AustLit

'Trees have long been special to human beings and their communities. Throughout history trees have provided material for domiciles, ship building, weaponry, furniture, and fire. While part of the environment, trees can also be imbued with characteristics to represent the human, as manifestations of particular people, gods, or spirits. Trees, when carved and shaped, scarred and marked, can become visible symbols and expressions of beliefs. As Carole M. Cusack phrases it, the tree is a “fundamental symbol” which is a reflection of “both human beings and of the physical universe.”2 Trees have been used to identify important meeting places and have formed part of the religious life of societies, with rituals based around sacred trees and groves found in a multitude of the world’s cultures and civilisations. They can be an expression of community life, heritage, and culture, and can more broadly, as is the case in Australia, be symbolic of local or national concerns. 3 This article explores several examples of trees that have become symbolic tokens for parts of the Australian community while simultaneously binding human civilisation to nature. In this transformation of trees into something more, even something sacred, certain tensions between Australia’s ancient past, colonial history, and complex present arise.' (Introduction)