Why is passing knowledge between women so important in Aboriginal cultures?
Across the vast diversity of Aboriginal cultures in Australia, the passing of knowledge between women is a tradition grounded in care, custodianship and connection to Country.
Guide Rosanna Angus of Oolin Sunday Island Cultural Tours, sharing knowledge with female travellers in Western Australia © Tourism Australia
Across the vast diversity of Aboriginal cultures in Australia, the passing of knowledge between women is a tradition grounded in care, custodianship and connection to Country. Through story, ceremony, craft and kinship, Aboriginal women have long been the keepers of ecological, medicinal, spiritual and cultural knowledge – and the vital conduits through which it flows from generation to generation.
What kinds of knowledge do women hold?
Aboriginal women hold deep knowledge of bush foods, medicines, water sources, language, weaving techniques, birthing practices and ceremonial responsibilities. Much of this wisdom is specific to ‘women’s business’ – sacred knowledge that governs life cycles, relationships, and responsibilities to kin and Country. The transfer of this knowledge is not a single event, but a lifelong, layered process of observation, participation and lived experience.
Guide Rosanna Angus of Oolin Sunday Island Cultural Tours, Western Australia, cruising to Sunday Island with guests © Tourism Australia
Why is this exchange so important?
Knowledge shared between Aboriginal women is often practical and spiritual at once, equipping younger women with the skills to navigate both modern life and traditional responsibilities. This transfer reinforces identity, fosters resilience, and maintains the cultural integrity of communities.
“Succession to our young generations is fundamental,” says Rosanna Angus, who leads Oolin Sunday Island Cultural Tours through her family’s Country in the Kimberley. “We need to collaborate with them. It’s a challenge though, because work in Broome is very seasonal. But we are strong and we work hard.”
In Queensland on North Stradbroke Island / Minjerribah, Quandamooka woman Elisha Kissick from Yura Tours says that knowledge exchange among women is crucial for cultural healing. “I want our young girls to be proud of where they come from. When they learn culture, they walk stronger. They speak louder.”
Guide Elisha Kissick of Yura Tours showing a traveller around North Stradbroke Island / Minjerribah, Queensland © Tourism Australia
Where can I see this in action?
Across Western Australia, Aboriginal women are sharing cultural knowledge in ways that feel both intimate and enduring – a rhythmic continuation of story, ceremony and practice grounded in Country.
At Waringarri Aboriginal Arts in the East Kimberley, women sit beneath the shade of boabs, weaving fibre baskets, mixing ochre, painting ancestral stories. Visitors might join a Miriwoong guide on a walk through nearby Country, where the landscape itself becomes the teaching ground – every tree, waterhole and rock encoded with meaning, every story told reinforcing the authority and artistry of women’s voices.
Not far away at El Questro, Mary and Shonelle of Injiid Marlabu Calls Us move seamlessly between generations as they walk together through their family’s Country. Mother and daughter, guide and knowledge-holder, their tours are rich with personal insight: bush medicines crushed between fingers, native figs picked straight from the tree, Dreaming stories shared beneath the dappled light of river gums.
In the southwest of the state, Dale Tilbrook brings women’s ecological and culinary knowledge to the fore, offering bushfood tastings and talks that are equal parts sensory experience and cultural immersion. Through ingredients like sandalwood nuts and wattleseed, she shares the wisdom of her Noongar ancestors — not as static artefacts, but as living, evolving knowledge systems.
Dale Tilbrook hosting a bush tucker tasting with a female traveller in Western Australia © Tourism Australia
And on the saltwater Country of the Dampier Peninsula, Rosanna Angus leads guests through tidal mangroves on her Oolin Sunday Island tours, telling stories of sea creatures, cultural laws and women’s connections to the rhythms of the coast. Her tours are as much about listening to the land as they are about listening to the women who’ve walked it for generations.
Over on the east coast of Australia, Elisha Kissick is continuing this intergenerational flow in Queensland. Her work with young women is grounded in the belief that cultural knowledge builds confidence. “I love it when my daughters come on a tour and speak in language. There’s so much pride,” she says.
Guide Cathy Ward walking with guests on Country around Kununurra in Western Australia © Tourism Australia
These are not passive experiences. They are dynamic, woman-led acts of renewal – experiences that honour the past, empower the present and ensure the future of cultural knowledge remains firmly in women’s hands.
