Kimberley Bush Medicine

Medicinal Plants of the Kimberley Region of Western Australia
By: Madison King, John Horsfall

Before the colonisation of Australia, Aboriginal Australians lived on a wonderful larder of fresh fruit, vegetables and lean meat, in a land largely free from disease, with more exercise, less stress and supportive communities.

Today, in Aboriginal communities all over Australia, there are higher instances of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, renal disease, some types of cancer and lung diseases than in the general population.

This book is an attempt to preserve bush tucker knowledge for future generations of Aboriginal and non- Aboriginal people to ensure the information is not lost with the passing of Elders.

The authors describe over 250 species of the edible plants and fungi that were regularly gathered by the Indigenous peoples of the Kimberley of Western Australia before and after colonisation. Many of these plants and fungi are difficult to find today because of land clearing for crops and the farming of sheep and cattle.

About the Authors

Madison King is an Aboriginal woman from the Kimberley’s. She is a Yawuru, Karajarri, Nykinaina, and Bunaba woman from the West Kimberley, and was raised in the East Kimberley on her father’s side. She holds a double degree in Psychology, Criminology, and Justice and is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Laws at Edith Cowan University. Most of her early childhood was spent between the remote town of Wyndham, in the East Kimberley, and the remote and isolated community of Oombulgurri, also known as Forrest River Mission, where she was taught the skills to survive, how to forage for food, star navigation, and tracking. Madison is passionate about the preservation and sharing of cultural knowledge and practise.

John Horsfall has had a long career as a Mental Health and General Nurse. He has taught at the Western Australian School of Nursing and, later, at the Curtin University Centre for Aboriginal Studies. He was the Training Coordinator at the Specialist Aboriginal Mental Health Service in Perth before retiring in 2013.