Sharing Knowledge
Weipa, north Queensland
Museums around the world are working on sharing information about their collections with the communities from which they originally came. One way of doing this is to publish catalogues which are accessible to all communities.
In 1993, Kate Khan of the Australian Museum began a project to publish a catalogue, in four volumes, of artefacts collected by Dr Walter E Roth. Roth was a Queensland doctor and was government Protector of Aborigines from 1898 until 1905. In his travels through North Queensland and Cape York, Roth acquired many Aboriginal artefacts, took many photos and gathered cultural information, all of which he recorded meticulously. In 1905 he sold his collection to the Australian Museum.
Kate Khan's catalogue, the fourth volume of which was published in 2004, is specifically for distribution among the Aboriginal communities of North Queensland and Cape York.
Thelma Coconut, an elder of the Napranum community of the Weipa region in North Queensland, read the first two parts of the catalogue and discovered that Roth had collected objects from her country. In 2002, she received a professional development internship from Arts Queensland to work at the Australian Museum. For seven weeks she worked with Barrina South, Aboriginal Collections Officer, studying the objects in the Roth collection and documenting her knowledge of the language and cultural practices of the Napranum people as they related to the collection.
Fish Trap - Lawyer cane, E15011
Atherton, North Queensland, Australia, collected 1900
Traps were fixed into position in a shallow part of a creek, with the mouth facing up-stream. Stretching out from the mouth was a fence made from sticks and grass, directing the fish into the trap. Men and women would drive the fish and eels downstream by walking toward the trap and splashing.
Fish Net - Lawyer cane, bark fibre string, E14975
Princess Charlotte Bay, North Queensland, Australia, collected 1897
These folding oval frame fish nets were carried along the water by men while others walked ahead, acting as beaters. When fish were caught, the net was folded up like a purse.
Basket - Fish-tail Lawyer cane, ochre, E14913
Atherton, North Queensland, Australia, collected 1898
Both women and men used crescent-shaped baskets for many purposes. Women would use the baskets to collect food, such as roots and eggs, and to trap fish. Babies were carried in very large baskets, often by men. Men also used smaller baskets with ochre designs to carry personal and ceremonial items.
Shield - Fig wood, ochre E13430
Clump Point, Queensland, Australia, collected 1897
This shield has been cut from the buttress of a fig tree and shaped by chipping away at the sides. Once removed from the tree, the shield was placed in water for a few days before being rubbed down with a stone to produce a smooth surface for painting.
Copyright © Australian Museum 2004