By Crystal Arnold
I’m a Gundungurra woman and researcher who works with Yuin Elders and the Shoalhaven River (which I call “River”) on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia, to explore how we might rethink our approach to invasive plants, which people commonly call weeds. Western science usually treats weeds as a problem that we should eradicate. But through this research, I demonstrate that we can also see weeds as messengers, witnesses to environmental harm and teachers guiding us toward care and regeneration.
The paper shares stories and insights of Indigenous ways of knowing. This included yarning with Aboriginal people and all of Country; listening, observing, and Travels, which are a form of dreaming. Yarning with all of Country means sitting in relationship with plants, animals, water, wind, soil, and spirit, listening and responding as we would with people. Through careful observation, messages emerge in subtle shifts such as the way plants grow, birds move, or water flows, offering guidance and teachings from Country. These methods aren’t metaphorical. They are cultural, spiritual, and grounded ways of doing research that respect more-than-human voices and relationships.
I build upon the idea of “gentle care” as a way of working with weeds that’s not about control or destruction, but about listening, slowing down, and tending to Country with respect and reciprocity. This includes recognising when weeds are protecting new growth, or when they’re signalling soil that’s been disturbed or damaged.
This research offers a different way of thinking about weed management, one that centres care, relationship, and Indigenous sovereignty. It also suggests that policy and land management programs need to expand their understanding of what care looks like and whose knowledge counts.
By listening to Country, to plants, to Elders, and to Travels, this work shows how Indigenous knowledge can offer powerful ways to care in relation to weed management, not just for Aboriginal communities, but for everyone who lives on and with Country.
Relational Thinking 