Stitching Spear-Grass Sinew and Skin: Crafting New Social Memories at the Koorie Heritage Trust

STITCHING SPEAR-GRASS SINEW AND SKIN; CRAFTING NEW SOCIAL MEMORIES AT THE KOORIE HERITAGE TRUST Ruth Pamela Oliphant Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Masters by Research December 2012 School of Social and Political Sciences The University of Melbourne Fig. 1 Printed on archival quality paper i Abstract This thesis explores the relationship between the revival of Aboriginal craft practices and the crafting of social memory among artists at the Koorie Heritage Trust in Melbourne. ‘Koorie’, or ‘Koori’, is a collective term used to describe the Aboriginal people of south eastern Australia – an area made up of approximately thirty-eight discrete language groups. Although the languages themselves are no longer widely spoken, individuals identify with these bounded groups. Each of the language groups are tied to a specific region or ‘Country’, set of totems, and collection of creation stories, all of which contribute to how individuals identify themselves within the wider Koorie community. Since the mid-Nineteenth century, Koorie cultural practices had been systematically eroded by the pressures of European colonialism. Until the late 1960's and early 1970's, it appeared that the only craft practices surviving were to service tourism and the tastes and whims of white Australians. The 1970's saw the emergence of an Aboriginal cultural, political, and artistic movement which was the beginning of changing perceptions of what made aboriginal art 'authentic'. The Koorie Heritage Trust was established in 1985 in an effort to preserve, protect, and promote Aboriginal culture of south eastern Australia. This began with the establishment of a ‘Keeping Place’, where material culture could be collected, housed, and cared for in culturally appropriate ways. This thesis examines more recent examples of craft revival by Koorie artists, which include possum skin cloaks, kangaroo tooth necklaces, and grass baskets. Each of these items emerged from their creators’ bringing together of information sources through museum and archival records, the artists’ existing understanding of cultural practices, and their innate, intuitive, ‘Ancestral knowledge’. The exploration of these sites and means of cultural production requires the consideration of three central themes: the concept of time, which informs how the artists comprehend their past; knowledge, which is concerned with how these artists come to be proficient in their ‘know-how’; and finally, how this knowledge is understood to be embodied and enacted in the lived in world. This thesis demonstrates how, as these artists engage in the revival of craft practices, notions of time, knowledge and the role of the body transform, and so too does an understanding of social memory. ii Declaration This is to certify that (i) this thesis comprises only of my original work towards the Masters except where indicated in the Preface, (ii) due acknowledgement has been made in the text to all other material used, (iii) the thesis is 33956 words in length, exclusive of tables, maps, bibliographies and appendices __________________________ Ruth Oliphant iii Acknowledgements First and foremost I must thank my friends, colleagues, and mentors at the Koorie Heritage Trust for their support, guidance and patience as I occupied their space and bothered them with questions. Thank you to Maree Clarke and Len Tregonning for kindly and generously sharing with me your stories and artworks; Vicki Couzens for relaying her stories so eloquently - despite the fact we never got round to a formal interview this thesis is enriched with her voice. My time at the Koorie Heritage Trust, as a research student, volunteer, and receptionist was rewarding in so many ways and that was thanks to the staff throughout the organisation. I hope this thesis gives a little something back. The curatorial staff at the Trust welcomed me in, guided me, and educated me and for that I must extend my warm thanks; Miriam Troon, Chris Keeler, Nerissa Broben and Judy Williams. Jodie Dowd, who was a curatorial cadet during my fieldwork, not only took me under her wing and shared stories and ideas with me, but became a great friend: thank you. My supervisor, Dr Tamara Kohn, has the patience of a saint! Whenever I became overcome with work, irresolute and hopeless, or I shied away for fear of ‘getting it wrong’, she buoyed me up, provided constructive criticism, pointed me towards ‘must-reads’, and diligently trawled her way through confused and unfinished drafts, and for all that I must offer her a huge thank you. Other members of the department also have leant support throughout this process, thank you to Monica Minnegal and Paul Green. My peers at Melbourne University, with whom I embarked on this journey, and some whom I met along the way while walking their parallel paths, have provided encouragement, advice, stimulating conversations, offered an immense amount of fun, and wonderful friendships. Thank you so much to Megan Lafferty, Anais Gerard, Morgan Harrison, Nadiya Cushak, Tracey Parhor, John Burgess, Bryonny Goodwin-Hawkins, Kim Neylon, and Zoya Gill. Having moved to Melbourne from the UK shortly before beginning this project I never imagined the incredible network of friends I would develop. Without them to provide a balance of work and play, I doubt this thesis would ever have reached a conclusion. Especially thank you to Maree Ross, Jeff King, Britt Salt, and Jon Hewitt. Thanks also must be extended to Belinda Vaughn who was a wonderfully patient and considerate employer and friend during my last few months of candidature. iv My parents have been a continual source of support from a far. Never doubting me, when I doubted myself - they provided love, encouragement, and advice whenever I asked for it, and even when I didn’t. Last, but certainly not least, I must thank my partner and best friend, Simon Christie. Without his patience, support and love I do not know where I would be. v Table of Contents Title Page i Abstract ii Declaration iii Acknowledgments iv Table of Contents vi Chapter One 1 Stitching spear-grass, sinew, and skin: An Introduction • The ‘Field’ 4 • Methods and Methodology 7 • Ethics 17 • Thesis Outline 19 Chapter Two 20 The Possum Skin Cloak’s Patchwork Time • The Possum Skin Cloak Project 22 • Whose time is it anyway? 24 • Linear Time 25 • Patchwork Time’ 30 • Conclusions 32 Chapter Three 35 The Generation of Knowledge / The Generations of Knowing • Thung-ung Coorang: Kangaroo Teeth 35 • The Knowledge Questions 36 • Knowledge and Anthropology 37 • Getting to Know the Know How and Know What: Making the Necklace 38 • Archival Research 41 • Community Learning 44 • Ancestral Knowledge 46 • Conclusions 47 Chapter Four 49 Sneaking Stiches, Fumbling Fingers, and Dextrous Digits • June 2011 – Preparing Poong’ort: Spear-grass 52 • 1st August 2011 – The Opening 57 • 23rd September 2011 – The Workshop 61 • Conclusions 67 Reflections 69 Bibliography 75 Glossary 82 Table of Figures 85 vi Chapter One Stitching Spear-Grass, Sinew and Skin: An Introduction We saw the original one at the museum and then I got a possum jaw from a brushtail that was on the side of the road… and that was when we made that one up into the engraving too...But in doing that I went and asked three Uncles for permission because you know, we haven’t made these things for ages – in the old days there used to be a whole process. Learning and then waiting until you were ready to be taught that. But in our case we were forbidden... Yeah, it wasn’t reinventing, it was just rejuvenating. It was an old practice that was kind of not done. Len Tregonning, 2011 The possum jaw protruded from the bulbous layering of stringy bark twine - which Len had made from rubbing lengths of the bark between his palms turning it into a thick, strong, fibrous thread. The twine bound the jaw to a wooden stick around half a foot long, but beneath the layers of string it was also set in place with a cement-like mixture which he had concocted from grinding up shells and mixing them with resin and tree gum. It’s important, you know – no one’s made those things for generations. It’s important for me to feel close to my Ancestors – the ones who used these kinds of tools all the time, but also important to remember how things were made and how we used to use all these materials. I had met Len during the eighteen months I had spent volunteering as a curatorial volunteer at the Koorie Heritage Trust in Melbourne’s city centre, which was also my field site. Len was an Aboriginal man from Gippsland, a long-time employee at the Trust, and a craft person – or, as he called himself ‘not an artist, more of an implementer’. He was pragmatic and innovative and was a key player in the revival of several craft practices which had not been practiced within the Koorie community for generations. As my time in the Trust went on I came across numerous examples of craft revival projects which had been established despite the inadequate, incomplete records of how such artefacts were made prior to European contact. Since 1835, when the first European settlement was established in Victoria, Koorie cultural practices had been systematically eroded by the forcible movement of the people from their Country, the introduction of disease, and the disruption brought to the traditional ways of life by the 1 more blatant assimilation policies which prohibited any craft production that was not endorsed by the Government. As Len went on, People on the missions were allowed to make boomerangs for tourists but they weren’t allowed to make anything with cultural significance that they would use themselves, so yeah, it’s nice to see that change.

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