First Peoples' knowledge leads scientists to reveal 'fairy circles' and termite linyji are linked in Australia

Abstract

In the past, when scientists encountered and studied 'new' environmental phenomena, they rarely considered the existing knowledge of First Peoples (also known as Indigenous or Aboriginal people). The scientific debate over the regularly spaced bare patches (so-called fairy circles) in arid grasslands of Australian deserts is a case in point. Previous researchers used remote sensing, numerical modelling, aerial images and field observations to propose that fairy circles arise from plant self-organization. Here we present Australian Aboriginal art and narratives, and soil excavation data, that suggest these regularly spaced, bare and hard circles in grasslands are pavement nests occupied by Drepanotermes harvester termites. These circles, called linyji (Manyjilyjarra language) or mingkirri (Warlpiri language), have been used by Aboriginal people in their food economies and for other domestic and sacred purposes across generations. Knowledge of the linyji has been encoded in demonstration and oral transmission, ritual art and ceremony and other media. While the exact origins of the bare circles are unclear, being buried in deep time and Jukurrpa, termites need to be incorporated as key players in a larger system of interactions between soil, water and grass. Ecologically transformative feedbacks across millennia of land use and manipulation by Aboriginal people must be accounted for. We argue that the co-production of knowledge can both improve the care and management of those systems and support intergenerational learning within and across diverse cultures.

Fig. 1. Parallels in depiction of termite pavements in helicopter and satellite imagery and Aboriginal painting.

a, Aerial photographs show regularly spaced termite pavements in spinifex grassland of Triodia basedowii on Nyiyaparli lands. The red vehicle track is same as in c. Dark ash of recently burnt spinifex is visible by the track (photo © Mike Gillam 2021). b, Painting of regularly spaced termite pavements by Anmatyerre, Warlpiri and Arrernte man Kaapa Tjampitjinpa, titled ‘Watanuma’ (edible flying termites). Synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 202.4 × 171.8 cm. (1976), National Museum of Australia, © estate of the artist, licensed by Papunya Tula Artists and Aboriginal Artists Agency. c, The pavement spot patterns are visible using Google Earth; the track on the right (east) is the same track as shown in a near plot FC 2 (Image © 2/2022 CNES/Airbus, eye alt 610 m). d, Painting ‘Flying termite dreaming’ by Anmatyerre Warlpiri man, Paddy Carroll Tjungurrayi associated with the pupate stage of the flying ant [termite] Watanuma. The artist indicated the creamy background represents spinifex in which the insect flourishes. Synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 180 × 120 cm, (1980), unknown collection, © estate of the artist, licensed by Papunya Tula Artists and Aboriginal Artists Agency. There are visual and content similarities between photographs (a,c) and artwork (b,d). Further interpretations of b and d are provided in Supplementary Fig. 1. Images a, b and d in this figure are covered by Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND.

Fig. 2. Aboriginal women use pavements to thresh seed using different methods.

a, Martu co-author Thelma Judson and Wirnta Williams rub Kalpari (Dysphania kalpari) seed against the hard linyji surface to separate seed from chaff (screenshot from video by J. Walsh, 1988; https://vimeo.com/399035889; photo © Fiona Walsh). b, Hand stones left on a linyji by Martu ancestors during pre-colonial times. The sand marks are from Martu people in 1987 who demonstrated seed threshing motions for which the stones were used (photo © Fiona Walsh). c, Martu elder Nganyinytja Lewis uses feet and pole to thresh seed in a pit (photo by T. and B. Blake, 1987, © Ara Irititja Archive Nos AI-0081679; see video Putu for Wangunu = Pavement for Seed Food; https://vimeo.com/654072562 and https://vimeo.com/539494391). d, The painting titled ‘Watanuma’ (edible flying termites) (2008) by Pintupi woman Wintjiya Napaltjarri illustrates different associations with termites and pavements in synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 151.2 × 182.0 cm. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. © estate of the artist, licensed by Papunya Tula Artists and Aboriginal Artists Agency. Further interpretations of c and d are provided in Supplementary Fig. 2. All images in this figure are covered by Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND.

Fig. 3. Art, ethnographic records and observations of termite pavements and winged termites overlap in distribution across arid Australia.

a, Locations of Indigenous art and ethnographic records of termite pavements and winged termites and observed termite pavements across Aboriginal language groups in Western Australia, the Northern Territory and South Australia. Ethnographic records and pavement observations in New South Wales and Queensland have not been searched or mapped. b, Martu language areas and the Martu Native Title Determination Boundary (orange lines) with ethnographic records and pavement locations, with neighbouring Nyiyaparli lands to the west (boundaries approximate; shape files adapted from Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa). Language boundaries are in grey, and language names are shown in Supplementary Fig. 3. Note that all language boundaries are permeable, dynamic and often contested due to displacement, dispossession, relocation and other factors. Red boundary denotes map in c. c, Locations of plots surveyed in 2021 on Nyiyaparli country.

Fig. 4. Aboriginal people’s knowledge was analysed in parallel to a survey of pavements on Nyiyaparli country near Newman.

a, Typical pavement at FC 2 surveyed in same plot area as Getzin et al.. This pavement averaged 5.2 m diameter with no mound. The area has dense spinifex grassland unburnt since at least 1985; such long-unburnt areas are now rare in arid Australia (photo © Fiona Walsh). b, Termite structure extracted from the pavement showing termite chambers, spinifex chaff stored in chambers, chambers with blackened walls, and all within dense consolidated soil (photo © Fiona Walsh). c, Dark termite frass-filled chambers and the dense termite cement distinguished the on-pavement structures to the inter-pavement soils that were loose and easy to dig. Frass chambers were 1–3 cm long (photo © Fiona Walsh). d, As foretold by Aboriginal people (Ethnographic data, row 15; 10.26182/k3p0-hf57), observations showed that termite pavements can hold rainwater at the surface for periods longer than the inter-pavement sandplain areas which absorb more quickly (photo ©Emma Stock; <6 km west of site FC 2-1). All images in this figure are covered by Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND.

Fig. 5. Termites and termite structures are much more common within and under pavements than in the spinifex grassland next to pavements.

At the Nyiyaparli plots, 100% of trenches within pavements had open, frass and/or chaff chamber, and 41% had live harvester termites. Temporary foraging tunnels were found in the grassy inter-pavement areas. Termites and grass chaff were found in both, but at significantly different frequencies. Samples sizes: 23 pavements and 11 areas next to pavements (the former included 29 m of trenching in total). Error bars indicate standard errors. NS, not significant.