Introduction to Cultural Burning (Fire-stick Farming)
Anthropogenic burning is typically defined as intentional fire set by humans. Over several millennia, anthropogenic burning has deeply embedded itself into Aboriginal culture and come to be known colloquially as cultural burning or ‘fire-stick farming‘ – a term coined by Rhys Jones in 1969. Fire-stick farming or cultural burning was once again cast into the spotlight of Australian debate and conversation in the wake of the 2019/2020 ‘Black Summer Bushfires,’ that raged across Australia. The debates and arguments online and across media outlets saw finger pointing at a number of agencies, politicians, local government working groups, and scientists for failing to mitigate the risks. The debate continues even with mounting evidence that demonstrate the benefits and supports the use of cultural burning as a means to mitigate fire risk. Rhys Jones reminded us in his 1969 article, published in the Australian Natural History journal that, “…white man has been on this continent for 200 years in some places and less so in most others”(Jones, 1969). At the time Jones wrote his paper, knowledge of colonisation of the continent was estimated to have begun at roughly 20 to 30 thousand years ago, today, based on a growing body of Archaeological evidence, those numbers have been revised to have occurred 55 to 65 thousand years ago spanning the middle Pleistocene or pre-ice-age period and continuing through the early Holocene. Yet, during the late Pleistocene and/or early Holocene eras, due to low population size and spread, it is argued that our early human ancestors, who colonised this continent, did not have a sufficient amount of time to cause widespread landscape modification through anthropogenic fire setting (Bliege Bird, Bird, Codding, Parker, & Jones, 2008). It is thus more reasonable then to assume that continent-wide landscape modification took many millennia to develop in order to truly have an impact on local eco-systems as has been suggested by archaeologists. The harmony that was created over thousands of years has thus been grossly upset since the advent of European colonisation. In this post, I look more closely at cultural burning through two lenses, Aboriginal culture, and biodiversity, and demonstrate how each relates to the frameworks of cultural integrity, cultural expression, and cultural wellbeing. Through its exploitation, cultural burning has contributed to greater ecological biodiversity while also reinforcing and strengthening connection to Country all of which is providing a deeper understanding of fire management locally and globally.
Cultural Integrity
As early Holocene communities spread and grew across the Australian landscape, culture and spirituality developed and evolved into a rich tapestry of beliefs that are profoundly connected to Country. Among Aboriginal communities today, culture and spirituality remain deeply interconnected with the land and natural environment, the results of which are a “rich culture of law, ceremony, oral history and detailed ecological knowledge” (McGregor et al., 2010). Multi-disciplinary studies focusing on mental and physical health as well as the community aspects of cultural burning by Aboriginal peoples in the Northern Territory – namely Arnhem land and Kakadu National Park – found that funding programs that encouraged continued connection to land, supported cultural burning in remote regions, and promoted better health of people and the local environments within which the burning occurred (Garnett et al., 2009). The simple act of setting fire and generating smoke sends a message to nearby communities that the land is being cared for and is therefore important for maintaining the integrity of the land being burnt (Johnston, Jacups, Vickery, & Bowman, 2007). Yet in the Northern Territory, this caring and tending to Country has been greatly and negatively impacted over the last two centuries by European industrial civilisation “despite remaining a stronghold of Aboriginal cultures and still containing vast areas of relatively intact landscapes” (Johnston et al., 2007). The disconnect has been the focus of a variety of research studies that have covered both quantitative and qualitative data. The displacement of culture in many areas and changeover to more western fire regimes coupled with negative perceptions of fire are “associated with major shifts in ecological composition, ranging from local-scale shrub encroachment and forest degradation to regional- and continental-scale changes in vegetation” (Bowman & Vigilante, 2005). The division in the landscape in the regions of Kakadu National Park (Kakadu) and Arnhem Land is obvious. Regions that continue to practice cultural burning are healthier and more biodiverse than landscapes that don’t practice burning.
Maintaining the integrity of Country, goes hand in hand with maintaining Aboriginal cultural integrity. The complex system of Aboriginal knowledge and tradition remain under constant threat by a western influenced world. Returning to Country, even for brief periods of time is enough to satisfy a variety of motives and has been found to provide a cathartic release for Aboriginal peoples (Johnston et al., 2007). Funding programs and research projects that seek to bridge the gap “between Aborigines and Western scientists, offer a means by which different knowledge systems can be communicated and exchanged so that land management decisions can be more effective and equitable” (Bowman & Vigilante, 2005). Research has already demonstrated the importance of the “interconnectedness of people, fire, and land” resources in Arnhem Land, considering that area is one of the most fire prone regions on the planet (Trauernicht, Brook, Murphy, Williamson, & Bowman, 2015). The shared knowledge, however, is proving to be a key factor in the maintenance of cultural and environmental integrity, both of which lead to improved wellbeing among Aboriginal peoples involved.
Cultural Wellbeing
As mounting research is showing, the importance of burning from a cultural and anthropological perspective seems clear. Jones’ 1969 article on ‘fire-stick farming’ certainly helped serve as a catalyst for more western research into the practice. The research results of anthropogenic burning have thus led to a variety of positive outcomes where Aboriginal peoples are involved and have input into the process. Greater emphasis has been placed on wellbeing where, “the health of Aboriginal people living in remote areas appears to be connection to, and interaction with, ‘country’ – land or sea to which they have an ancestral attachment” (Garnett et al., 2009). Sadly though, Aboriginal health ranks among the lowest compared to all Australians and is among the lowest of Indigenous groups when compared to the health of Indigenous societies in New Zealand and North America (Johnston et al., 2007). However, this argument alone isn’t enough to sway public policy or encourage Aboriginal led burning activity. Still, too often, Aboriginal fire management regimes are ignored in favour of mass backburns (strategic anthropogenic fire setting aimed at reducing fuel load) administered by state or local government authorities. Anthropogenic burning is further complicated by the introduction and in some cases proliferation of non-endemic species.
The addition of many non-native species of plant and animal over the past two centuries have wildly reshaped the Australian landscape. One example includes the Asian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) which was introduced by Europeans in the mid to late 1800s into the Northern Territory. This introduction serves as an excellent demonstration of Aboriginal peoples adaptability in the face of adverse landscape changes. The water buffalo became an important grazer in the region, helping to reduce fuel loads which led to fewer intense fires caused by lightning (McGregor et al., 2010). Over time, the water buffalo became more entangled into Aboriginal culture contributing further to the wellbeing of local groups. With grazing resulting in fewer intense burns, combined with cultural burning practices, as well as hunting, the water buffalo provided meat and hides for local Aboriginal peoples managing the land in Kakadu and Arnhem Land. Research clearly showed the level of biodiversity that developed as a result of having water buffalo on Country. Continued use of cultural burning, and hunting were all working together to create a harmonious landscape. However, in the 1980s an eradication program was initiated to reduce the water buffalo numbers in the region. It was a highly contentious issue among Traditional Owners and groups in the region who had come to rely on the animal and had integrated its symbol into local cultural traditions (Trauernicht, Murphy, Tangalin, & Bowman, 2013). The symbiotic relationship that had developed between people and land was greatly upset during the buffalo cull of the 1980s.
Cultural Expression
By the time of European colonisation, landscape modification that supported hunting and encouraged diversity across wildlife and flora came to largely depend on fire, and early Aboriginal peoples developed specific methods for employing and administering this process. The first recorded entries by Europeans of cultural burnings note peculiarities of spaced trees and short, groomed grasses as well as the act of burning the land by ‘the Aborigines’ (Gammage, 2011). It wouldn’t be until the twentieth century when archaeologists and anthropologists would begin to piece the historic and cultural act of burning together as a solution to minimising fire events caused by lightning (Pascoe, 2018). Natural lightning induced fire events were observed to be of greater intensity in local areas that no longer practiced routine anthropogenic burning, since short grasses became overgrown and added to the fuel load (Boivin & Crowther, 2021). This has been directly observed in the Stone Country and Arnhem Land which is described as one of the most fire-prone landscapes in the world (Trauernicht et al., 2013). The cessation of local hunting and cultural burning practices thus also saw a reduction in species diversity. A major contributing factor to this reduction was an era of continued dispossession from land and disconnection from Country.
The demonstration of cultural expression through burning has developed over several millennia throughout Australia. What we’ve witnessed over the past two hundred years since the advent of colonisation by Europeans is that a break in tradition and loss of knowledge has led to a rapid upset of biodiversity and loss of species in various regions across the landscape (McGregor et al., 2010). An inability to express culture has led to a degradation of health and wellbeing and diminished the integrity of Country. Yet, as global climatic changes reshape our landscapes, more people across disciplines are looking to Traditional Owners in areas like Arnhem Land and Kakadu for knowledge and guidance. In recent years, Traditional Owners have been working with fire rangers in Kakadu combining traditional burning methods with aerial methods – fire delivered by helicopter. This shared knowledge is leading to a better understanding of landscape management through fire, encouraging the continued use of cultural practices and providing a guide for the global application of fire regimes in fire-prone areas and regions being impacted by climate change (Trauernicht et al., 2013). The expression of ancient fire practice by Aboriginal peoples of Australia is evolving. As has been witnessed and demonstrated many times over the last two centuries, Indigenous Australians are resilient and adaptable, and the sharing and evolution of ancient knowledge and practices integrated with modern processes is perhaps the ultimate demonstration of cultural expression.
Conclusion
Australia’s landscape has been shaped by both natural and human forces working in tandem over several millennia. A deep, spiritual connection to Country has evolved to include many facets including fire. Fire has provided a means for cooking, hunting, and landscape modification for Aboriginal peoples throughout the continent and its use continues to grab the attention of anthropologists, archaeologists, and environmental biologists alike as they search for answers to one of the biggest challenges we face as a society today – global climate change. The wellbeing of Aboriginal peoples practicing cultural burning is well documented and the transference of that wellbeing is directly observable in the biodiversity that’s been maintained and even created in the landscapes that are being managed through cultural burning. Even in the face of adverse change such as in introduced flora and fauna that came to Australia during the early colony days – Aboriginal peoples found ways of integrating and absorbing the change adding to an already rich cultural tapestry. Kakadu and Arnhem Land have provided both a testing ground and research base for the conjoining of western fire knowledge and practices with Aboriginal fire practices and the results have the ability to provide a framework for the rest of Australia and the world. Beyond the global and even national implications of cultural burning, the act of fire-setting itself allows for an ancient people to redevelop a connection to Country that serves to maintain integrity of both culture and land. Further, the re-established, interconnectedness, and practice of cultural burning have demonstrated improvements to health and wellbeing, allowing for oral traditions and knowledge to be passed along to younger generations. Finally, the sharing of knowledge with western scholars and scientists is reshaping the way we collectively look at burning. Listening and applying accumulated knowledge to some of the biggest issues our species face today is unlocking a future we can all enjoy.
Edited 10 April 2026. Original essay written by B. Arsenault, February 2026.
References
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