Nardoo

In this festive time when the end of one difficult year is almost here and the new one is about to begin, one might think about all the difficulties humans went through before reaching easy and more beautiful times. Reading about the history of humankind, we will often learn about the risking points which we’re not necessary from the point of survival but to find out more about our environment and to easy our existing.

In one of these attempts to learn more about new lands, famous Australian expeditions in their attempt to investigate the inner of the continent often were faced with the death of starvation. Spending a lot of time in the desert, searching for new favorable land they would spend provisions very fast. Keeping up with to goal in front, rarely would they just give up and return to their basis, some of the established cities but continue until most of their frame was lost together with their eyesight and overall health.

To be able to survive, many of the first Australians relied on the knowledge of Aboriginal people. In exchange for cutlery or other subjects, native people tried to teach them what to eat. Nardoo (Marsilea drummondii) is a very common plant, in which seed was collected, roasted, and grinned and mixed with water to be used as a dough. This is a native Australian plant, typical for inland regions. Their sporocarp can survive 50 years without water and once it starts to rain, nardoo releases spored. Sporocarp is used for human consumption but little did white people know before they start to eat them so many of them were poisoned. It contains a high level of thiaminase, the enzyme responsible for the destruction of our aminoacid thiamine. Roasting destroys thiaminase and only then plant can be consumed.

Often native people found remaining members of these expeditions and helped them either to survive or even to bring them back home. Learning from generations who were there before, can be only beneficial. Reading about the history of Australia and New Zealand we can find many examples of coexisting. New days show how sustainable the life of native people is, how respectful for our environment and nature. Before it was almost nonsense, to live a “savage” life. Yet these days new generations learn how to implement native knowledge with technology and to form a new lifestyle where all can benefit.

Nardoo is just one example.