“When people first smell cinnamon myrtle, they expect straight cinnamon, but what they’re really getting is the whole Christmas-spice family—the same compounds found in nutmeg, cloves, and mace. Lemon myrtle has the highest citral content of any plant in the world, which is why lemon myrtle tea is so powerfully antiseptic, antibacterial, and antioxidant, while anise myrtle helps with stomach cramps and chest congestion. Saltbush, meanwhile, thrives on marginal, salty land, and its leaves and seeds are rich in protein—everyday medicine built into what we ate and drank.
For tens of thousands of years there was no such thing as ‘bad food’ in our systems; everything we ate was nutrient-dense. Then came the settler-era ration system of white flour, sugar, salt, tea, jam, and tinned meat, and now we see very high rates of vitamin D deficiency, especially in remote Aboriginal communities. A lot of our work now is sitting with elders to pull old knowledge out of memory, and testing traditional foods for vitamin D and other micronutrients. We’re even finding that putting mushrooms in the sun for fifteen minutes before cooking can significantly boost their vitamin D content.
Finger limes are a native citrus that look almost like chilli peppers outside, but cut them open, and they release tiny, glistening pearls of juice—citrus caviar, packed with vitamin C and phytonutrients. Quandongs, sandalwood nuts, and desert limes are rich in everything from folate to B6. For us, these were simply the foods our Country gave us—but people call them ‘superfoods’ now, and they’re a blueprint for a more sustainable, nourishing future.”
Juan Walker
For over 20 years, Juan Walker—a Kuku Yalanji man and founder of Walkabout Cultural Adventures—has guided visitors throughout his traditional Country, the Port Douglas Daintree region of Tropical North Queensland. He’s also a co-chair of the region’s First Nations Tourism Action Plan (FNTAP), working to put Indigenous tourism operators back in control of how their culture is shared.
