12 Materials and Strength

One of the most diversified aspects of First Nations engineering in Australia is the making of rope, twine, thread and fibre from many materials. All these manufactured items have cultural significance, because of their origin or the use they are put to.

When people cut their hair with flint or quartz knives it is kept and reused by rolling into yarn on the thigh and stored on a hand spindle. This is then used for making rope objects such as the head ring for balancing a coolamon, headbands, waist bands for ceremonies, and rope for carrying small game.

Skins are prepared as clothing, as cloaks or skirts, then woven plant fibres or hair belts are used to tie coverings for the groin such as skirts for women and wraps for men.

Bark fibre is used to make dilly bags in the south of Austrlai. In the centre spiniex may be mixed with hair to make a stronger fibre. In the north pandanas leaves are often used for weaving, stripping down the leaves to the right size for knotting.

Twine is also made to tie axe heads to the handle, spear heads to the shaft, etc. These are often strenghened with resin such as from spinifex (Memmot & Page, 2022).

Weaving

When a yarn or fibre is prepared it is then dyed for weaving. Dyes are made from ochre and other minerals, leaves, flowers, sap, roots and some insects. The community knowledge of how to prepare dyes and yarns is passed down through the generations as part of the community instructions.

The process of weaving is also taught by women, instructing how to ensure the weave is tight, such as for dilly bags, or holes the right size to allow water through in fish traps. Stronger rope is create for nets for kangaroo and emu by twisting two strings together into one for tougher yarn, using a reversed twist to create a strong even product.

Knotting

Various knots are using in weaving and for tying parts of a tool together. The patterns made in weaving are highly symbolic as they are designed for different strengths and uses. The patterns that are created often represent the animals the nets or bags are for catching, or the totem of the maker. The loops and cross hatches created are highly artistic and symmetric.

Weaving and knotting are skills being regained and shared often in workshops. First Nations are proud of the wide array of atefacts made by our people and we want to share these skills. Ask around local organisations and you will find a weaver who can instruct your class.

The styles of weaving and yarn making are varied across the country, so we leave it to your local community to instruct on what is done using your local resources. The way a weave is started, left or right handed, the colours and fibre used, all vary.

Yarning

Yarning is a particular method of knowledge sharing, often with rules about how you relate to others in the circle. For instance people take turns, you listen well to others and you should not respond to what others say, but add to it.

This process is often accompanied by weaving. The process of weaving creates a product that records aspects of the conversation, either because the conversation is focused on the gathering of the material, or the history of that pattern, or the conversation itself, its tensions and hightlights, gets woven into the artefact (Bell, 2014).