Playing With, Through, and For Country

This paper theorizes intergenerational play through Indigenous epistemologies, tracing a shift from playing on to playing with Country. Drawing on a multidisciplinary residency, it shares a relational yarn between the two authors to foreground Country as a co‑participant in learning. Using Indigenous research orientations—walking, listening, and cultural mentoring—the study unsettles Western habits of extraction and speed. Findings position play as ecological knowledge making, identity as becoming through kinship, and creativity as attunement to Country’s rhythms. Intergenerational play emerges as a practice of resurgence and sovereignty, inviting educators to recognize play as a lifelong student of Country.