Seed Funding Grants

2023 Recipients

Photo of Australian native stingless bees. The bees are in a round cylindrical hive attached to bark.

Two-Way Knowledge Sharing for Native Bee Climate Adaptation in Arnhem Land

Professor Margie Mayfield (School of Biosciences) will work with Professor Brian Gumbala (Indigenous Knowledge Institute), Dr Rachele Wilson (University of Queensland), and the Yirralka Rangers in Northeast Arnhem Land to develop a management plan for the conservation of native stingless bees.

Evidencing Djaara-Led, Djandak Wi (Cultural Firing Practices) For Healthy Djandak (Country)

Dr Margaret Ayre, Dr Stephanie Lavau, and Ms Ella Plumanns Pouton (all Faculty of Science) aim to develop criteria, indicators, and methods to measure the effectiveness of Indigenous-led firing practices in Djandak (Dja Dja Wurrung Country in Victoria, Australia).

Grass burning in a line in the distance. The sky is filled with smoke.

The picture is of a stacked pile of old textbooks.

Melbourne Graduate School of Education and Laynhapuy Homelands School: A Critical Friendship Approach to Documenting Yolŋu Pedagogy

Associate Professor Jeana Kriewaldt will lead this project with Ms Bern Murphy (both Melbourne Graduate School of Education) and Dr Margaret Ayre (Faculty of Science) to support Yolŋu students to complete their secondary schooling on Country.

Kupungarri On Country Printmaking Project

Dr Megan McPherson, Mr Tiriki Onus, and Associate Professor Sally Treloyn (all Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development) will investigate how women in remote areas develop their art careers and develop new skills to further their careers. The project will have a particular focus on the transmission of intergenerational Indigenous knowledges through artmaking in the remote community of Kupungarri, Western Australia.

A person is screen printing in front of a window.

Two women are standing in front of a whiteboard with written notes on it. The woman on the right is pointing something out to the woman on the left.

Yolŋu Team Teacher Exchange Program With Yirrkala School

Associate Professor Melitta Hogarth and Ms Bern Murphy (both Melbourne Graduate School of Education) will work with University of Melbourne academics and partnering Melbourne schools to support strategies for Yolŋu teacher education at the Yirrkala school in Northeast Arnhem Land.

Revival and Cultural Renewal of Gunditjmara Seasonal Knowledge

Associate Professor Juliana Prpic, Dr Greg Wadley (both Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology), and Dr Lisa Godinho (Faculty of Science) will lead this project to support the Gunditjmara people in their aspirations to revive and renew traditional seasonal knowledge of Country.

Photo of Gunditjmara seasonal calendar. The calendar is a large circle laid in stone on the ground with each season separated by a line. There are curved brick benches set in the middle of the circle.

Image of small sailing boats on shore next to a building. Detritus can be seen in the dark sand and there are palm trees in the background along the water.

Sustaining Relations Between Makassans and Yolŋu: Remembering Trade and Kinship

Led by Dr Anthea Skinner (Victorian College of the Arts), this project brings together experts in Indigenous Australian and Indonesian cultures to better understand cultural and trade relations between Yolŋu and Makassan communities from the 1700s until the early 20th century.

2022 Recipients

YOYI (Dance)

Dr David Sequeira (Faculty of Fine Arts and Music) will work with the Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development and Jilamara Arts and Crafts Association in the Tiwi Islands to produce the art exhibition ‘YOYI’. YOYI will comprise 30 bark paintings by emerging, midcareer, and senior artists, and a collaborative multi-channel video installation.

Jilamara Artists on a sunny beach. Four of them are standing and one is sitting. They are painted in jilamara (a body paint design) for yoyi (dance). — Jilamara artists (L to R) Timothy Cook, Raylene Miller, Pedro Wonaeamirri, Columbiere Tipungwuti, Raelene Kerinauia painted up in jilamara (body paint design) for yoyi (dance) at Timrambu, Wulirankuwu, Melville Island. Image courtesy of the artists and Jilamara Arts and Crafts Association. Photo: Will Heathcote

Indigenous knowledges in the criminal “justice” context

Led by Professor Marcia Langton (Melbourne School of Population and Global Health), the project will examine how Indigenous knowledges have been incorporated into the criminal justice system.

Birrarung’s billabongs: understanding their past to better manage them today

Dr Joe Greet (School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences) will work with the Wurundjeri Woi wurrung Corporation’s Narrap (Country) Unit Rangers and Melbourne Water to develop management plans for priority billabongs along the lower Birrarung (Yarra River).

Group of people, most in hi-vis, standing amongst tall grass and plants in Bolin Bolin billabong. You can see eucalyptus trees behind the group, on the bank of the billabong. — Joe Greet, Narrap Unit Rangers, and Melbourne Water at Bolin Bolin billabong in 2021.

Social and Emotional Well-Being among Custodians of Australian Indigenous Knowledge

Led by Dr Candice Boyd (School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences), the project will explore the social and emotional well-being of Elders and Older People as the holders and transmitters of cultural knowledge.

Revitalising and sharing knowledge through creativity: developing interdisciplinary research practice

Dr Andrea Rawluk will co-lead a project with Darug woman Maddison Miller, Professor Rod Keenan (each School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences) and Dr Gillian Howell (Faculty of Fine Arts and Music), working with Gunaikurnai Land and Water Aboriginal Corporation and Indigenous actor Leroy Parsons.

2021 Recipients

Image of a man dancing in a dark room. The features of the room are in shadow and the dancing man is illuminated. — Dancer and choreographer Daniel Riley. Photo: Vishal Pandey

Wagambirra

Daniel Riley (Victorian College of the Arts) is an early career Wiradjuri researcher, as well as a highly experienced choreographer and dancer, who will explore the traditional Wiradjuri dance form in partnership with Wiradjuri Elders and communities in Dubbo. The project will assist in documentation and intergenerational transfer of cultural knowledge.

Yoongoorookoo: First Law, legal comparison, and a Martuwarra/Fitzroy River creation story

Early career researcher Dr Erin O’Donnell (Melbourne Law School) will work in partnership with the Traditional Owners of the Martuwarra Fitzroy River, including Nyikina academic Dr Anne Poelina, to map the “First Law” of the river.

Aerial photo of the Martuwarra river. Several branches of the river wind along amongst a green landscape. — Martuwarra (Fitzroy River). Photo: Jackson Gallagher

Loaf of grain made from native grains with sesame seeds on top. It is sitting on a cooling rack, a placemat, and a table with a red and black patterned tablecloth. — Bread made from native kangaroo and Microlaena grains.

Developing a food safety roadmap for commercialising Cumbungi

Enterprise Professor Bruce Pascoe and Associate Professor Kate Howell (Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences) will work with Black Duck Foods to develop a food safety roadmap for commercialising the native Cumbungi plant.

Aboriginal Astronomical Knowledge of the Kulin Nation

Associate Professor Duane Hamacher (School of Physics) will coordinate a project that aims to document the Aboriginal Astronomical Knowledge of the Kulin Nation.

Emu in the Sky. Photo: Andrew Wallace

Three men in Indonesia cooking on a traditional fire. Two men are crouching and one is standing. — Traditional way of cooking in Lembata, Eastern Indonesia. Photo: Melinda Wejak.

“If you look after nature, the land will look after you”: Indigenous knowledge of medicine and food in Lembata, Eastern Indonesia

Led by Dr Justin Wejak (Asia Institute), the project aims to explore Indigenous storytelling and knowledge practices related to food and medicinal plants on the island of Lembata in Eastern Indonesia. The project will also look at knowledge production and transmission, and the role of gender in Indigenous knowledge practices.