Aboriginal Australians have eaten native plant and animal foods for an estimated 60,000 years. The traditional methods used to process these foods evolved over time, with the toxicity of these ingredients playing a pivotal role in how bush tucker was prepared and consumed. As hunter-gatherers, they would look for energy-dense foods — foods that would provide necessary protein, fat, and sugar for survival in the harsh conditions of the bush. Often, these would include animal meat and offal, insects and grubs, and honey and fruit.

Most plant foods were eaten raw and meats were often cooked over hot campfire coals or wrapped in paperbark and baked in ground ovens. Overall, the bush tucker diet was one that provided high nutrition, offering good levels of protein, micronutrients, and fiber. Certain animal foods like witchetty grubs provided high-fat sources, but the majority of native land animals, including the kangaroo, provided very lean meat compared to many domesticated animals eaten today.

The colonization of Australia in 1788 greatly affected the traditional use of bush foods as native ingredients were deemed “less superior”. The introduction of non-native foods, coupled with the loss of traditional lands and destruction of native habitats, resulted in limited access to native foods and resources. Abandonment of native foods increasingly became the norm.

Recognition of Australia’s native bush foods grew in the 1970s. The 1980s brought kangaroo meat into the spotlight after it was made legal for consumption in South Australia. Native food crops like the highly-prized macadamias saw commercial levels of cultivation. Fast forward to today and previously-overlooked native foods are now being celebrated for their nutritional benefits and gourmet value across the country in award-winning restaurants and home kitchens.

In this piece you see tribe members hunting for Kangaroo, Emu & Goanna.