Snake Talk: How the world’s ancient serpent stories can guide us by Tyson Yunkaporta and Megan Kelleher
In Snake Talk, Tyson Yunkaporta and Megan Kelleher follow stories about ancient lore around the world from Kathmandu to Aotearoa, from Mesoamerica to China to northern Europe. They ask how we can align our human gifts with the patterns of creation, seeking answers from makers who pay homage to the Serpent in images and objects. This book shines an Indigenous light on contemporary society and invites us to see the world through the eye of the Serpent.
Right Story, Wrong Story by Tyson Yunkaporta
**recently published in the US – access here
This book extends Yunkaporta’s explorations of how we can learn from Indigenous thinking. Along the way, he talks to a range of people including liberal economists, memorisation experts, Frisian ecologists, and Elders who are wood carvers, mathematicians and storytellers. This book is a sequence of thought experiments, which are, as Yunkaporta writes, ‘crowd-sourced narratives where everybody’s contribution to the story, no matter how contradictory, is honoured and included…the closest thing I can find in the world to the Aboriginal collective process of what we call “yarning”.’
Strength Basing, Empowering and Regenerating Indigenous Knowledge Education by John Davis
In this book, John Davis presents Indigenous Knowledges – ways of doing, creating and learning – combined with contemporary education practice, to develop a culturally responsive pedagogy that builds on the strengths that Indigenous Australian students bring to the classroom.
Hoodie Economics by Jack Manning Bancroft
Jack Manning Bancroft builds a values system revolution that centres a relational economy, offering urgent and transformative solutions to embrace Indigenous thinking and ideas from outside the margins and pushing the focus from capitalism to relationships – from the people in suits to the people in hoodies.
Sand Talk by Tyson Yunkaporta
What happens when global systems are viewed from an Indigenous perspective? How does it affect the way we see history, money, power and learning? Could it change the world? This book is about everything from echidnas to evolution, cosmology to cooking, sex and science and spirits to Schr dinger’s cat.
Declaration of Peace for Indigenous Australians and Nature: A Legal Pluralist Approach to First Laws and Earth Laws by Tyson Yunkaporta, et al.
This groundbreaking book delves into the lived experiences and collective wisdom of Indigenous communities impacted by colonialism. Through collaborations with non-Indigenous colleagues, this book seeks to inform current legal practices and advocate for a transformative shift toward justice, equity, and the recognition of First Law and Earth-centered law.
JOURNAL ARTICLES & BOOK CHAPTERS
‘Where, Who, When in Systems Change: Using an Indigenous Knowledge Systems Approach for Perspective on Systems Change’, Bains, A., Davis, J. Journal of Awareness-based System Change, Volume 5, Issue 2, 2025.
‘Beyond the Glass Cabinet: Moving Indigenous Knowledge from ‘Static Artefact’ to ‘Dynamic Process’ Within University Contexts’, Waters, J. Indigenous-Settler Relations in Australia and the World (ISRAW,volume 7), 2025.
’Contributions From Aboriginal Australian Psychology: Songlines, Memory, and Relational Knowledge Systems’, Tempone-Wiltshire, J., & Yunkaporta, T. (2025). Contributions from Aboriginal Australian Psychology: Songlines, Memory, and Relational Knowledge Systems. Psychotherapy and Counselling Journal of Australia.
‘Nature-connection and creation care in Australia: intertwining Indigenous, Christian and holistic spiritualities’, Rocha, C., Waters, J., & Shorter, R. C. (2025). Journal of Beliefs & Values, 1–22.
‘Beyond the Glass Cabinet: Moving Indigenous Knowledge from ‘Static Artefact’ to ‘Dynamic Process’ Within University Contexts’. Waters, J. (2025). In: Bennett, B., Menzel, K. (eds) Indigenous Research Knowledges and Their Place in the Academy. Indigenous-Settler Relations in Australia and the World, vol 7.
‘Indigenous Embassy’. Yunkaporta, T., Flores, N., Romero, G. Swamphen: A Journal of Cultural Ecology, June 2025.
‘Alone Australia’, nature connection and spiritual complexity in popular culture, Halafoff, A., Hauw, S., Yunkaporta, T. Journal of Beliefs & Values, 11 June 2025.
Danger Is a Signal, Not a State: Bigaagarri—An Indigenous Protocol for Dancing Around Threats to Wellbeing. Orcher, P.; Palmer, V.J.; Yunkaporta, T. Soc. Sci. 2025, 14, 27.
The Ancient Wisdom Grift: Mad Studies and Indigenous Methods applied to the problem of spiritual disinformation narratives, Yunkaporta, T. International Mad Studies Journal Vol 2, Issue 1, 2024.
Riotous methodological and methodointuitive reflections on (non)religion, spirituality and the multispecies turn, Halafoff, A., Yunkaporta, T., Hancock, R., Harris, R. 2024, Social Compass, 0(0).
Fire in the Belly. Deakin University, Yunkaporta, Tyson (2024). Journal contribution. https://hdl.handle.net/10779/DRO/DU:26934004.v1
Yarning and knitting words: a cross-cultural thought experiment on writing beyond school, McKnight, Lucinda & Yunkaporta, Tyson. (2024). The Australian Journal of Language and Literacy. 10.1007/s44020-024-00066-6.
Indigenous systems knowledge applied to protocols for governance and inquiry, Fletcher G, Waters J, Yunkaporta T, Marshall C, Davis J, Manning Bancroft J, Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 22 Jan 2023
Aboriginal Pedagogy: Integrity in Academic and Cultural Practice, Yunkaporta T, Holistic Education Review 3(1):1-6 May 2023
Investigating the State of Indigenous Knowledges at the University of Southern Queensland (with recommendations). Waters, J., (2023). Masters Thesis, University of Southern Queensland
Our Fire Stories: Emergence through the Circle-Work Process at Indigenous Knowledge Systems Lab, Davis & Coopes, 2022, December 1, Journal of Awareness-based Systems Change
The Status of Data Analysis in Indigenous Research, Yunkaporta & Moodie, 2021, Indigenous Voices: Privileging Our Voices
Durithunga – Growing, nurturing, challenging and supporting urban Indigenous leadership in education, Davis, 2017.
MEDIA
‘Animated movie Imagine invited 150 Indigenous kids to collaborate with stars like Taika Waititi’, ABC News, 26 January 2026.
‘Interview: Directors Jack Manning Bancroft and Tyson Yunkaporta on their First Nations animated film Imagine’, the AU Review, 23 January 2026.
‘This Completely Touching First Nations Animation Drops In Cinemas On January 26’, the Urban List, 20 January 2026.
‘Groundbreaking Indigenous Australian Animated Film ‘IMAGINE’ Sets Limited Theatrical Release Date’, Variety Australia, 6 January 2026.
‘Marine Mothers and Matriachs Free Diving South Coast’, Natalia Baechtold YouTube video, 17 December 2025.
‘A Snake Talk yarn with the world’, Garland YouTube, November 2025.
‘Land Economy and Culture as Systems of Signals – Tyson Yunkaporta’, PermaQueer YouTube interview, November 2025.
‘Megan Kelleher and Tyson Yunkaporta on snakes in Aboriginal stories, the process of writing together and global connections to country’, ABC Listen radio interview, 6 September 2025.
‘Jack Manning Bancroft Imagines’, FilmInk, 8 August 2025.
‘Knowing and Being | Tyson Yunkaporta’, Planet:Critical podcast, August 2025.
‘Tyson Yunkaporta and Megan Kelleher connect with Elders from across the globe in ‘Snake Talk”, National Indigenous Times, July 2025.
‘Fearless Conversations and Essential Connections: An Indigenous Perspective with Tyson Yunkaporta’, Harvesting Happiness podcast, 19 June 2025.
‘Tyson Yunkaporta: Shifting from ‘health & wellness’ to communities of care’, Greendreamer podcast, June 2025.
‘Mythic Serpents & Right Story, Wrong Story with Tyson Yunkaporta’, Nordic Animism YouTube channel, May 2025.
‘Yarn with Tyson Yunkaporta’, Denizen, April 2025.
‘60,000 Years of Indigenous Wisdom From Down Under w/ Tyson Yunkaporta’, Aubrey Marcus Podcast, 13 February 2025.
‘Tyson Yunkaporta on Indigenous Law, Lore, and Learning’, the Jim Rutt Show (ep 282), February 6 2025
‘IT’S RUDE TO MAKE FUN OF PEOPLE’: ABORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHER SPEAKS OUT ABOUT ‘FACE TIME’ PRANK‘, Ngaarda Media, interview with Tyson Yunkaporta, February 5 2025
Indigenous Thinking & Post Colonial Redecoration :Tyson Yunkaporta, Deakin U, Right Story, interview with Community Voices, January 2025.
‘Reimagining education for the sake of the future’ – Australian Financial Review, interview with Joshua Waters – 22 Nov 2024
‘Disinformation warfare and the weaponisation of spirituality: How Indigenous knowledge can help fight back’ – ABC article by Tyson Yunkaporta & Samuel White, 6 September 2024
‘To assume our potential, we must be able to see into the future’ – The Guardian article by Joshua Waters, 12 August 2024
ABC’s The Drum – appearance by John Davis, 26 September 2023
ABC’s The Drum – appearance by John Davis, 8 March 2023
IMAGI-NATION Labs YouTube channel – Joshua Waters on ‘Citizens for Systems Change’, July 2023.
‘New bush uni celebrating Indigenous culture comes to the Bunya mountains’ – 7News, April 2022.
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
‘Indigenous knowledges for regenerative landscapes: meet PhD student Ishnie Dahanayake’, Deakin University YouTube, May 2025.
‘The Time Traveler’s Wife’s Husband’, March 2025. Essay in Emergence online magazine by Tyson Yunkaporta.
‘Protocols for Non-Indigenous People Working with Indigenous Knowledge’, 2024. Written by Indigenous scholars from IKSLabs at Algoma (Canada) and Deakin (Australia) Universities, in conjunction with Indigenous thinkers from AIME and the Indigenous Commons, under the auspices of the Indigenous Systems Knowledge Collective.
**More accessible version of the Protocols, published September 2025, can be found here on LinkedIn.
Complexability Yarns – a series of yarns (in partnership with Cynefin Centre, Cynefin Centre Australia and Complexability) with Indigenous Thinkers from Australia, Wales, Papua New Guinea, Canada and New Zealand exploring concepts of language, culture, spirituality, scale, similarities and differences and more.