In this monologue, Dr. John A. King (the speaker) delivers a highly enthusiastic recommendation for Tyson Yunkaporta’s book Sand Talk. He explains that he has purchased multiple copies for himself, his wife, friends, and has recommended the book to many others. Drawing on his own background—a doctorate in theology and a first degree in systems agriculture—he praises Yunkaporta’s ability to distill complex Indigenous, philosophical, cultural, linguistic, quantum‑physical, financial, and environmental ideas into an instantly digestible format. King highlights how the book offers deep insight into why land, place, and “country” are central to Australian Aboriginal peoples, explaining the cultural significance of concepts such as “having a yarn.” He argues that understanding these perspectives is essential for non‑Indigenous Australians to grasp current Indigenous advocacy. The reviewer also notes the longevity and sustainability of Indigenous knowledge, suggesting that studying this worldview could yield valuable lessons. He concludes with a call to acquire the book, share it widely, and expresses excitement for Yunkaporta’s upcoming work.
Chapters
Hey, g'day! I want to give a shout out and a recommendation on this little book, Sand Talk by Tyson Yakka Porter. It's just bloody brilliant. I ended up buying a copy for myself, for my wife. I bought the audiobook. I think I bought 3 other copies and I gave them away to friends. And then on top of it, I probably recommended it to a dozen people and now hopefully to a thousand more. It's brilliant. My doctorate's in theology, my first degree is in agriculture, systems agriculture. Being able to take complex topics, in both of those cases, complex topics and distill them down and make them obtainable. And that's exactly what Tyson has done in this. The ability to be able to take information and distill it so it's accessible is a gift. And what he's done in Sand Talk is he hasn't just taken information from an Indigenous or a First Nation mindset, because he talks about that, how Indigenous thinking has saved the world. He deals with philosophy, with culture, with language, with First Nations outlooks, with quantum physics, and he, he pulls all those strands together in such a way and presents them in such a manner that as it's instantly digestible and understandable. And that is a tremendous achievement, a sign of a great mind, and a sign of an even greater writer. So in terms of the topics he's dealing with and how he deals with it, he does it very, very well. My first degree, as I said, was in agriculture, systems agriculture, looking at the world as a system, being able to identify the components of those systems, seeing how they work together in a unified fashion, Helping, taking that information and allowing it to help identify not only problems but solutions. And that's what Sand Talk does. He looks across a whole genre, everything from financial markets to environmental issues, and takes it as a whole. And on top of that is layered a cultural understanding of First Nations or Indigenous outlook on life and saying, hey, this is how this whole thing ties together. Again, very well done and very insightful, very insightful into how blackfellas think and why land's so important to them. And this is the third point I want to bring out. It gives you insight into Australian blackfellas, why the land's important and how they think. Now, if you have any inclination to understanding what's behind a lot of the the First Nations push in Australia for Indigenous people and why things like land is important to them, this, this book's going to help you. It'll give you the why to a what. It'll show you why things like place is important, why country is important, why when they say things like have a yarn about it, they're talking about not just a conversation or a chat, but they're talking about a type of interaction that is very respectful and is very two-way. And I think out of everything that I would hope that every non-Indigenous person would take away— that take away from this book would be that— is this insight into why and how some of these things and conversations are happening in our country and why it would be beneficial to just take a little bit of time to understand the audience that's talking to you And that you want to talk to. Besides that, in and of itself, the information in here about an approach to the world, a worldview in and of itself, is very, very beneficial, very, very old in its thought process and its processing of thought and information, and very sustainable. You know. People, First Nation Indigenous people in Australia have been walking around for some say 60,000 years. The oldest culture, the oldest engineering in the world is in Boorwurrina by a whole bunch of blackfellas. Would it be— would it not be worth the examination of the people and the mindset behind that longevity? Because I think that speaks Ian's. Anyway, get a copy for yourself, get a copy for the missus, um, and give away a whole bunch. Very, very good, and I'm excited to hear about his new book coming up.
