Revitilisation of Possum Skin Cloaks has been important for Aboriginal people as it connects us to Culture. Sinew was used to stitch the skins along holes made with a bone-point needle. However the cloaks are encountered their effect reaches to … F Blacklock, Aboriginal skin cloaks, National Quilt Register http://www.collectionsaustralia.net/nqr/fabri.php. The cloaks were used by both males and females and by all ages, from babies to adults. Support is being provided from Goulburn Valley Health, Rumbalara Aboriginal Co-operative and The University of Melbourne, Department of Rural Health and you have a unique opportunity to also contribute to this amazing healing project which increases self-determination within Aboriginal … WDFW. The use, manufacture and decoration of possum skin cloaks in nineteenth century Victoria (AIATSIS) 1990. Cooper, C. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Collections in Overseas Museums Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra, 1989. Embodying 5,000 years of tradition, cultural knowledge and ritual, wearing a possum skin cloak can be an emotional experience. Possum Skin Cloak - Meerreeng-an Here Is My Country - Culture Victoria Wrap Culture Around You - Cloaks, Clothing and JewelleryThe safety and the warmth of a cloak is a re… Nature’s forces on display Cloaks were an important trade item. Think and Write. Modelling Kangaroo Skin Cloaks’ (2012) 1 National Centre for Cultural Competence, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia. In some communities cloaks are used directly for healing. Cloak made of 22 full and one quarter rectangular skins of of the brush tail possum (TRICHOSURUS VULPECULA) and one skin of the grey kangaroo (MACROPUS CANGURU). In this section, find out everything you need to know about visiting the Australian Museum, how to get here and the extraordinary exhibitions on display. The cloaks were made from numerous possum pelts sewn together with kangaroo sinew, and often decorated with significant incisions on the inside such as clan insignias.They were rubbed with ochre and fat to both decorate and protect them. Use the symbols provided on the fact sheet, or invent your own, to design a story that you would put on a possum skin cloak. T his possum skin cloak was created by Indigenous artist Treahna Hamm and was made for use by a young child. Possum Skin Cloak - Meerreeng-an Here Is My Country - Culture Victoria Wrap Culture Around You - Cloaks, Clothing and JewelleryThe safety and the warmth of a cloak is a re… Nature’s forces on display There has been a revival in the skill of making possum skin cloaks. They are also very popular to wear as a scarf around your neck. As well as being a significant means of keeping warm in this often chilly part of Australia, there was much importance around the making of the cloaks and their wearing. Children can use the cloak to wrap their babies while playing in home corner. One, which dates from 1853, is made from 83 possum skins. Cloaks were traditionally made of a wide range of animal skins. The making and wearing of cloaks instils a sense of pride and evokes a sense of belonging and connectedness to culture and Ancestors. You have reached the end of the page. In addition, white missionaries and others were very efficient in the distribution of clothing and blankets to Aboriginal communities which, over a few generations, caused the tradition of possum skin cloak making to die out. National Gallery of Victoria Melbourne, Australia. Fraser, J. Cecil was a member of the NSW Sorry Day committee, and through this work he educated the world about the Stolen Generations and the treatment of Aboriginal children. In the 1800s Governor Lachlan Macquarie, after inspecting the recently forged road across the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, wrote about meeting some members of the Wiradjuri at the Bathurst camp: They were all clothed with Mantles made of the skins of o'possums which were very neatly sewn together and the outside of the skins were carved in a remarkably neat manner. This kit is not a how to make your own possum skin cloak, for a cultural program contact us to help facilate your schools program. possum skin cloaks with the cloak symbolising Aboriginal culture. For many Indigenous artists, to take up photography as an art form was often a conscious move to counter this history of the medium. “Possum skin cloaks are important in facilitating spiritual healing and continuing traditional practice,” she said. Such figures were common in his artwork, and defined his subjects as Wurundjeri. The new cloak is not only a patchwork of pelts, but of stories too. However cloaks are encountered, they reach to a person’s spirit: Possum Cloaks are the embodiment of spiritual healing. Possum Skin Cloak Story Reconnecting Communities and Culture: Telling the Story of Possum Skin Cloaks Kooramookyan-an Yakeeneeyt-an Kooweekoowee-yan. The cloak became their life story, a living visual biography. The cloak is designed to be added to as the child grows, representing their expanding knowledge of country. They embody and strengthen identity, which can be passed onto family and community. Skins were added and scored with markings that depicted clan and Country; symbols marking pivotal events or milestones such as initiatory rites of passage. Eric is a valued member of the Babana Aboriginal Men’s Group in Redfern where he is regarded as the honorary Elder. In this section, explore all the different ways you can be a part of the Museum's groundbreaking research, as well as come face-to-face with our dedicated staff. In this way the cloak became powerfully connected to an individual: The time spent in the gathering of resources, in production and the ceremonial and spiritual significance contributed to the high esteem and economic value of Possum Skin Cloaks. Aboriginal people from Victoria traditionally made possum skin cloaks by sewing possum pelts together with kangaroo sinew. Two are held in the Museum Victoria collection: one collected from Gunditjmara Country (Lake Condah) in 1872 and the other collected from Yorta Yorta Country (Echuca) in 1853. what is our language for possums, cloaks? Cloaks were used in daily activity, to keep warm, to sleep in and carry our babies. (Smyth 1972, Cahir 2005, Howitt 1996, Dawson 1981). In Victoria today, Aboriginal babies and young children are Welcomed onto ountry in ceremonies lead by Elders wearing a possum Once an everyday item for Aboriginal people in south-eastern Australia, possum skin cloaks were worn for warmth, used as baby carriers, coverings at … Thank you for reading. They were handed down through generations as heirlooms. The lower jaw bone was hafted to a handle producing an engraver which used to carve designs into wooden implements. The Australian Museum respects and acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation as the First Peoples and Traditional Custodians of the land and waterways on which the Museum stands. Aboriginal people throughout south-eastern and western Australia wore skin cloaks, as these areas were colder than the northern parts of Australia. There are also cloaks at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra, as well as four in overseas collections. Two possum skin cloaks one decorated and one undecorated Acquired from the Australian Museum AW Franks collector EH Giglioli Collection, 1913. National Gallery of Victoria Melbourne, Australia. Possum skin cloak from 2017: Shepparton Yorta Yorta woman Leah Lindrea-Morrison with the cloak she had a hand in making for the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne. The purpose of this kit is to provide cultural understanding of possum skin cloaks, how, where and why they were utilised. ‘After making my family possum cloak I understood the powerful cultural significance of the skin cloaks,’ she said. Why is the possum skin cloak an important cultural object? [4], A recent book, Wrapped in a Possum Skin Cloak, by Amanda Reynolds, Debra Couzens, Vicki Couzens, Lee Darroch and Treahna Hamm, tells the story of some south-eastern Aboriginal people, two Gunditjmara women and two Yorta Yorta women, who set out in 1999 to relearn the lost craft of possum-skin cloak-making. Dr McGregor began researching possum skin cloaks as a way to connect to her Wathaurung great-grandmother. Cloaks are taken and wrapped around a person who may be experiencing emotional issues or suffering with ‘sorry business’. Some stand taller, beaming smiles and telling of what they feel. To capture the possums, the men would seek them out in trees with hollows, where possums nest. Making Possum Skin Cloaks triggers a need to find out more about them: how were they made? Barak's drawing style, as exemplified by this composition, which is unique in his oeuvre, is vigorous, eloquent and reliant upon strong, textural outline. Join us, volunteer and be a part of our journey of discovery! Sixty-three [9 x 7] of these skins are the stated complement for one blanket or cloak; when made it is large enough doubled to envelope a tall man completely beyond head and feet. But being smaller marsupials, many pelts are needed to craft an adult-sized possum skin cloak. The opossum is a slow runner and when threatened will usually growl, hiss, and bare its teeth or try to escape by climbing the nearest tree. Story behind possum skin coats Mr Towney said one of the most interesting stories he had gathered so far was about how and why Wiradjuri people had possum skin cloaks. Dr Bob Morgan is a Gamilaroi man and a highly respected Aboriginal educator/researcher. We acknowledge Elders past, present and emerging. Baby possum Skin Cloak Sample containers of Ochre (3 colours) and resin Possum Tail for games Large sample container showing: Mussel shells, waxy twine and needle. Christine is the founder of the Aboriginal Dance Theatre in Redfern, which opened in 1979 and she is currently the CEO. Come and explore what our researchers, curators and education programs have to offer! — When a cloak is put around someone’s shoulders, when they are enfolded within, there is a visible and tangible sense of empowerment. One, which dates from 1853, is made from 83 possum skins. Possum skin cloaks. of the greater Melbourne region, Victoria, in possum skin cloaks and blankets and equipped with parrying and broad shields, clubs, boomerangs and spears, circa. Possum skin cloaks were marked with symbols of the person to whom it belonged. Listen to Di Di Vaha’akolo talking about possum skin cloaks. Vicki Louise Couzens, Masters of Arts, RMIT 2011. Continuing the practice of making and wearing possum skin cloaks has strengthened cultural identity and spiritual healing in Aboriginal communities across Victoria. They were rubbed with ochre and fat to both decorate and protect them. They are also reasonably common in accounts of the gold rush period of the mid-19th century, but gradually became rarities, and restricted to observations of Aboriginal people encountered on the margins of white settlement. Possum skin cloak Once an everyday item for Aboriginal people in south-eastern Australia, possum skin cloaks were worn for warmth, used as baby carriers, coverings at night, drums in ceremony and for burial. Possum Skin Cloaks were a vital part of Aboriginal people’s lives in pre-European times. Cloaks were used in daily activity, to keep warm, to sleep in and to carry our babies. Figures in possum skin cloaks William Barak 1898. Against great odds Aboriginal culture has survived and the making of possum skin cloaks has been revived under the guidance of the Elders. The 2020 Project is a First Nations-led response to the upcoming 250th anniversary in 2020 of James Cook’s voyage along Australia’s eastern coastline during 1770. The impact of the revival of possum skin cloaks as a community cultural practice has been significant and profound. Possum Skins look and feel superb as an accessory to your decor or a throw over your favourite chair. A project submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Possum skin cloaks By Anne Delaney and ABC News Possums in Australia now get to keep their skins as they're a protected species, but there's a history of using the pelts for possum skin cloaks. Go to The Fact Detectives podcast What questions would you like to ask Di-Di about possum skin cloaks? Emotions are seen and expressed in smiles, words and actions. Once an everyday item for Aboriginal people in south-eastern Australia, possum skin cloaks were worn for warmth, used as baby carriers, coverings at … Features: Genuine New Zealand possum skin. The possum skin cloak, with its thorough mapping of different aboriginal groups’ languages, clans, terrain, spirituality and history, has come to symbolize the movement. Harris, Alexander The secrets of Alexander Harris: a frank autobiography by the author of Settlers and Convicts, Angus + Robertson, Sydney 1961. Possum flesh was eaten and roasted in fires. Cloaks were used in daily activity, to keep warm, to sleep in and to carry our babies. March 19, 2020. Whilst colonising practices forcibly interrupted many cultural traditions and ways of Being and Doing, contemporary times have seen cultural re-awakening flourishing in Aboriginal communities across south-eastern Australia. What is the community doing to keep this tradition alive? These questions, in turn, trigger the need to learn more about other related cultural knowledge and practice. Possum skin cloaks typically comprise several possum pelts sewn together with kangaroo sinew. Two possum-skin cloaks are in Museum Victoria's collection. what ceremonies did we use them for? Last week, Northern Health hosted the first possum skin workshop, open to both staff and the community. Small bags were hung around the neck to carry pegs or in mourning, ashen remains; fur was rolled with hair to make string; string and skin pieces were created for body adornment ie: necklaces, arm bands, head bands, dance belts; skins sewn together made a ball used in a game called ‘marngrook’, a game of keepings off between two teams. Last week, Northern Health hosted the first possum skin workshop, open to both staff and the community. In this section, there's a wealth of information about our collections of scientific specimens and cultural objects. The skins are laid in four rows of six each, sewn on the skin side, edge to edge, with a very fine cord of cotton sinew. Communities and individuals seek these knowledges and begin to relearn their ‘mother tongue’; dance and sing story and create ceremonies; strengthening pride and identity in an affirming creative cultural way. what did we use them for? Possum skin cloaks are one of the most sacred cultural expressions of south-eastern Aboriginal peoples. Possum-skin cloaks were once a common part in Aboriginal culture and a Footscray workshop is determined to revive the lost art. Possum Skin Cloaks were a vital part of Aboriginal people’s lives in pre-European times. As with most Australian Aboriginal belongings, there were many uses for the one thing – the cloaks were also used as blankets, mattresses and to wrap babies. One side of the cloak is entirely furred, while the other … Each individual had a Possum Skin Cloak. They were significant commodities, and were used both as clothing and to … These preferences were shaped by the availability (or the lack of) of the animals in each geographic region. In Victoria today, Aboriginal babies and young children are ‘Welcomed onto Country’ in ceremonies lead by Elders wearing a possum skin Possum-skin cloaks were a form of clothing worn by Aboriginal people in the south-east of Australia – present-day Victoria and New South Wales.. Why is the possum skin cloak an important cultural object? Various species of possums supplied an extensive range of resources and tools for primary human needs of warmth, shelter and nourishment. Possum-skin cloaks were a form of clothing worn by Aboriginal people in the south-east of Australia – present-day Victoria and New South Wales. The healing experience of a possum skin cloak is immediate, powerful and lasting. To make a cloak was a very labour intensive and time-consuming process. Figures in possum skin cloaks William Barak 1898. As Aboriginal people were dispossessed of their land, the making and wearing of cloaks became rarer. Cloaks were significant in ritual and ceremony. Worn from a young age, cloaks started out small with a few skins sewn together to wrap a baby. As skins were gathered, they were stretched and cured; incised with designs of clan and Country; coloured with ochres and sewn together with kangaroo sinew, some Cloaks comprised fifty or more skins. Cloaks were used in daily activity, to keep warm, to sleep in and to carry our babies. From the beginning of Possum Story in 1999, and in particular, since 2006, the ensuing years have seen Possum Skin Cloaks become firmly re-established as a cultural practice across Victoria, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, South Australia and parts of south eastern Queensland. Some will stand quietly, reflecting on their feelings, and others will sit and go within to fully experience what they are feeling. This kit contains: Alexander Harris describes one as follows from his personal knowledge in the early 1830s: ... the opossum [of a large species] trapped by the wandering shepherd for amusement, as he follows his flock along by the woodside, furnish the material for a blanket [or cloak, to use the phrase of the country] of the most luxurious, furry softness. The Possum Skin Cloak has re-emerged as a significant icon and collective symbol of our Aboriginal cultures across south eastern Australia. Child’s Possum Skin Cloak. March 19, 2020. Image credit: gadigal yilimung (shield) made by Uncle Charles Chicka Madden. Today, possum skin cloaks are rare, often because after death their owners would be buried, wrapped in their own life story that had begun when those few skins were sewn together at birth.
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