Notes on the Contemporary Knowledge of Traditional Material Culture Among the Iwaidja – Cobourg...

NOTES ON THE CONTEMPORARY KNOWLEDGE OF TRADITIONAL MATERIALCULTURE AMONG THE IWAIDJA – COBOURG PENINSULA, ARNHEM LAND, NORTHERN

TERRITORY 2005–2006

Kim AKermAn1, Bruce Birch2 & nicholAs evAns3

1 Kim Akerman, Adjunct Professor, Discipline of Archaeology, university of Western Australia,email: [email protected] Dorset st, moonah TAs 7009.

2 Bruce Birch, visiting Fellow, school of culture, history, college of Asia and the Pacific, Australian national university.email: [email protected]

3 nicholas evans, head and Professor, Department of linguistics, school of culture, history & language, college of Asia and the Pacific, Australian national university.

email: [email protected]

Abstract

until very recently the investigation of the material culture of Australian Aboriginals was seen asperipheral to other areas of anthropology, particularly those focused on social organisation,religion, economics and the arts. This study presents insights into the nature of the contemporary‘traditional’ material culture of the iwaidja people of the northern Territory of Australia.

Key WorDs: iwaidja, material culture, tools, weapons, ornaments, implements, fibrecraft.

Introduction

This report provides a brief description of aspects of contemporary knowledge of traditional material cultureextant among iwaidja speakers on cobourg Peninsula and croker island in 2005–2006. The study wasundertaken as part of the wider linguistic documentation project ‘Yiwarruj, yinyman, radbiyi lda mali: iwaidjaand other endangered languages of the cobourg Peninsula (Australia) in their cultural context’, run bynicholas evans, university of melbourne. Kim Akerman undertook examination of collections of iwaidjamaterial items held in a number of Australian museums and worked with both male and female artisans oncroker island. Bruce Birch and nicholas evans focused on the associated linguistic component in this exercise.

The illustrations within the text are based on artefacts observed in use on cobourg island or on museumspecimens, photographs of which were taken to cobourg island. We do not attempt to supply modernorthographic renditions for all names in the original sources, since this is not always possible. A full list of termsremembered by modern speakers, rendered in iwaidja practical orthography, is given in Appendices 3 and 4.

There are collections of artefacts from croker island and the adjacent cobourg Peninsula in museums aroundAustralia. many of the objects in these collections have very little data apart from provenance and it is hopedthat this paper will provide more detailed information on their manufacture and use.

Background

early studies of the material culture of the Aboriginal peoples of the Top end of the northern Territoryfocused on the works of the Alligator rivers tribes, the larrakeya and associated tribes of northwest coastalareas, Tiwi on Bathurst and melville island and the Gagadju at oenpelli (etheridge 1893: 228–251; Basedow1907: 19–59; Basedow 1913: 291–323; spencer 1914: 352–429). Basedow and spencer had both workedextensively in the northern Territory and their writings reflected their own observations. spencer and Gillenprovided a general survey of artefacts from the northern areas of the northern Territory in their 1904 volumeNorthern Tribes of Central Australia. here they described most forms of northern spearthrowers and spearsand demonstrated the fact that many forms are widespread and not at all restricted to a specific locality.While it can be demonstrated that trade and exchange may account for this situation, it is known that themanufacture of certain forms of weapons and implements was in fact once restricted to specific groups ofpeople across the landscape. in some instance this was because of the presence or absence of particularresources, for example stones suited for knapping into knives or scrapers, or others more suited to the

Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia (2014), 138(2): 181–213

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manufacture of edge-ground axeheads were absent from the cobourg Peninsula. The trade in objects madefrom these materials was ultimately controlled by those people, living off the Peninsula, within whose estatesthe quarries lay. on the other hand some other artefacts may be the prerogative of a group of people throughsome association with it derived from the creative Period. Donald Thomson recorded that, in eastern Arnhemland, the manufacture of ceremonial stingray spine spears known as wärrngul (warrankurl) may only beundertaken by men of the Djerränggoi’koi mällä (Wiseman 1996: 68 & 69).

unpublished materials, word lists made by Foelsche (1889 and stirling (1891) provided invaluableinformation that expanded knowledge of the material culture of 19th century cobourg Peninsula region.

some confusion was introduced by robert etheridge when he described a collection of ‘weapons, implementsand some articles of dress from the Alligator tribe, Port essington’ made by harry stockdale, and sent to theWorld’s columbian exposition, chicago, 1893. The names of the various artefacts described by etheridgehad been supplied by stockdale. it is apparent that the artefacts were collected from a wider area than coveredby the Alligator rivers drainage systems and the cobourg Peninsula. it is also possible that stockdaleincluded a number of items that were not collected within the northern Territory at all.

Tindale detailed the material culture of the Aborigines of Groote eylandt and Thomson contributed a numberof papers on aspects of yolngu (northeast Arnhem land) material culture (Tindale 1925: 61–102; 1926:103–134; Thomson 1938: 193–198). Further work on artefacts from the Thomson collection, has beenundertaken by Berryman (1980) and hugo (1983). louise hamby has also drawn on artefacts from theThomson collection in her research into fibrecraft of the region (see hamby 2010).

Post-1990 studies of Top end material culture tend to have been directed to aspects of the growing art andcraft industry, with particular emphasis on fibre crafts (for example see hamby 2005). The exception is thedetailed work by hodgson in her surveys of the early collections of Alligator rivers region material culture,currently held in museums both in Australia and internationally (hodgson, 1994; 1995).

Material culture of the Cobourg Peninsula region

The earliest records of Aboriginal artefacts from the cobourg Peninsula that we have accessed, were thosemade by John campbell (1834: 129–181), Thomas Wilson (1835: 315–321), John sweatman (1847), andcollett Barker (mulvaney & Green 1992: 113).

Barker was commandant at the Fort Wellington in raffles Bay during the years 1828 and 1829. his journalsdescribe few artefacts in detail although it may be said that he may have coined the term ‘didgeridoo’ whenhe described the sound of the drone pipe, or ‘lip-buzzed aerophone’ (moyle 1981: 321). Barker wrote:

mago had brought a kind of musical instrument, a large hollow cane about 3 feet long bent at one end. From [this]he produced two or three low & tolerably clear & loud notes, answering to the tune of didoggerry whoan, & heaccompanied Alobo with this while he sang his treble

(mulvaney & Green 1992: 113).

in the vocabulary and list of place names, appended to Barker’s raffles Bay journals are a number of namesor artefacts. some of these appear to be derived from makassan words, others may be english in origin.(mulvaney & Green 1992: 232).

Wilson published a far more extensive word list than did Barker. As well as providing place names, namesof males and females, there are also botanical and other terms relating to natural history and material culture(Wilson 1835: 315–321).

An illustration in Wilson depicts the ‘Dance of the Aborigines of raffles Bay’ and affords the earliestdepiction of the didgeridoo or eboro in use. As other writers will later note in relation to early didgeridoos,the example illustrated was made of a ‘large reed or bamboo’.

campbell was the commandant of Fort Dundas on melville island when he visited Port essington in 1828looking for an alternative site to relocate the settlement. in his memoirs he describes and contrasts the Tiwi

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of melville island and those Aborigines living on cobourg Peninsula, drawing on information supplied bycaptain stoddart of the royal staff corps for most of the details.

campbell notes that the Aborigines of the cobourg area wore necklaces, netted girdles and headbands. nettedpanels of fabric were worn suspended from the neck to hang down the back (Wilson’s mungedera). Briefdescriptions of weapons are provided.

The ‘war’ spears are described as serrated rather than barbed and are called burreburai. campbell suggeststhat they may, from their weight, be hand thrown.

stone headed spears are given the name imburbé.

citing stoddart, campbell notes the use of the spearthrower ‘rogarooh’ (there is a possible typographical errorhere and the ’h’ should probably have been a ‘k’).

sweatman served on h.m.s. Bramble on surveying cruises of northern Australia and the Torres straits, newGuinea and the indonesian Archipelago. in his original journal of 1845–1847 there are a number of platesdepicting artefacts from the cobourg Peninsula and other areas visited by sweatman that Allen and corrisin their introduction to the sweatman Journal (sweatman 1977: xxvii–xxix) attribute to harden s. melville,official artist accompanying h.m.s. Fly. Allen and corris reproduce several of these plates as line drawings.unfortunately the Aboriginal names of the artefacts, which sweatman had recorded, were not included in the1977 edition of the Journal. it was purely by chance that these terminologies were discovered when theoriginal journal was displayed at the exhibition The Sound of the Sky, at the northern Territory museum andArt Gallery in August 2006.

sweatman provided Aboriginal names for three types of spearthrowers, eight varieties of spears, an articleof dress, and also the palm tree used to make the palm-spathe water carriers and baskets.

spear forms named by sweatman:

1. Mejenmejerri – a composite spear with hardwood head with numerous (>40) short straight orslightly recurved barbs or serrations uniserially aligned along the margin.

2. Angaddutitch – a composite spear with hardwood head with numerous (>20) short recurved barbsor serrations uniserially aligned along the margin.

3. Nemorolidtch – a composite spear with hardwood head with about five long swept-back barbsuniserially aligned along the margin. The distal end is finely attenuated and brought to a smallbarbed point.

4. Merejerri – a composite spear with hardwood head with numerous (>20) pairs of short recurvedbarbs or serrations biserially aligned along the margin.

5. Yaloban – Two-pronged, composite spear with each prong uniserially barbed with short, slightlyrecurved barbs. The prongs are set so that the barbed edges face each other.

6. Ugos – simple single piece spear brought to a fine long tapered point.

7. Imbirbi – composite spear with reed or bamboo shaft tipped with a pointed, elongate, quartzitemacro-flake (known in the archaeological literature as a leilira blade).

8. Munya – composite spear with reed or bamboo shaft tipped with percussion-flaked bifacial stonepoint usually made from silicified tuff (known in the archaeological literature as a wanji point).

9. An un-named spear form is illustrated by sweatman Plate liii. 5. This single-piece spear with atwo-pronged tip appears to be made from a thin forked sapling. The Tiwi of Bathurst and melvilleisland however do make this type of spear (spencer 1914: 357, Plate Xiii no 5) and it is possiblethat sweatman saw an example imported from the Tiwi.

conTemPorAry KnoWleDGe oF TrADiTionAl mATeriAl culTure AmonG The iWAiDJA

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spearthrowers identified by sweatman:

1. Arogorok – The common northern lath-type spearthrower consisting of a flat or bi-convex woodbody tapering at the distal end to which a hardwood peg is fixed with cord and resin. The bodyis constricted to form a grip about 100 mm–150 mm from the proximal end. in the early literaturethis form of spearthrower is often referred to as a ‘biletta’.

2. Wondok – A long spearthrower often curved to resemble a sabre. The peg at the distal end isusually broadly spindle-shaped with concave margins. The blade is extremely thin and veryflexible. The proximal end is capped by cone-shaped or spherical mass of resin or beeswax, oftendecorated with finely incised or pricked-in patterns. We refer to this here as a sabre-spearthrower.

3. Woroko – A rod-type spearthrower where the body consists of a stick with a wooden pegattached at the distal end. The proximal end is ornamented with a mop-like tassel made fromhuman hair string.

sweatman noted (1977:145 & 146) that certain spear types appear associated with certain districts – themejenmejerri, for example being associated with the ‘Bidjeri-lumbo’ of the south side of the Peninsula, thenemorolidtch was associated with the ‘limba-caradge’ of Point record and the ugos and bifurcated solidspears with the people at Territon opposite croker island. The ugos was usually thrown by hand without theaid of a spearthrower.

The wondok or sabre-spearthrowers were used specifically for throwing the small goose-spears consisting ofa reed (Phragmites karka) shaft and a thin tapered length of hardwood head. Arogorok spearthrowers – the formstill commonly found in Arnhem land today was used to cast the heavier barbed and the stone-tipped spears.

sweatman also identified the maroin palm (Kentia palm – Granophyllum ramsayi) the young leaf bases orpetioles of which were used to make pleated-ended and handled baskets. The baskets are known as marrunyin iwaidja today (Blake, Wightman and Williams 1998: 154).

According to sweatman both shields and boomerangs were unknown in the area (sweatman 1977: 146).

referring to ‘clothing’ sweatman notes a young female servant of one of the British families resident at Portessington, was ‘wearing a sort of petticoat (“mumbriwal”)…’ (1977: 147).

John macGillivray, naturalist on h.m.s. Rattlesnake, also involved in surveying the northern waters, addedfurther important detail to the knowledge of the material culture of the cobourg Peninsula (1852: 145–149).macGillivray identified at least fourteen types of spears and detailed the relationships of some types ofspearthrowers to specific forms of spears. macGillivray confirmed sweatman’s description of the sabre-spearthrower being reserved for use with small, light spears, and the tassel-ended spearthrower being usedto cast smaller barbed spear forms. he also described the two forms of stone-headed spears and noted thatthey were thrown with the rigid lath-like spearthrower.

Three types of heavy hand club were described by macGillivray, The first was a simple pole-club – cylindricalbut tapering at each end. The others were narrow and broad types of sword club, the latter being about 100 mmin width, with a more pronounced ‘handle’ and resembling a ‘cricket-bat’ in shape.

The only artefact named by macGillivray was the ibero or didgeridoo, a hollowed length of bamboo about1000 mm in length (macGillivray 1852: 151).

Brief descriptions of shelter, watercraft, dress and ornamentation seen at Port essington are also providedby macGillivray.

notes on the ‘limba Karadjee’ tribe of Port essington by Pasco and the ‘unalla’ of raffles Bay by Foelscheappear in curr’s ‘The Australian Race’ (1886). Pasco provides the word imburbee for a war-spear andleybook for tomahawk. canoes are called lipee-lipee (Pasco 1886: 269). Foelsche notes that a war-spear iscalled eyeh and the spearthrower is known as gooroocooroo. canoes are called oboen (Foelsche 1886: 275).


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Foelsche (1889) and stirling (1891) provided lists of artefact names and associated notes with collections theymade and sent to the south Australian museum. These lists with contemporary orthography added, areincluded in this report as Appendices 3 and 4.

Both the Foelsche and stirling lists provide the most reliable source of late 19th century information inrelation to the material culture of the cobourg Peninsula.

etheridge’s 1893 paper relating to Port essington artefacts collected by harry stockdale is far moreproblematic in terms of the actual provenance and nomenclature of the artefacts referred to. Akerman has longhad doubts about the overall accuracy of much of stockdale’s information. The paper is quite confusing, asetheridge has incorporated artefact names from other sources (principally smyth 1878), in a manner thatsuggests that the names given are in fact derived from the Port essington area.

The etheridge/stockdale artefacts purporting to be from the Port essington area:

spears (etheridge 1893: 229–235):

stone-headed spears – stockdale uses the term all-eitch to refer to stone-headed spears with both‘leilira blade’ and ‘wanji-point‘ types of stone spearhead.

large composite spears – With plain pointed-rod tips and sapling shaft – called maleagemmah-ojalieby stockdale.

large composite spears – With plain pointed-rod tips and reed shaft – called maleagemmahby stockdale.

‘Goose spears’ – small (>1680 mm) composite spears with plain pointed-rod tips and reed shaft – noAboriginal name provided.

‘lace-spear’ – composite spears with wood heads. The heads have one or both sides flattened andperforated by a series (15+) of ovate holes – directed rearwards and resembling barbs that are stillconnected at their tips. immediately above the junction of head and shaft five or more similar ovateholes are oriented towards the distal end of the point. called yoko-ojale by stockdale.

Barbed spears – etheridge presents a variety of barbed spear forms but does not provide any Aboriginal names for the different types.

Double-pronged spear – Two-uniserially barbed prongs fitted to the reed shaft so that each set of barbs face each other. etheridge, referring to smyth (1878: 377) implies that the spear is calledpillara at Port essington. however on reading the original Akerman believes etheridge has erredin his interpretation of smyth’s words.

Triple-pronged spear – Three-uniserially barbed prongs fitted to the reed shaft so that each set of barbsis at right angles to the others.

spearthrowers (etheridge 1893: 235 & 236):

sabre-type – called by stockdale orro-korr-ok and said by him to be used with stone-headed spears.

common lath-type – called biletta by stockdale and said to be used to throw the ‘goose-spears’.Biletta is however a generic name used for this type of spearthrower in the early literature, and isitself derived from the larrakeya of the Darwin area.

rod-type – etheridge describes simple rod-type spearthrowers with pegs attached with cord and resinand without hair-string tassels fixed on the proximal end.

in his very brief discussion on the spearthrowers etheridge contrasts macGillivray’s data with thatprovided by stockdale. The latter is totally at odds with the former and etheridge has ignored


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macGillivray’s comments on the use of the rod-type spearthrower and the common lath-typespearthrower to throw the heavier plain and composite spears.

stockdale also calls the sabre-spearthrower by the term used by sweatman for the common lath-typespearthrower. stockdale’s assertion that the sabre-type spearthrowers were used to throw the heavystone-headed spears is totally incorrect and raises doubts about many of his other statements relating tothe material culture of the area.

Boomerangs (etheridge 1893: 236–238):

The boomerangs illustrated originate from south-central Queensland and from the southwest of WesternAustralia. stockdale did not imply that they were from the cobourg area, indeed the opposite, howevertheir inclusion in this paper is confusing.

swords (sword-clubs) (etheridge 1893: 238–240):

etheridge’s description of two fish-tailed sword-clubs, which stockdale calls meyarrol, focuses more onthe decoration than on details of the form. The illustration (Plate XXX.4) shows that at least one of thespecimens is a fish-tailed sword-club. These clubs are then erroneously ascribed by etheridge to thefirst of macGillivray’s club types (i.e. Pole clubs)

Fighting sticks and clubs (etheridge 1893: 240 & 241):

The artefacts described by etheridge in this section are most probably of Queensland origin. While it ispossible that they were obtained from the cobourg peninsula area it seems highly unlikely.

shield (etheridge 1893: 241 & 242):

The shield figured, is definitely of central Queensland origin and may have arrived at cobourg Peninsulaalong traditional exchange routes. it is more likely however that stockdale incorrectly ascribed it to thecobourg/Western Arnhem land region.

lubra fighting-stick (etheridge 1893: 242):

This implement appears to belong to the pole-clubs as described by macGillivray and is possibly aweapon used by males rather than females. The term ‘lubra’ was sometimes used in the past to refer toAboriginal women.

Trumpets (didgeridoos or drone-pipes) (etheridge 1893: 242 & 243):

Three bamboo didgeridoos are described and one is illustrated. no Aboriginal name is provided. Theearliest didgeridoos in collections are in Akerman’s experience all made of bamboo. it is possible thathardwood didgeridoos only became generally available after the introduction of metal tools.

Belts (etheridge 1893: 243–245):

made from a long strip of the inner bark of the cypress (Callitris intratropica) these belts are describedby etheridge for the first time. no name is given for them.

Armlets and necklaces (etheridge 1893: 245 & 246):

Plaited grass armlets, and necklaces of reed bugles and also of macropod teeth are described but not named.

Fillets, head ornaments, aprons and body cords (etheridge 1893: 246 & 247):

Fillets (forehead bands) that consist of a woven fibre panel with string ties at each end are described asbands made from small skeins of marsupial fur string.


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Plumes are made by binding bird feathers into tufts with the bindings then covered with beeswax orresin. Feathers of various birds including the magpie-goose, brolga and corellas are used for thesepurposes. some feather tufts or flowers are also attached to suspension cords.

Aprons or pubic covers are described so generally one cannot be certain whether etheridge is definiteabout the provenance of these items or not.

Body cords or bandoliers of skeins of fibre cord lashed at various intervals are also generally described.

no Aboriginal names are provided for any of these artefacts.

Baskets, bags and gourds (etheridge 1893: 247–250):

Both woven and pleated ended palm-frond baskets are described by etheridge. The latter are calledmar-ro-ing by stockdale.

Both large and small netted bags are described. some are knotted others are fashioned with knot-lessmesh (see Davidson 1933: 257–299; 117–134) 1935). no Aboriginal names are provided.

etheridge notes, but does not illustrate gourds prepared for use, presumably as water carriers. noAboriginal name is provided and these may represent more stockdale ‘ring-ins’.

subsequent to etheridge’s paper spencer and Gillen (1904: 668–676) included references to artefacts fromcoastal areas of the northern Territory, in particular enumerating spearthrower and spear forms that havealso been associated with the cobourg Peninsula area. Basedow (1907) similarly describes artefacts from theDarwin area with some references also to Port essington. The value of these two works is that they make clearthat some forms of artefacts enjoyed a wide distribution over the Top-end – understanding of course that thisdoes not imply that they were manufactured everywhere over the same area.

spencer went on in a further volume to describe aspects of life among the northernmost tribes of the northernTerritory (spencer 1914). With focus on the Tiwi of Bathurst and melville islands and the Gagadju at oenpellithere are also references to the people of the cobourg Peninsula.

in relation to the artefacts, spencer details four club types found in the Alligator rivers region. The first isthe pole club, a cylindrical pole of wood slightly broader at the distal end and with both ends cut square tothe axis of the club and not pointed as in the form of club (fighting stick) described by etheridge. spencernotes that the second form, a fish-tailed sword-club, is called miru by the iwaidja of Port essington (spencercites macGillivray 1852 as the source of this term, Akerman could not however locate mention of it in hisreading of the latter author). Miru appears to be a version of the name meyarrol (miyarrurl) provided bystockdale for the same implement. Two other square-tailed, sword-clubs, are differentiated by spencer,however, both are said to be called wakadi (wakardi). Both have the proximal end cut square, but one thebroader form has a distinctive raised ridge immediately below the grip while on the narrower example theblade tapers down to the grip area then expands gently below it.

one of the most useful works relating to the artefacts of the cobourg Peninsula region is hodgson’s Variationin the Aboriginal material culture of the Alligator Rivers Region (unpublished mA thesis northern Territoryuniversity 1995). The study covered the Alligator rivers drainage systems south to the Katherine area andincluded the cobourg Peninsula. The study was based on extensive research on major collections housed inAustralian and overseas museums.

This work details the wide range of material culture found across the study area, focusing on both rawmaterials and techniques of manufacture. it is particularly valuable in that hodgson illustrates the wide rangeof fibrecraft artefacts that are usually only generally referenced.

hodgson ably demonstrates that while there is a relative uniformity of artefact types across the study areathe relative frequencies of types differ across the landscape as do the raw materials that may have been usedin their construction.


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importantly hodgson provides details about the major collectors who worked in the study region.

The most recent contribution to the understanding of the material culture of the region is Blake, Whiteman andWilliams Iwaidja Ethnobotany, (1998). This work lists the various species used in the manufacture of artefactsin the region as well as identifying plants of value as foods, medicines or of other cultural significance.

The current study

in April 2005, Akerman spent a fortnight working with linguists nick evans and Bruce Birch and theircolleague sabine hoeng at minjilang. he took with him photographs of material culture from Port essingtonarea, currently housed in the south Australian museum, The museum of melbourne, and the Australianmuseum, sydney.

Working with either evans or Birch and both male and female speakers of iwaidja, Akerman went throughthe material he had brought with him eliciting where possible the names of the artefacts and their componentparts as well as details of their manufacture and the raw materials used to make them.

Bush trips to obtain raw materials were also undertaken whenever possible. in July 2006, Akerman joinedthe research team for 10 days on cobourg Peninsula to follow up work begun the previous year.

minjilang, unlike other centres in the Arnhem land region, did not have an art centre and there is no real focuson the arts as such. consequently many of the traditional skills associated with earlier patterns of life havenot been reinforced to the same degree as elsewhere.

The results are provided as an illustrated list of artefact types with salient features noted:

1. Spears

spears (generic) – alij.

spears were made from a variety of timbers. Blake (Blake et al. 1998: 142, 153), identifies 15 differenttimbers that may be utilised in the manufacture of spears.

The reed yarnawu (Phragmites karka) was used to make the shafts of the little hardwood-tipped ‘goosespears’, also known as yarnawu.

shafts of composite spears were usually of durlubun (Thespesia populneoides), mayinbalk (Macarangatanarius) and bamboo alijbularr (Bambusa arnhemica). early reports suggest that larger spears were alsobeing hafted with Phragmites karka, although this is not the case at present as discussed below.

simple spears made from a single piece of timber were fashioned from almarra – the woolybutt tree(Eucalyptus miniata), waldurru – stringybark (Eucalyptus tetradonta) and the outer wood of rarrirarri, thecarpentaria palm (Carpentaria acuminata).

hardwood heads were made from ironwood kartungkun (Erythrophleum chlorostachys), woolybutt treealmarra (Eucalyptus miniata), stringybark, waldurru (Eucalyptus tetradonta) and the red mangrove (Bruguieraparviflora). Andiny (Pemphis acidula) was also used to make wooden harpoon points in earlier days.

hodgson’s study (1995: 90–92) showed that most shafts of composite spears, apart from the ‘goose-spears’were of bamboo, rather than reeds. she attributed this to the differences in accessibility of the two materials.earlier descriptions of spears frequently refer to light reed shafts rather than bamboo. Akerman’s opinionbased on examination of 19th century spears from the area and also reed spears from the Kimberley is that inthe early contact period, the reed Phragmites karka, grew much larger than it does today. Akerman attributesthis to the regular cropping of contemporary stands of the reed by feral animals including buffalo, pigs etc. ithas been suggested that a similar situation occurred in the Kimberley, where phragmites stems with diametersof 25 mm or more were used as spear shafts (Akerman et al. 2002: 20). regeneration of stands of phragmitesalong the ord river today shows that it can grow to sizes suitable for forming shafts at least 2000 mm long.


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spearheads of stone were an important trade component into the area, where suitable lithic materials forproducing them were unavailable.

Warnany, wax obtained from native bees was usually used as an adhesive in fixing spearheads to shafts,being less brittle than karlanyun resin obtained from ironwood (Erythrophleum chlorostachys) trees.

elements of a composite spear

spear types

1. Yuku/yarlunbu – simple one piece spear, with a finely drawn out barbless point. Thrown by hand. may bemade of the outer wood of rarrirarri the carpentaria palm (Carpentaria acuminata). (sweatman’s ugos).

2. Mijanmijardi – spear made from a single piece of wood with one or two series of barbs at the head. Thrownby hand without the aid of a spearthrower.

3. Yangkarlarl – composite spear with the hardwood point uniserially set with numerous (>20) close setshort, straight, barbs. (sweatman’s angaddutich).

4. Ngarrkijba – composite spear the wooden head with a uniserial run of 5 –10, long and widely spacedswept-back barbs. Primarily ceremonial in function. (sweatman’s nemorolidtch).

5. Mikarl – composite spear set with numerous short rectangular barbs. Fighting spear.

6. Bakirrikirri – composite spear with very long (>700 mm) head unilaterally serrated. (sweatman’smejanmejerri).

stone-headed spears

Two types of stone-headed spears are remembered today. According to some authors (e.g. Pasco 1886: 269)a third spear type, often referred to as a ‘death-spear’ was also made and used on the cobourg Peninsula.‘Death-spears are tipped with a pointed hardwood head on the sides of which are attached one or two seriesof small sharp stone flakes, set in a vegetable resin.

The stone heads were fixed into the shaft and bound with wax impregnated cord. Beeswax (warnany) ratherthan ironwood resin (karlanyun), was used to fix them to the spear shafts.


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7. Yirtakaj – spear with two or three prongs, each unilaterally set with a row of small barbs. When two prongsare present they are aligned so that the planes of the barbs are parallel to each other with the barbs facing inopposite directions. When three prongs are attached each is set so that the planes of the barbs are at rightangles to the others.

8. Yininmal – long (<1500 mm), composite spear consisting of a round, pointed hardwood head and abamboo shaft. The head and shaft may vary greatly in their relative proportions.

9. Yarnawu – A very short spear (<1500 mm), with a thin pointed hardwood head, often made from mangrovewood, and a reed or grass stem shaft. These are often called ‘goose spears’ or ‘bullet spears’. They were usedfor hunting waterfowl but also were important fighting weapons – particularly in unstructured combat situations.

10. Kartungkun – long wooden-headed ‘shovel-spear’, with bamboo shaft and head a broad, leaf-shapedblade of ironwood (Erythrophleum chlorostachys).

11. Munya – stone headed spear with bamboo shaft. The head (also munya) is of the type known in theliterature as a ‘wanji point’. it is usually made of the green-black silicified tuff found in the metamorphic beltbetween Adelaide river and Katherine. The heads are produced by percussion flaking that takes advantageof cleavage planes in the rock due to the tuff’s fissile nature. Munya were an important item of exchange intothe cobourg area.

12. Wirdurrk – stone-headed spear with a pointed quartzite macroflake (leilira blade) head and bambooshaft. The heads were an important item of exchange originating from the Arnhem land escarpment south ofcobourg peninsula. The stone blades are also known as wirdurrk, and are synonymous with the lawk of theKunwinyku and the yolngu ngambi.

metal-headed spears

makassans and the British introduced metal to the area in the 19th century. As in other places its introductionhad a profound effect on the material culture of the region. spearheads and hatchet heads of metal weredurable and easily maintained and in the case of pronged fishing spears, much more satisfactory in a wetenvironment than wooden points.

it is interesting that the ‘lace’ spear, with its ‘closed barbs’, was not recognised, suggesting that it was a rareimport into the region rather than being manufactured there. it is possible that most of the barbed, compositespears with bamboo hafts were also imported into the area.

2. Spearthrowers

some types of spears were thrown by hand and evidence suggests that this may have been the normal situationon the cobourg Peninsula. The situation may have changed after contact with the makassans when metal,cloth and tobacco became available. mitchell (1994: 188–200) has hypothesised that the ceremonial exchangenetworks expanded once these exotic materials were available. reading Berndt’s work on ceremonial exchangecycles (Berndt 1951: 159), it is clear that both hooked and stone-headed spears, derived from the east and thesouth respectively, were important imports into the cobourg area. As these spears generally require the use ofthe spearthrower it is suggested that they may have been an introduction into the area. chaloupka (nd: 42) statesthat spearthrowers were never used on croker island itself and were in early days ‘forbidden’ on the island.


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13a. Lama – Broad, leaf-shaped blade. Theoriginal ‘shovel spear’.

13b. Barrawu – spear with an exceptionally long(>320 mm) blade.

13c. Lahayin – long and narrow, parallel-sidedblade.

13d. Jalakaraj – spear with three prongs of heavygauge wire. used for fishing and hunting.

13e. Bukithuku – hunting and fishing spear with metal rod head. The length of the head in relation to that ofthe shaft may vary according to the size of the material available.

14. Ayinayin – Toy spear made from a length of mayinbalk (Macaranga tanarius). The head is cut at anangle across the stem. stems of the bush sugar cane anbijung (Heteropogon triticeus) were also used tomake toy spears.

15. Jumbilang – rare, glass-tipped spears originating from the Kimberley and coming into the westernnorthern Territory through the wunan and merbok trade routes of the east Kimberley and Port Keats areasrespectively. Knowledge of these spears is often derived from trips outside the cobourg area.

spearthrowers are usually constructed from light tough woods such as (Zanthoxylum parviflorum) and(Planchonella pohlmaniana) (Blake et al. 1998: 154), with the hardwood peg or spur attached with string andkarlanyun resin obtained from the ironwood tree (Erythrophleum chlorostachys).

spearthrower terminology

spearthrower Types

spearthrowers generically are called karlbu and kurdukurduk. Wurnduk is a mawng term that is sometimesused in iwaidja as well.


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1. Kurdukurduk – normal lath-type spearthrower with well-defined hollowed out grip area and roundedproximal end

3. Kartaku - lath-type spearthrower with proximal end cut square and constricted grip.

2. Jarrwiri – lath-type spearthrower with rounded or pointed proximal end and constricted grip.

5. Kirdarrk karlbu – spearthrower expediently made by breaking a branch of a sapling close to the main stem.such forms appear from the evidence of the rock art to be the earliest form of spearthrower manufactured. usedfor fishing and hunting when a lath type spearthrower is unavailable. Kirdarrk = the beach casuarina(Casuarina equisetifolia).

4. Murnngalk – rod type spearthrowers also called karlbu, consisting of a rounded stick shaft with attachedhardwood peg. Today these are associated with yarnawu ‘goose spears’, although in the past they were usedto throw other reed or bamboo hafted, wooden-headed spears.

When adorned with a mop-like tassel (marrarlaka) of spun human hair string such spearthrowers served assymbols of authority in ritual and conflict situations.

6. Although no longer remembered at minjilang, the sabre-type spearthrowers – sweatman’s wondok (wurnduk)are included as they were once important artefacts from the cobourg, Alligator rivers and Darwin area.

sabre-spearthrowers are exceptionally long (<1000 mm), about 60 mm wide and often only 4 mm inthickness. They were also very flexible and experts were said to be able to crack them like a whip. The pegis very distinctive, being swollen immediately above the point of attachment, tapering rapidly to a point. Theproximal end of the peg was drawn out and attached to a long flat, finger-like projection of the distal end ofthe body of the spearthrower.

The proximal end of the body is topped with a spherical or sub-conical knob of karlanyun resin obtained fromthe ironwood tree (Erythrophleum chlorostachys), into which designs are scratched that resemble theimpressions of cordage etc. Designs may also be incised on the proximal sides of the blade of the artefact,which may also be painted with ochres.

Because of their fragility, they were used only by experts, to only throw yarnawu spears, in combat situations.

3. Fighting clubs

A variety of club forms were made and used on cobourg Peninsula. Knowledge of other forms comesprimarily from contact with the Tiwi of Bathurst and melville island. clubs and fighting sticks are collectivelyreferred to as murrkan-murrkan.

clubs were made from heavy hardwoods, four species of which have been identified by Blake et al. (1998:141). These are Choriceras tricone, Ceriops australis, Erythrophleum chlorostachys and Xanthostemonparadoxus. Two other woods Carpentaria acuminata and Planchonella pohlmaniana, were also said to havebeen used for clubs by our informants.

sword-clubs are particularly associated with the Peninsula although their distribution covered the area fromabout the Goomadeer river across to the Daly river in the west.

Three forms of clubs, incorporating seven different types, were identified during the course of fieldwork.

Pole clubs

1. Murrkarn – Pole clubs. These may be either cylindrical or taper towards the proximal end. These may alsobe made from the trunks of young carpentaria palms –rarrirarri (Carpentaria acuminata) or of green plum(Planchonella pohlmaniana) wood. light woods (e.g. Hibiscus tiliaceus) are used to make lightweightexamples to be carried when dancing.

sword clubs

informants recalled a range of sword-club forms. Differentiation was generally based on the shape of theproximal end or wuwij (this can be glossed generically as tail but – in relation to dugong and fish


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nomenclature – it seems to refer to the ‘wrist’ or tapered part above the tail as well as the tail itself). The shapeof the very end of the ‘wuwij’ is referred to and differentiated in terms of fish and bird tails.

sword clubs are large clubs with lengths, in excess of 1600 mm and widths of 100 mm or more, recorded. Theyhave a flattened bi-convex transverse section with rather sharp edges. The grip area may be bound with fine cordimpregnated with beeswax (warnany) to provide a secure purchase. sword clubs were often ornately paintedwith intricate patterns, the designs being among the more complex art forms found in Western Arnhem land.

2. Murnubarr – plain sword club – a flattened blade of wood that tapers to the proximal end and with bothends cut square.

3. Wakardi – sword club with squared extremities. From the broad distal end the blade tapers to the grip thenexpands again. This form of proximal end is called walab wuwij – ‘Painted sweetlips- also known as the Gold-spot blubber-lips (Plectorynchus flavomaculatus) tail’.

4. Miyarrurl – sword-club with rounded or pointed distal end and lenticular in section. Depending on the shape of the proximal end it may be further defined as:

4a. Miyarrurl with a slightly concave terminal – Miyarrurl yab wuwij (Fish-tailed sword-club).

4b. Miyarrurl with an incurvate forked terminal - Miyarrurl injirni wuwij (Black kite (Milvas migrans) –tail sword-club).

4c. Miyarrurl with a deeply concave terminal - Miyarrurl wuwij kirrimul bangka (forked-stick tail sword-club).

4d. Miyarrurl with square ended proximal end – miyarrurl walab wuwij -Painted sweetlips – also known as the Gold-spot blubber-lips (Plectorynchus flavomaculatus) tail.

Throwing clubs

5. Murrkuwanga – A throwing club form introduced by the Tiwi of Bathurst and melville islands. lengthbetween 500 mm and 700 mm. Murrkuwanga is originally a Tiwi word but is considered to be now integratedinto the iwaidja language: ‘iwaidja, but Wunguk side’. osbourne (1974: 130) gives the form murrukuwungafor ‘throwing stick (long round type)’: -nga is the Tiwi feminine suffix.

4. Harpoons

harpoon heads (generic) – kardakbikbin.

Five types of harpoon head are recognised today. each is made of metal with the proximal end bound withstring or wool to form a plug that fits in a socket at the proximal end of the harpoon shaft (kurdinkarr). inearlier days harpoon heads were made from the hardwoods ironwood kartungkun (Erythrophleumchlorostachys) and andiny (Pemphis acidula). note that the first harpoon type has the same name as themetal chisel-ended digging stick.

1. Warldamurru. short (<100 mm) round pointed metal rod. Bestused for turtle. The term warldamurru is also applied to a metal,chisel-ended digging stick and can be loosely used to refer to allof the simple-spike type harpoon types.

2. Wuminyji. long (>100 mm) pointed metal spikewith a single barb. used for either turtle or dugong.not common.

3. Arlannarlan. short (<100 mm) square-sectioned pointed metalspike. Best used for turtle.

4. Bakay. short (<100 mm) pointed metal spike with a single barb.used for either turtle or dugong. not common.

5. Jalakaraj –short (<100 mm) 3-pronged head of nails or heavywire square in section. used for turtle or dugong – preferredharpoon for the latter. not common.

similar, pre-contact harpoon heads, mangijburldaj, were madewith spikes of ironwood (Erythrophleum chlorostachys).


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harpoon nomenclature

5. Collecting and hunting equipment

This section deals with some of the equipment, apart from spears, spearthrowers and harpoons and nets,associated with hunting and gathering.

Digging sticks, crowbars and probes

Among the most useful and important tools used both in the past, and in many communities today are thedigging sticks.

used not only to dig for roots and tubers that contributed to the diet, digging sticks also served to remove barkfrom trees when making shelters or canoes, as spears with which women killed small game and fish, as shovelsto dig post-holes and graves, and as rakes to clear hearth sites and camps of unwanted rubbish. in the case of afight they were handy weapons.

Digging sticks were made of the toughest of woods, such as ironwood kartungkun (Erythrophleumchlorostachys). They had to be capable of standing great stresses when being used to crowbar rocks andboulders in the search for yams and to sustain prolonged use in wet conditions when digging the corms ofswamp grasses or probing for tortoises. The tips of digging sticks were fire-hardened by placing them inyarl – hot sand and ashes.

Today digging sticks and probes are made from suitable lengths of metal rod, the latter often equipped with awooden handle.

Top: Wooden digging stick wurtji; Bottom: metal, chisel-ended digging stick – warldamurru. A rod with apointed end is called burrurdijalk.

Probes ( – called kuba (= crowbar), and bukithuku.

many women at minjilang own one or more metal rod probes. These consist of a long (<1000 mm) lengthof 4–5 mm rod; hafted into a soft milkwood yiharda (Alstonia actinophylla), handle about 250 mm long. Kubaare used to probe for tortoises and poke in holes in the ground or on reefs in the search for small game. Theycan also be used to spear fish, crabs and reptiles.

hunting sticks

short lengths of heavy wood about 600 mm were collected and taken hunting when required. They werethrown at small game and also to knock fruit from high trees when necessary. They were particularlyimportant when hunting magpie geese as they flocked at feeding grounds or when returning to roosting areasin the evening.

Throwing stick – dakamul

made from sections of fairly straight tree branches suitable for throwing at flying birds, reptiles and othersmall game. The preferred wood for the manufacturing of these sticks at croker island, was obtained fromvarious mangrove trees.


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Also important when hunting magpie geese were namarlurru – long thin grevillea saplings stripped of theirbranches. They were used to strike down low-flying magpie geese during breeding season.

collecting hooks – yinirndaj

long-shanked hooks, either made from a suitable stick with a cross member attached or fashioned from aGrevillea sapling with one branch trimmed to size at the end are used to gather fruits etc. and pandanusfronds for weaving. some people use lengths of steel reinforcing rods to make their hooks.

Axes

Today metal tomahawks and axes (waliman) are an important accessory carried by most hunting andforaging parties. Apart from the cutting of wood for the manufacture of artefacts or for fuel, they are usedto extract beehives as well as to extract smaller marsupials and reptiles from hollows in trees. The back ofa tomahawk is also used as a hammer and/or anvil to straighten metal artefacts such as spearheads, and tocrack shellfish and nuts.

in the past stone tomahawks – waliman karlwiruk, were similarly used. The geology of the cobourg Peninsulahowever does not include rock types suitable for the manufacture of good stone axeheads and so these werean important trade item into the area from sources to the south and southwest.

stone axe heads and pounders are used today for therapeutic purposes. Warmed at a fire and wrapped inpaperbark the stones are placed on strained muscles or joints to ease the pain.

When a beehive was chopped open a swab of baste-fibre yirdi was often used to mop up any honey spilt asthe hive was opened. This was then sucked or soaked in a container of water to sweeten it before drinking.

Blake reports that five species of tree were used to make honey-brushes. sticks with frayed ends were usedto collect honey in hives that were otherwise inaccessible (Blake et al. 1998: 146). They were also used toeat honey directly from an opened hive, the frayed end being dipped in honey flowing from ruptured cellsand then sucked.

5. Fibre-craft

opportunities occurred during the fieldwork period to join groups of women as they gathered raw materials –banyan bast – the inner bark of the aerial roots of the banyan and also the inner bark of the hibiscus to demonstratefibrework. unfortunately we did not observe the gathering and preparation of fibre from karl – kurrajong trees(Brachychiton diversifolius) or majamurlirra red-flowering kurrajong (Brachychiton megaphyllus).

Blake et al., list 11 plants that were used either to make cordage or rope and/or used for weaving baskets andmats (Blake et al. 1998: 143 & 144).


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stone hatchet – waliman karlwiruk

cord/twine/ string – arijumardan alhurdu.

rope – burrang alhurdu

1. Yilimbirr – Banyan

Aerial roots of the banyan yilimbirr (Ficus virens) were collected. Where possible long clean lengths of theroot were preferred to those that forked or had secondary rootlets diverging from them. The epidermis wasscraped off the root leaving the clean inner bast, which rapidly turned red-brown on exposure to theatmosphere. This was then stripped from the root in long thin lengths and tied into hanks for transporting.

spinning of banyan bast was done on the thigh. Two lengths of loosely aligned bast fibres were set parallelto each other on the thigh above the knee, and rolled down the leg with the palm of the hand. This actiontwisted each into a cohesive strand of single-ply cord. The palm of the hand then rolled the two lengths of1-ply back up the thigh, causing them to twist together to create a 2-ply cord. each action unit – down theleg and back again created about 100–140 mm length of 2-ply twine. extra fibre was added to each elementof the 2-ply as the cord progressed creating a continuous length of twine.

The string – arlhurdu/alwurdu – made on one occasion was then used to make a manngamburri – amourning necklet.

Manngamburri consist of a small skein (300 mm long) of twine that has been formed into a loop. Two 50 mmsections of the circumference, opposite each other, are then wrapped with fibre and then each again loopedand tied off to form two eyes. A length of fibre from the wrapping process is left attached at each eye andthis is used to tie the ornament around the neck. Today such necklets are usually made of commercial wools.

2. Alabanja – Beach hibiscus (Hibiscus tiliaceus)

inner bark of the branches (not roots) of hibiscus, was collected to demonstrate rope making. strips of barkwere removed from trees in as long a length as possible. The inner bark separates easily from the tougher outerbark coming off in fine thin strips that can be further split lengthwise into the desired gauges depending onthe thickness of the intended cordage to be produced – in this instance burrang alhurdu – a rope was madeand the strips were long and wide.

rope is made using three hooked sticks, between 300 mmand 500 mm long with a 50 mm hook made by atrimming an attached branch at one end. These sticksare known as yinirndaj.


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Girribuk with a manngamburri-mourning necklet that she hasmade. minjilang 2005.

manner of engaging bast with the yinirndaj

Yinirndaj

A length of loose strips of hibiscus bast is tied at one end and attached to a suitable tree branch; situated ata height comfortable for the rope makers to operate at, depending on whether they are sitting or standing.

The loose strands of bast are then divided intothree hanks each being held by one of therope-makers, at about 600 mm from the tie tothe tree each operator takes a turn of theirportion of the bast strips around the hook ofthe yinirndaj in the manner illustrated below.This action is called bumalamanma ‘theytwist it around’ – it can also be described asbuwurrajbun arlhurdu amardalngan ‘ theymake rope by turning it around’.

continually twisting the loose bast andpassing the yinirndaj from one to the other theoperators rapidly made a length of z-twist 2-ply

rope. As the spun rope increases in length the fixed end is untied from the tree branch and pulled up tomaintain the most comfortable working height before being tied off again.

in other areas of Arnhem land yinirndaj are not used, rather single-twist cordage is prepared and wound onthree straight sticks, which are in turn twisted and passed from hand to hand in a similar fashion.

Pandanus fibre

young leaves of murrhala (Pandanusspiralis) were used at minjilang to makecoiled baskets. it was interesting to see thatone artisan used a wallaby bone awl (yulmarr)to part the coils when she wove her baskets.

using a bone-awl, yulmarr when making acoiled basket

The agile wallaby bone to make the awl wasobtained from an animal killed on cobourgPeninsula. There are no wallabies present oncroker island and the bone awls would haveoriginally been a small but important item ofgift exchange in the past. Agile wallaby(Macropus agilus) – kardun.

coiled basketry itself, appears to be a technological process recently introduced to Arnhem land (Allen &hamby 2005: 59–65).

sharpened lengths of wallaby fibula and the naturally sharp spikes taken from the dorsal fins of large fishsuch as the barramundi generally served as needles and awls in the past. Today, metal bodkins and needleshave largely superseded their use.

young pandanus leaves are collected with the aid of a yinirndaj hook from the growing centre of the tree.The leaves are then split and the spiny mid-rib and leaf margins removed. A needle or awl or the fingernailsmay be used in this process. each leaf is divided initially into 2 lengths.

each leaf section is then split longitudinally into two sections – an upper and lower. Finally these may be splitfurther to create narrower lengths of fibre. The splitting of pandanus leaves can be described as awarlan ‘isplit it’ or ngarrawarlan ‘we split it’. The fibres may be dyed before being used for weaving.


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each yinirndaj is twistedclockwise by an operatorwho then passes it to theoperator on their left.

Palm leaf baskets – marruny

Pleated-ended water-carrier made by thinning andfolding a section of the proximal end of the flangedsection of the petiole of the fronds of the marruny –kentia palm (Gronophyllum ramsayi). The leaf is left tosteep in water to soften it prior to cutting it to shapeleaving the narrow end of the thin, hard section of thepetiole attached. This will be used to form the handle.each end of the leaf is then cut to size and simply foldedin three pleats that draw the end up and the sides in. Thethin petiole is brought over the body of the basket andtucked between the pleats at the opposite end.

The pleats and the free end of the handle are then tackedin place with a few fibres torn from the leaf and stitchedwith the use of an awl.

The expression marruny kirrkbun (subject: she), or marruny ngangirrkbun (subject: i), is used in connectionwith the manufacture of these baskets.

Woven baskets/bags

using photographs of baskets lodged in museums a number of types of bags and baskets were identified.

Biting bags – baldak.

These are small tightly woven bags worn around the neck. in times of conflict or rage they were placedin the mouth and bitten hard to concentrate energy. They were usually stuffed full of goose-down (burluk)or kapok (kabajang) from the wirdil – the kapok tree (Cochlospermum fraseri) – more recently they werealso filled with scraps of cloth. note: Blake et al. (1998: 52) call this tree yarr, and also use this namefor the bush banana (Marsdenia viridiflora) (Blake et al.: 94). The current dictionary uses the term forthe latter plant.

Biting bags were said to be woven from fibre obtained from either karl – kurrajong tree (Brachychitondiversifolius) or majamurlirra red-flowering kurrajong (Brachychiton megaphyllus).

Dilly bag (generic?) – yangaldi or yangali

With a wide-open mesh that could stretch or expand the bag was known as yangali burruburrukang.

Jones (2005: 33) notes that Foelsche provides the name youngallie for open-twined baskets.

Basket – karranjing – open weave basket made from pandanus fibre.

honey-basket – kuldangarna.

This term is given by Jones (2005: 34) as ood-lan-gana, an iwaidja name recorded by Foelsche. Jones alsogives another of Foelsche’s terms for a close-weave basket as marella (ibid 33) – possibly attempting totranscribe the word murrhala or pandanus, the source of the fibre.

ornaments

Woven grass bangles – barndi.

Bark Belt – kurlhi karndirrkan – (= bark/skin of kandirrkan (Callitris intratropica) made from big (w =80–100 mm, l = 2200 mm) strips of cypress bark these belts were once only worn by initiated men. They havenot been made or used for many years.


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nets etc.

Butterfly nets – alawi.

small rhomboidal nets loosely fixed between four thin sticks that give them shape. used by holding in oneor both hands to sweep small fish into the net and closing one half upon the other. several fishers may workside-by-side, using the nets as a wall to drive fish and concentrate the shoal in a more suitable catch area.

Fish-fence and basket traps – arru.

Fish-fences are long lengths of open-weave, pandanus fibre matting. They can be set across creeks or channelsin the intertidal zone to hold or divert fish on out-going tides.

Basket traps were made from prepared lengths of windi (Flagellaria indica). They ranged in size from 1000 mmto more than 2500 mm in length with diameters up to 700 mm. They were usually set in tidal creeks, fixedbetween weirs that directed the fish into the mouth of the trap. see Altman (1983: 60–71) for illustrations ofbasket-traps in use in central Arnhem land.

Throw-nets – jala.

european throw-nets primarily used to catch baitfish.

6. Feather work

Goose-wing fans

Fans, made from the paired, distal ends of the wings of magpie geese (Anseranas semipalmata) lashedtogether, were observed at a number of residences at minjilang.

A. Fan – imajak. B. Area of wing used to make a fan.

These fans imajak (=bird’s wing) are made by removing the tips of the wings of magpie geese above the ulnaand radius bones, leaving only the manus and phalanges.

The feathers that make up the ala spuria are then stripped from the first phalange. Grasping the first primaryfeather and the carpo-metacarpus bone the wing is straightened so that the primary feathers are fanned outin flight position. The leading edge of the wing is then carefully pushed into the hot sand and ashes beside afireplace. This action is termed ajirtbalarajbun.

The heat shrinks the ligaments and tendons attached to the feather sockets, and maintains it in the spreadposition. The wing is then placed flat on the ground weighted with a stone or piece of heavy wood until ithas cooled.


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Pairs of wing tips (usually from the same bird are then tied together at the carpo-metacarpus and hung in ashady place to further dry out.

The prepared fans are used as fans to cool a person or to create a draught at a fading fire, as whisks and smallbrooms to clear ashes from cooked food and to drive insects away. The expression kunmanakaraka imajak– ‘you will fan with a goosewing’ is used to describe the fanning action.

Feather dancing whisk

Feather dance whisks – marralaka (the same term is used for the tassel on the end of the murnngal spearthrower).

Feather – biyuk.

Bird down – burluk

made from split primary feathers of the kurdurrk (brolga – Grus rubicunda). The larger, trailing feather vaneis carefully stripped from the quill so that it comes off as complete as possible. The act of stripping the vanefrom the quill is termed arwalan in iwaidja. The vane is held together by outer tissue of the quill.

Ten or more stripped feathers are bound to a handle of woodwith fine cord (alhurdu) and the binding then covered withbeeswax (warnany). The handle may be painted and asuspension cord attached to allow it to be carried on the wrist.

The expression ringartbakan marralaka was used to describethe way a person postures with the fan while dancing.

other feather ornaments remembered were simply namedafter the birds that provided the feathers – karnkurrk biyuk –emu feathers, wanjarrk biyuk – bustard feathers, etc.

The exception to this were feather flowers – karlarrk – smallcarefully arranged tufts of feathers tied or fixed with resin orwax and attached to the ends of ceremonial strings etc.


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left: Ajirtbalarajbun – heating the edgeof a goose-wing.

Above: Imajak – goosewing fans drying.

kurdurrk biyuk marralaka

Feathered strings, made by spinning the small feathers into the fibres as they are spun, were importantceremonial accessories, used to manufacture ritual objects and headbands etc.

7. Musical instruments

Two forms of musical instruments were examined at minjilang. Tap-sticks and didgeridoos.

Tap-sticks – arrilil

Paired sets of hardwood percussionimplements. one, usually the smaller isswung to hit the other, usually larger, element.The former is called the ‘child’ – rujurt, whilethe other is known as the ‘mother’ – kama.

Arrilil are tuned by trimming each piece untilthe desired note is produced when the two arestruck together.

Blake et al. list six species of trees whose timbers are used for clap-sticks (1998: 140). The ones we observedwere made from ironwood – kartungkun (Erythrophleum chlorostachys),

Didgeridoo – arrdawirr

The earliest records of the use of the didgeridoo are from the cobourg Peninsula. As noted earlier Wilson,in his 1835 narrative included a plate showing men dancing at raffles Bay as another man played thedidgeridoo. he also recorded the name eboro for the instrument, while macGillivray recorded the name iberofor didgeridoo – a hollowed length of bamboo about 1000 mm in length, which he saw at Port essington(Wilson 1835: 319; macGillivray 1852:151).

The earliest recorded didgeridooappear to be made from bamboo(Bambusa arnhemica) and onlywith the introduction of metal toolsdid hardwood didgeridoo becomemore common. Blake lists 12species of tree used by the iwaidjato make didgeridoo today – bamboois not listed.

Two types of ardawirr are recognised on the basis of tone. Yidalka are said to be high-toned didgeridoo whileirrumbur have a low or deep tone.

8. Smoking pipes

smoking appears to have been introduced to the area by the makassans and the British in the 19th century.

crab-claw pipes – jihi kurudalk

made from the free-moving claw or dactyl of the mangrovecrab (Scylla serrata) chela. The distal end is removed bybreaking or grinding and a groove filed into the shell belowthis, for the teeth to grip the pipe. copper wire may bewrapped around the proximal end, which serves as the bowl,to reinforce it.


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chillum – jika

Tubular pipe made from a short,hollow length of wood. An exampleseen at minjilang had been madefrom the wood of arrililarrilil.(Gardenia megasperma).

makassan pipes – larrwa

This form of smoking-pipe haspersisted in Arnhem land for morethan a century after fishers from theindonesian Archipelago regularlyvisited the northern shores.

Pipes may be made from a variety of timbers, including the beach hibiscus alabanja – Blake lists 12 speciesof wood used for this purpose (Blake et al. 1998: 148). The example illustrated above is made from a lengthof the indigenous bamboo alijbularr (Bambusa arnhemica). The piece of bamboo was cut to leave the septaat one end complete to seal the tube and the other end open. The bowl was made from a short length ofcopper pipe set into the bamboo and sealed with native beeswax warnany. Beeswax is selected for thispurpose, rather than the karlanyun resin obtained from the ironwood tree (Erythrophleum chlorostachys), asthe latter is quite toxic.

The shellfish mangayikulu (Turritella terebra and Cerithidea obtusa) are still also used occasionally astobacco pipes.

Donald Thomson (1939: 81–91) records a number of other materials used as smoking devices from theArnhem land area. These include gastropod shells and the calcareous tubes of marine worms.

9. Watercraft

Although traditional watercraft are no longer made and used many of the older people remembered makingand using them. Dugout canoes were still being used in the area in the 1960s.

Paperbark rafts – mardyawu / wunybu

rafts made by piling sheets of bark from the paperbark tree – wunybu (Melaleuca leucadendron). The sheetswere often staked together to keep the craft together. These were expediently made when crossing riversand other streams and also served as platforms from which fish could be speared and waterfowl and their eggshunted and collected.

sewn bark canoes – wilam

These canoes were made by sewing together at bow and stern a large sheet of bark from the stringybark treewarldurru (Eucalyptus tetradonta). The bark was first steamed over a fire to make it flexible and then sewnwith lengths of windi (Flagellaria indica). The bark was pierced with an awl iwijiwij, made of ironwoodkartungkun (Erythrophleum chlorostachys), rather than a bone awl, which was deemed too brittle to use onthe tough bark and most likely to snap.

Dugout canoes – kubuny

Dugout canoes were introduced to the north coast, by the makassan fishermen in the 19th century. As metaltools became more accessible they were made locally. most older people (40 years+) had made or used suchcanoes and could provide details of nomenclature.


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10. Miscellaneous

Fire-drill – kijbu.

made from sticks of durlubun (Thespesia populneoides). Bates et al. (1998: 14) list 10 different plants usedby the iwaidja to make fire drills.

soft dry grass – birldi mirlak is used as tinder when using the fire-drill (above).

rasp – wurmi murdurlurli

Back skin of the cowtail stingray – murrurlurli (Pastinachus sephen). This is used as a rasp whenwoodworking. The skin is removed from the fish and dried.

sandpaper

shark (wamba) skin is used as sandpaper as are the leaves of yilid, the sandpaper fig (Ficus scobina).

scourer

Pumice – rangak is used to scour (= kawardiki) cooking pots etc.

Knives and small receptacles

Prior to the introduction of metal, shells, particularly the sharp edges of the valves of the ngarlwak (mudmussel – Polymesoda erosa) were used for both cutting and scraping. These shells form very efficientcutting tools capable of both robust cutting and the delicate whittling of the barbs of hardwood spearheads.


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Ngarlwak valves were also used as small cups and palettes for holding resins or pigments used in art orcraft work.

stingray-spine knives

stingray spines – mangkimangki were used expediently as knives to gut stingrays if a metal knife was notavailable.

ochres

red – kildirlk.kurdurt

yellow – karlwa or wardyad

White – kujurn

Black – wilngukuk (charcoal)

in the past, complex designs were painted on some closely woven bags and baskets and on the blades ofsword-clubs. ochres were also used for body painting in rituals and for cosmetic purposes. Today ochres areprimarily used in ceremonial contexts and to decorate the handles of split-feather dance fans, didgeridoos,dance batons (wurlurrurr) and other associated material. Dancers and songmen (arrabujba also birdabirdhang)at minjilang obtain supplies of ochres when visiting other centres better provided with these resources.

Dance baton – wurlurrurr

made from a bound length of tightly rolled paperbark these are carried by the lead dancer and used to directthe ensemble.

Conclusions

it is probable with a longer period of fieldwork that the above inventory of iwaidja material culture could befurther expanded. in many instances it took several days of discussion before people remembered detailsabout processes and objects that previously they had only referred to in general terms.

in many instances both men and women had actually practised many of the skills when they were muchyounger but had not done so for several decades or more.

it was apparent that even this brief period of fieldwork created an interest among our co-workers, in thingsbelieved to have been relegated to the past, and contributed to the capture of knowledge of material culturethat may otherwise soon have been lost.

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank first and foremost the men and women of minjilang who so freely gave of their time andknowledge in assisting us in this project. in particular ronnie Waraludj.

We are indebted also to the staff of the Australian museum, sydney, The museum of melbourne and thesouth Australian museum, Adelaide, for their time and patience in permitting Kim Akerman access to thecollections and also for permitting him to photograph artefacts for research purposes. Philip Jones of thesAm most generously provided copies of the Foelsche and stirling documents at extremely short notice andassisted greatly in their transcription.

The Anthropology Departments of these institutions will all receive a copy of this report, which it is hoped,will be of some value to them.

To the staff at the mitchell library, sydney, we are grateful for the copies of plates from the originalunpublished 1845–1847 journal by John sweatman.


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We also acknowledge the support of sabine hoeng and murray Garde, for making the fieldwork such anenjoyable and fruitful exercise. Finally K.A. is especially grateful to val hawkes for editing the initialdrafts of the manuscript and to the editor oliver mayo for his patience as the manuscript was refined overdifficult times.

Appendix 1

extract from collett Barker’s vocabulary and list of place names, Barker’s raffles Bay Journals Appendix ii.4. someof these appear to be derived from makassan words, others may be english in origin. (mulvaney & Green 1992: 232).

iron wil’morenail willemooroóknife murry múrryhatchet (metal) leebogwood yájeckwood (another sort) a’rabeckstone arickbaspear imbour’biespear – jagged bourriboor-ayéthrowing stick ro’grocabbage (tree) lahiebasket, cylindrical moolarkbasket, bell-shaped mulberiaguin’net mungideérarope bellay

Appendix 2

extract from Thomas Wilson’s word list. as well as providing place names, names of males and females, there are alsobotanical and other terms relating to natural history and material culture (1835: 315–321).

iron will-morenail wilemorôôknife mure-murehatchet (metal) leybooktheir musical instrument eborostone arichba or ain ainstone-headed spear imburbêserrated spear burre buraithrowing stick rogorookcabbage (tree) la-heebasket, such as they

usually carry moolachnet – such as they wear

round their shoulders. mungederarope bell haistring a-loo-roocicatrices poolarkscar from a wound oroota gift nidaycloth – anything woven mambrualboat oboi or oboncanoe lipe lipeshells in general luda-luda


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Appendix 3

unalla artefacts, Port essington district, extracted from the Paul Foelsche word list 1889. south Australian museum

modern practical orthography by Bruce Birch and nicholas evans, and checked by reuben Aramunika and illijili.February 2007. The remarks are Foelsche’s. in the modern practical orthography used here, vowels have their latinvalues, symbols significantly different from their standard value are ng = /ŋ/, ny = /ɲ/, r = /ɻ/, rr = /r/ or /ɾ/, rn = /ɳ/, rd= /ɖ/, rt = /ɽ/, ld = /ɺ/, h = /ɰ/. voicing of stops is not phonemic, with both voiced and voiceless realisations possibledepending on position in the word. Transcribed from a copy of the handwritten original by Kim Akerman January 2006.

No. Item Unalla – ModernFoelsche orthography Remarks

145 Kangaroo teeth lindaree Ilbuhi jihi ornament fastenedin beeswax warnanybudba on forehead.

146 Armbands crammarI ilimbil – made of Banyan fibre banyan fibre called ‘elimbiee’. Worn

above elbow.

147 Wrist-bands gallarwanjban karlarrwanybany made of fibre of cabbage-‘seagrass’ or ‘ palm leaf called ‘marruuoin’.kalawanybany’ is worn around the wrist for,‘centipede’ – possibly from one inch to 2 inches.named from the patternof the weave.

148 headband alambar karlamba Worn on forehead.

149 elbow tassels monjark made of opossum hair.

150 corroboree ariahlil arrilil used for beating time time beaters at corroborees.

151 resin or gum calanewn karlanyun used for mounting spearheads (?) is obtained from the roots of the ironbark tree by warming them in the fire and scraping them, which is warmed again and beaten with a stick. natives say it is poisonous.

152 Armlets barndee barndi made of rattan obtained from the malay proas which visit the coast every wet season trepang fishing.

153 Tassels jangunah (?) Worn by men in front, fastened to hair belts.

154 human hair belts koolarwur kurlawurr made of human hair.

155 necklets mangool manngurl made of grass stems and worn by all tribes.

156 head and elbow tassels mionurul (?)

157 net bag baanduck made of bark fibre.


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No. Item Unalla – ModernFoelsche orthography Remarks

158 net bag baanduck made of native cotton.

159 nets and fibre alimbil ilimbilof which made

160 hair belts marrawee marriwi made of human hair and worn by women.

161 Bark flaps marrawite marrawaj made of paperbark, used bywomen fastened to hair belthanging in front to cover nakedness. i have only seen

them used in the neighbour-hood of Port essington.

162 Basket. woolangannah kurldangarna made of pandanus leaf fibre, used for carrying honey.

163 Basket and grass youngallie yangaliof which made

164 Basket and material marella murrhala = material strips of of which made pandanus pandanus leaves.

165 lot of baskets names not ascertained.

166 rope and material alwero alwurduof which made

167 stone tomahawk allwareook karlwirruk. The stone has notThe stone is wardyad = stone been sharpened.called warriat generic

168 small barbed jurgcao yuku used for fighting.wood spear

169 stone spear head wongalaber Said not to be from obtained from inland the iwaidja. tribes.

170 stone spear head jurndick yurndij Found in a creek some distance inland.

171 stone spear head auldoorangdan Said not to be Found in malay Bay. from the iwaidja.

169,170, 171 janbee Said not to be spear complete from the iwaidja.

172 Baskets not made of cabbage palm ascertained leaf, used for carrying water.

173 Waist-belts miambill made of cypress pine bark called ‘gundukgan’. Worn by all coast tribes.

174 long wood spear in jalunbou yarlunbu used for fighting.one piece. no barbs


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Appendix 4

ei-wa-ja (iwaidja) artefacts, Port essington District, extracted from the e.c. stirling Word list 1891. south Australianmuseum Archives.

modern orthography by Bruce Birch and nicholas evans, and checked by reuben Aramunika and illijili. Feb. 2007.

Transcribed from a copy of the handwritten original out by Kim Akerman. The notes are reproduced as in the original.January 2006.

No. Artefact Name Modern Notesorthography

1 yamstick augie (g hard) wurtji

2 musical instrument a-ra-wirr ardawirr

3 Dugong spear shaft o-rin-ga kurdinkarr

4 Fighting spear ya-lumbah yarlunbu croker is. Bowen straits. used with hand only.

5 Fighting spear wei-durk widurrk croker is. Bowen straits. used with woomera.

6 Fighting spear ya-lo-wan yalawan

7 Fighting spear meikal mikarl

8 Fighting spear yau-ga-lal yankarlal croker is. Bowen straits. used by hand only.

9 Fighting weapon mei-arol miyarrurl (KA – fish-tailed sword-club).

10 Paddle mei-ye miri

11 cabbage palm leaf pei-luwie

12 Piece of paperbark murri-awo mardyawu

13 large line and spike al-loro alwurdu (‘a’ – as in ‘fat’).for dugong (also alhurdu =

rope)

14 small line and spike al-loro alwurdu (‘a’ – as in ‘fat’).for turtle

15–27 cabbage palm baskets marr-o-in marruny

28 Tuft of feathers marra-la-ga marrarldaka used in fighting and at coroborees.

29 Breast straps man-ma-quaitch manmakbaj

30 arbutch arrabutjba men.

31 al-oro alwurdu men and women – worn around neck.

32 laitah /leitah round head – loop hangs behind – women.


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33 man-gurrl Prob. manngamburri round neck – men and women – grass.

34 headband a-lumbuh karlamba Tufts across forehead –men – fur wild dog –feathers native companion.

35 Armlets paandie barndi large – men. small – women – grass.

36 Armlets ramah rdama initial ‘r’ rolled almost like‘wr’. men and women.

37 charm hung baa-lack. baldak in fighting they grip it withround neck the teeth. young grown (?)

grass inside.

38 charm hung baa-lack baldak Also ‘baa-lack’, a larger round neck kind of 37.

39 ain-go-in /ein-go-in ingkuny For carrying pipe and tobacco.

40 Basket bag na-mal-ka namalka malayankarri For carrying.

41. honey bag ood-lan-gana kurldangarna (small one inside).

42 yam basket yang-adlie yangali ‘g’ scarcely sounded like French nasal.

43 human hair belt maa-rouie / marriwi Goes together with 44. maa-ruie Woman’s full dress.

44 (KA- sub-triangular maa-ra-waitch marrawaj – also name Goes together with 43.bark apron) for pelvic area of turtle Woman’s full dress.

45 hair girdle mai-am-bille or men.mei-am-bille

46 hair girdle mai-am-bille or men.mei-am-bille

47 charm hung baa-lack baldak vid 37.round neck

48 charm ei-ya-ra-boo stick carried by pregnant women at first pregnancy, in a bag hung in front. stated both to promote

easy delivery and prevent child when born from crying.

49 Fire sticks ree-bou or rei-bou kijbu ‘r’ guttural and rolled.

50 Aerial roots of banyan ell-im-bil ilimbil used for making string and rope.

51 Fibre from inner bark of some tree growing near high water mark.


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52 A kind of yam long-oon ldungun Dwell on first syllable. nasal same like French.

53 message stick wurrungie- warranjibarranji message stick said to burrungie (5) be a request for a lubra

red ochre – ryale-yelk kildirlk to go the sender. K.A.yellow ” – ra-lua rarlwa presumes it is decorated White ” – wei-jorn kujurn with the listed ochres.

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