Indigenous automation in the Brewarrina fish and Budj Bim eel systems: Cultural responsivity in cross-cultural Indigenous science education

In this chapter we outline how pre-invasion Indigenous engineering can contribute to teaching and delivery of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) materials in high schools and universities. There is a growing body of work that argues effective STEM delivery should engage with Indigenous communities, their epistemologies, and their aspirations. This chapter discusses and realigns the way we view the theoretical space that exists between western and traditional Indigenous knowledge systems by focusing on Indigenous engineering principles of automation in the Budj Bim eel traps and Brewarrina fish traps. The eel traps at Budj Bim are a vast aquaculture network designed by Gunditjmara peoples to manage and automate the flow of eels and fish. The Brewarrina fish traps, devised by the Nyemba peoples, are estimated to be one of the oldest human technologies and similarly to the eel traps, worked to automate fish farming. Despite principles of automation underpinning the design and operation of many Indigenous agricultural and aquacultural practices, contemporary engineering and technological debates regarding automation exclude Indigenous perspectives. The purpose of the chapter is to show how western and Indigenous knowledges can be productively bought into a cultural interface and effectively taught in STEM education. Highlighting the case studies’ use of automation is an impactful way of connecting Indigenous engineering to contemporary STEM debates about technology, sustainability, and social inclusion, and engage students with Indigenous science as an ongoing and lived practice.