"Pattern thinking is Aboriginal thinking. Patterns are about belonging" (Stockton, 1995).
'Pattern thinking is 'Aboriginal way'; triangle thinking is 'Western way'. Patterns are about belonging. Nothing is separate from anything else. The land is not separate from nature, people, the heavens, ancient stories. Everything belongs in the pattern. No ownership exists in pattern thinking - only belonging' (Browne, Theobald, Weston, 2006).
Pattern thinking is a major part of Indigenous culture in Australia. It is recognising the laws of nature and understanding that all in nature are equal and without hierarchy. It is observing and 'listening' to the earth and all that exists on this planet. Pattern thinking in Aboriginal Australians has been developed through 80,000 years of ancestry. 'In Indigenous cultures everything is reciprocal and all encompassing. For example, law, education, family, provision of needs, health and so on cannot exist in isolation from each other' (Hanlen 2002). It is in deep contrast to western thinking where common law has power and there are bosses and rulers taking charge of society, and nature. Politics and money is the mainstay of this western thinking and the environment will often take a back seat in decisions of law and rule. Western thinking has been described as triangle thinking. 'David Mowaljarlai, an Elder from Derby in Western Australia provides his interpretation of Western thinking is as follows':.
Triangle thinking is western culture thinking. There is always a big boss. There are other bosses who have power over people down the triangle. Triangles are about money and power. Triangle thinking separates everything into layers of power and administration. 'Ownership' is a triangle idea. 'Belonging' cannot fit into Triangle thinking. 'Ownership' means 'rulership' by the owner. Triangles are separate from each other, and separate from patterns.
