The origins of the Central Australian palm tree were previously a mystery to Western scientists, with the only palm tree found in outback Australia believed to have been an ancient relic from the supercontinent Gondwana millions of years ago. 

This was the assumption until recent years when scientists tested the DNA of the Central Australian palm tree to compare with its tropical counterparts in the Top End. This analysis revealed that the palms were not separate species as one would expect after millions of years of evolution, but nearly genetically identical trees. They had only been separated about 30,000 years ago. The scientists concluded that somehow the seeds had travelled across the NT from the tropics to the desert thousands of years ago.

This is where contemporary scientific knowledge married up with traditional knowledge. 

In the late 1800’s local Aboriginal people told a German anthropologist a story of ‘gods’ from the north bringing seeds into Palm Valley a long time ago. When the anthropologist’s records were found and translated it provided an opportunity for scientists and other researchers to understand and appreciate the importance and wealth of traditional ecological knowledge of First Nations peoples. They realised this oral tradition had been passed down through generations for up to 30,000 years.

Artwork Description

In the top left hand corner of the painting a group of people are gathered in the tropical blue and green of the Top End. Some people branch off and head down on a long journey through the desert, with them they carry the seeds of what will become the Central Australian palm tree. The palm looms over them large in the centre of the painting in the present day, planted securely in the warm colours of the desert.

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