Book Review: Sand Talk

Sand Talk: || Tyson Yunkaporta

Reviewed by Jade Miles

Sand Talk is an extraordinary reading experience. Yunkaporta’s goal was to “start out-of-the-box conversations with everyday people to generate diverse dialogues about resolving some of the complex sustainability issues facing the world”. Written from the perspective of a culture more than 60,000 years old, his goal was achieved. But of course it’s not so simple . Like many of Australia’s First Peoples, he has a complex identity and history but it’s this that gives him authority to write in a way which connects the wisdom of the past to the needs of the future.

This book demands a longer term perspective. It’s both philosophical and practical, compassionate yet realistic. It’s filled with humility and an other-worldly understanding of humanity. At the core of Sand Talk is a deep respect and understanding for Indigenous Knowledge. He urges us to consider the non linear complexity of the world. A world without hard and fast rules, times frames and industrialised expectations.

He challenges our expectations, points out cultural shortcomings and invites us to recognise indigenous concepts and their history. Importantly he shows how these patterns have the potential to be incorporated into our non indigenous thinking which builds hope and possibility to benefit us all - all through the simple art of telling a ‘yarn’.

A spectacular read that has the potential to shift the thoughts of a generation.