9 History of Technology in Australia
Cat Kutay
To understand Aboriginal technology and the significance of some of the artifacts involves learning over time, just as this knowledge was shared over time with Aboriginal children as they grew up. It is a complex and holistic system of understanding and living in the country around us. Australia is slowly re-gaining a lot of the skills that we lost to all but a few, or skills that were diminished in value. Here are some selections from that history as found in the diaries which Bruce Pascoe read and then wrote about in Dark Emu (2014):
Figure 1. From B. Pascoe and TedxSydney, 25 July 2018. Licensed for adaption and re-use under (CC-BY) 4.0.
One quote from Pascoe’s book is shared here as it relates to engineering practices prior to the invasion as seen by the new arrivals:
Embedded Knowledge
Later they witnessed the people fishing with canoes, lines and nets. The purpose of the weirs gradually became clear. They were made by damming the stream behind large earthen platforms in which channels were created in order to direct fish as required. On one particular day Kirby noticed a man by one of these weirs. He wrote that:
a black would sit near the opening and just behind him a tough stick about ten feet long was stuck in the ground with the thick end down. To the thin end of this rod was attached a line with a noose at the other end; a wooden peg was fixed under the water at the opening in the fence to which this noose was caught, and when the fish made a dart to go through the opening he was caught by the gills, his force undid the loop from the peg, and the spring of the stick threw the fish over the head of the black, who would then in a most lazy manner reach back his hand, undo the fish, and set the loop again around the peg. (pp. 6-7)
How did Kirby interpret this activity? After describing the operation in such detail and appearing to approve of its efficiency, he wrote, “I have often heard of the indolence of the blacks and soon came to the conclusion after watching a blackfellow catch fish in such a lazy way, that what I had heard was perfectly true.”
Such quotes are found in diaries kept by the early colonisers of the country and are quite open about the attitude towards the people who had owned and cared for this country for millenia. Based on the quote above do this exercise to reflect on what this story means in terms of the history of engineering in this country.
Knowledge is embedded in the artefact
James Kirby was a marine, who had limited knowledge of general engineering and design. He could not assess from his experience the sophistication of this technology. Use your engineering knowledge to analyse and describe the fisherman’s practice and what engineering knowledge is embedded in his design
There are many other technologies that are now being appreciated by non-First Nations. These include systems which were probably the first constructions by humans, such as the Brewarrina fish traps, and Budj Bim eel traps. These constructions involved large collaborative efforts that were managed within the tight system of relationships and responsibilities of Aboriginal culture.
Books such as the work by Page and Memmott (2021) provide case studies of Aboriginal design used in practice both before invasion and since then, incorporating new technologies. The adaption of place-based understanding in design has impacted improvements in adaption to country and local resources. Respect for the sophisticated minimalist and flexible designs of many Aboriginal artefacts such as the woomera and boomerang can inspire new approaches to modern technology. For exampe, while the woomera is a spear thrower which provides four times the kinetic energy of an arrow launched from a compound bow (SMH, 2004), it was also used as a water carrier and surface on which to draw maps of routes (see Trading Routes). The understanding of local material can provide for new manufacturing, such as the use of spinifex fibre in building (Guo et al., 2024) and in nanotechnology (Saltmere et al., 2022).
References
Guo, D., Rajabipour, A., Bazli, M., Kutay, C., Sumanasena, V., & Pham, TNP. (2024). Strength and erosion resistance of Spinifex Fibre reinforced mudbrick. Fibers, 12(5), 39. https://doi.org/10.3390/fib12050039
Page, A., & Memmott, P. (2021). Design: Building on Country. First Knowledges Series.
Pascoe, B. (2018). Dark Emu: Aboriginal Australia and the birth of agriculture. Magabala Books.
Saltmere, C., Memmott, P., & Amiralian, N. (2022). Learning about nanotechnology and spinifex grass. In C. Kutay, E. Leigh, J. Kaya Prpic & L. Ormond-Parker (Eds.), Indigenous engineering for an enduring culture. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
SMH (2004). Extinction’s group theory, Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/national/extinctions-group-theory-20040625-gdj7cy.html
