Coolamon

Ron Harrigan, Aboriginal elder of the Kuku Yalangi & Gugu Yimithirr, with the assistance of Balkanu Aboriginal Co Operation, visited the Australian Museum in Sydney last month to view artefacts from the Cooktown area collected in 1898.

The aim of Mr Harrigan's visit was to work closely with the artefacts from his area, gathering information and photographing the collection, to take back to his community. 'When I look at all of these objects, I can imagine the old people of the Kuku Yalangi & Gugu Yimithirr, and am proud of all these beautiful things,' he said.

'When I walked into this place, I could straight away feel the old people, it is a good feeling'.

Australian Museum Aboriginal Project Officer, Barrina South, Manager of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ethnographic collections introduced Mr Harrigan to the behind-the-scenes collections area.

'Projects like this are important as they allow our people to have access to their cultural heritage, which can lead some communities considering setting up their own cultural centres or keeping places and loaning material from the Museum for display in their own communities. This has been particularly success in New South Wales'.

During the visit Mr Harrigan was also able to provide additional information based on his memories of growing up and witnessing his people talking about or using similar objects, in particular the bark pleated containers. 'As a child I remember my grandmother using this type of container for collecting and producing our bush foods. After the poison was leached out of the fruits, I remember we used to have a good feed,' he said.

It is hoped Mr Harrigan can make another visit to the Museum in the future. 'I would like to bring some of our younger people down to the Museum to show them all the things I have seen'.

The Australian Museum holds about 40,000 ethnographic objects representing the cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The collections comprise a diverse range of cultural material, including tools, weapons, containers, clothes and decorations, as well as artwork, and objects of ceremonial and spiritual nature. The collections come from Indigenous cultures throughout Australia.