Bunda has a problem. His older brother Garadi acts like Bunda doesn't exist. Will they ever learn how to stop teasing each other and become friends as well as brothers?

Provocation Question

What does Bunda’s story reveal about how First Nations children learned through family, Country and responsibility, and what can we learn today from the way knowledge was shared across generations?

Bunda’s father teaches the boys about snakebite survival and spear-making. Bunda and Garadi argue and compete, instead of listening.

https://myplace.edu.au/teaching_activities/clip/4268?tab=History

Tuning In

Bunda and Garadi are learning important knowledge from their father, knowledge that has been passed down for thousands of generations. As you watch, think about how the boys learn, listen, and respond.

Use the above still image of the father teaching, record what you SEE, THINK and WONDER:

• See: What actions, tools, gestures do you notice?
• Think: What might these actions mean?
• Wonder: What questions do you have about how knowledge is taught?

As a class, use a graphic organiser, such as a three‑column chart to share and record your ideas

• What I noticed
• What I think it means
• Questions I have

Finding Out & Sorting Out

Choose one of the following group tasks to build your cultural knowledge and interpret the boys’ behaviour through a deep time lens.

Option 1: Research ‘How Knowledge Is Passed Down’ by investigating one cultural knowledge system:

• kinship
• seasonal calendars
• fire knowledge
• water systems
• tools and technologies
• storywork/oral teaching

Create a Source Analysis Grid to organise your research:

• Who shared this knowledge?
• How is it passed down?
• Why is it important?
• What values does it teach?
• How might this help us understand Bunda’s father?

Sources:

• AIATSIS (Country, kinship, knowledge systems)
• CSIRO Indigenous Seasonal Calendars
• Firesticks Alliance (cultural burning)
• NMA (tools, technologies, astronomy)

Option 2: Apply Research: ‘Why Listening Matters’

Students use their research to interpret the clip. Prompt: ‘How does understanding cultural knowledge systems help us understand why Bunda’s father teaches the way he does?’

Share your thinking by creating a Cause–Effect–Meaning chart:

• Cause: Father teaches snakebite survival
• Effect: Boys argue/compete
• Meaning: What cultural value or responsibility is being missed?

1)   Historical Inquiry Mini‑Investigation

•  Inquiry question:
  “How do First Nations children learn important knowledge from Elders?”

• Contextualise:
  Deep time, kinship, Country, oral teaching.

• Locate sources:
  The teacher‑provided images, videos, quotes from AIATSIS, seasonal calendars, and cultural burning clips.

•  Analyse sources:
  Annotate

1. What does this source teach?
2. How is knowledge shown?
3. What responsibilities are involved?

• Identify evidence:
  Students highlight evidence that explains the father’s teaching style.

Making Connections

‘If I were Bunda…’  write or record a short response:

How would understanding cultural knowledge systems change the way Bunda and Garadi respond to their father?

Remember to:

• Use evidence from research
• Show understanding of cultural values (listening, responsibility, kinship)
• Connect research to the boys’ behaviour
• Use respectful language

At the creek, Bunda's father tells him and his brother to catch a fish. Each uses a different method of fishing, and Bunda's method of building a small dam proves to be the most successful. Their father is annoyed that they are still not working together.

Tuning In

Bunda and Garadi are asked to catch a fish. They use different methods, both based on knowledge of Country. As you watch, think about how knowledge, teamwork and responsibility connect.

As a class, use the Thinking Routine: Connect–Extend–Challenge to organise your ideas:

• Connect: What does this remind me of?
• Extend: What new ideas do I have about knowledge and teamwork?
• Challenge: What questions do I have about the boys’ choices?

Finding Out & Sorting Out

Work together in small groups to research: ‘Knowledge Systems in Action’ and interpret the boys’ behaviour through a deep time lens.

Step 1: Research one ecological knowledge system:

• water systems (fish traps, eel traps, dams)
• seasonal knowledge (when fish move)
• tool‑making
• reading the river

Source analysis: examine images of:

• Brewarrina Fish Traps
• Budj Bim eel traps
• stone tools
• seasonal calendars

Organise your research notes into a Compare–Contrast table:

• Traditional knowledge system
• Bunda’s method
• Garadi’s method
• What values are shown?

Step 2: Apply Research: ‘Why Teamwork Matters’

Use your research to interpret the father’s frustration.

Prompt: ‘What cultural responsibilities might the boys be forgetting?’

Create a Kinship Responsibility Map:

• Elder > teaches
• Children > listen, observe, work together
• Country > respected, cared for

Making Connections

In this partner task, you will reflect on how Bunda and Garadi’s lack of teamwork influenced their ability to succeed when their father gave them a task. Think, Pair and Share ideas with your partner to design a Collaborative Fishing Plan, based on evidence from your research

Design a fishing plan that:

• uses ecological knowledge
• respects Country
• shows teamwork
• reflects cultural values

Cite at least two pieces of evidence from your research.

Bunda and his brother Garadi are competing with each other to find the best method of transporting water. Bunda constructs a raft to carry the water down the river, while his brother carries his water on foot. Bunda's father then tells his sons to bring him something that takes two to get, encouraging them to learn to work together.

https://myplace.edu.au/teaching_activities/clip/4283?tab=History

Tuning In

The boys try different ways to carry water. Their father gives them a challenge that requires cooperation. As you watch, think about what the father is really teaching.

• how each boy chooses to carry the water
• how they react to each other’s ideas
• what the father does or says that hints at the real lesson
• how the boys move through Country and use what’s around them

Class discussion prompts:

• What does this moment show about learning from Elders and listening carefully?
• What cultural values might the father be teaching through this challenge?
• Why might “something that takes two” be important in their community?
• How does this scene help us understand responsibility, cooperation and kinship? 

Finding Out & Sorting Out

Explore how cooperation, cultural knowledge and respect shape this moment.

In small groups, brainstorm and record your thinking as you:

Step 1: Research: ‘Cultural Values: Cooperation, Kinship, Responsibility.

Include:

• kinship obligations
• shared responsibilities
• learning through doing
• Elders’ role in teaching

Source analysis: Annotate a short excerpt or image showing kinship roles.

Step 2: Apply Research: ‘Something That Takes Two’.

Students interpret the father’s instruction using a Values–Action–Outcome chart:

• Value: cooperation, responsibility, respect
• Action: what the boys did
• Outcome: what they learned (or didn’t)

Step 3: Think like a researcher or historian, and construct an interpretation report:

‘What lesson is the father teaching, and why is it important in deep-time cultures?

Include:

• at least one cultural value
• at least one piece of evidence
• respectful language 

Making Connections

Explore how cooperation, cultural knowledge and respect shape this moment.

In small groups, brainstorm and record your thinking as you:

Step 1: Research: ‘Cultural Values: Cooperation, Kinship, Responsibility.

Include:

• kinship obligations
• shared responsibilities
• learning through doing
• Elders’ role in teaching

Source analysis: Annotate a short excerpt or image showing kinship roles.

Step 2: Apply Research: ‘Something That Takes Two’.

Students interpret the father’s instruction using a Values–Action–Outcome chart:

• Value: cooperation, responsibility, respect
• Action: what the boys did
• Outcome: what they learned (or didn’t)

Step 3: Think like a researcher or historian, and construct an interpretation report:

‘What lesson is the father teaching, and why is it important in deep-time cultures?

Include:

• at least one cultural value
• at least one piece of evidence
• respectful language