said he wanted to find more ways to incorporate Indigenous knowledge in the school curriculum.
"We don't want this to be a one off, we want to find more examples which could be useful to our students," he said.
"I think it's a great partnership of Indigenous knowledge and science education."