Introduction
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that the articles in this book (online) may contain images, voices and names of deceased persons
We all have stories of our engineering experiences whether as consumers or creators. These provide a reflection on our previous use or making of technology to consider how we can improve for the future. First Nations engineering is focused very much on process, not specific to any material, discipline or issue to solve. Hence we hope this collection will provide you all with ways of doing your engineering that respects the sustainable approach of our Aboriginal Australian ancestors.
This book contains case studies, scenarios and exercises that will immerse you in the culture and practice of our First Nations. We understand that these concepts can be quite a new approach, and we will provide as much as possible tools that help you engage and grow from these resources.
Material is being collected from engineering projects across the Pacific, Engineers Without Borders projects, projects by Māori Engineers, work with traditional builders of Vanuatu, both historical and present day. A major focus is on providing assessment of this material, which is for use in Higher Education and Professional training. This book is being published in scheduled releases. Release dates of chapters will be listed in the versioning history page.
In providing these materials we include background resources on the culture and needs of Indigenous communities in Australia with more material on Māori communities in New Zealand to follow, as well as examples of traditional technology that can be adapted to today’s communities. Similarly, students doing practical projects with First Nations communities or engineering graduates who are working with First Nations, in urban, rural or remote areas, will find this a useful resource during their professional development to consider the features that are significant in managing and designing projects that engage the knowledge of the local community.
We note here that the style of the chapters, and certainly the sections, are very different in their expression. They have different focus and intent. We should explain that with the different authors and their different expertise we did not want to impose any specific style. We hope you find this adds to the value of the book having the different approaches being in their original voice.
Parts
The first section is material from engineering that existed in Australia and Aotearoa prior to colonisation. This will be in the form of case studies and exercises for students to engage in the perspectives such as sustainability; flat governance; flexible, minimalist and holistic design; and learning as story-building, which are fundamental when understanding these technologies.
The second section relates Indigenous perspective to western engineering disciplines as short projects that may be introduced into the classroom or can be taken up as resources for project by a team within a discipline
In the third section the textbook provides case study stories from mainstream engineering projects viewed from an Indigenous perspective. This will allow students and those who are now professional engineers, to consider the approaches to sustainability, systems thinking, humanitarian engineering, etc that will enrich our engineering discipline and practice.
The fourth section covers common types of projects that are done with community, looking at community needs and practices that impact on engineering work in this area. While the individual projects we will provide can become dated, they are explained in terms that can generalise to other communities in terms of process as aspirations, rather than the details that will therefore be negotiated with individual communities in any future project.
Expanding on or re-interpreting old ways
When joining the two braids of Indigenous and Engineering knowledges we acknowledge the value of the first, more coherent and robust system developed over thousands of years. We acknowledge that Engineering is something more than what we teach and enact at present as academics and professional engineers, it is also the sculpting of the landscape and development of tools by First Nations in Australia and New Zealand.
By providing this work as an online book we can incorporate videos and other resources (with permission) that already exist on the web to ensure students can learn through audio as well as written means from the one source. Where necessary we provide links to external resources. One such link is a playlist that has been set up for Indigenous Knowledge material. Furthermore, we will be able to add updates and remove outdated material at regular intervals, to ensure the students have resources that convey the most recent perspectives and depth of Indigenous knowledges. This will be provided by existing authors and others who wish to contribute.
In many of our universities, students work on a low-tech design solution to community problems, but also learn how to design a new technology. They learn how to research issues and potential solutions, develop a suitable solution which they must justify, and provide both a written and oral report on their work. They have available many references available on this generic area of learning, as well as library support sessions. However, it is hard for students to complete aspects of this work, such as justify their design, when they do not have material relating to the culture and practice of their clients. We want them to have access to the stories told by Indigenous people, based on actual projects, to enable them to engage with the complexity of this culture and the depth of knowledge of the people with whom they will be working or designing. Even when projects are not related to the communities included in this book, we hope you will consider how many of the concepts and experiences are universal within all nations of the world.
Also we acknowledge there are many more people doing this work than those who have contributed to this book, or have been contacted to contribute. Hence we ask those reading this who have resources they want to share, to please contact Dr Cat Kutay at Charles Darwin University where this work is produced and consider sharing in future versions of this open text.
Respectful Language
Many documents on respectful language and behaviour have been writtten on how to work with culturally responsiveness. One aspect is how words are written and what words are used. For instance Elder, Country and Aboriginal are usually capitalised, but this can be checked with the local community, what forms of language they want used.
This guide can be useful, the a-z-of-first-nations-terms-student-guide
