The Indigenous harvest of species such as sea turtles and dugong are recognised as a native title right in Australia, however the practice sits in stark contrast to the demands from many Australians that traditional hunting be banned. This course focuses on Indigenous interactions with and uses of animals (nonhuman animals) and will present the historical and cultural context for practices such as traditional hunting.

While the ancientness of Indigenous interactions with animals is documented in archaeological findings, ongoing human-animal interactions exemplify indigenous environmental and scientific knowledge and reveal how cultural practices related to animals have been maintained or adapted. It will draw from the body of work in disciplines such as archaeology, anthropology, cultural studies and environmental history to theorise past and present day human-animal interactions in Indigenous domains.