First Nations Songlines - What did they trade?
What did they trade?
People have been trading for thousands of years. It’s partly what makes us human.
For tens of thousands of years, First Nations Australians travelled across Country – walking, paddling along rivers, and sailing through the ocean. There was always a reason to visit friends, family and other communities to share news, stories and to trade goods.
Having a supply of fresh water was always very important. That’s why rivers played a key role in trade networks – you could follow them, move quickly along them in a boat and have something to drink along the way.
Traditionally, First Nations Australians traded food, clothing, animal furs, jewellery, utensils, weapons, ochre, woven bags, baskets and nets, fishhooks, watercraft, songs, dances, skills, knowledge, and more! We can’t cover everything here because the list is so long.
This section talks about a few examples of maritime objects and technology that were traded in different parts of Australia; these are from Yuin, Bardi, Palawa, Yolgnu and Adnyamathanha Country.
[icon] Maritime means related to the sea.
Examples of maritime trade
Fishhooks
A fish hook made from an abalone shell
Abalone is a type of maritime mollusc that lives in the ocean on the south coast of New South Wales. The flesh inside the shell can be served as a delicious meal in restaurants, but shells are also a container of practical knowledge in the Yuin community.
The Yuin people know when, where, and how best to sustainably harvest abalone.
The shimmering shells of abalone and other marine animals were also used to make fishhooks by First Nations Australians who lived near the coast.
My artwork connects me to my family and culture. My family is at the core of everything I do. Making these shell fishhooks with my grandchildren and passing on the knowledge of my ancestors to new generations shapes everything I do.
Australian National Maritime Museum
[icon] Meet Sharon Mason and her family down at the beach on Yuin Country as they gather and shape shells. The video shows Sharon crafting hooks at Mummuga Headland near Narooma, an important cultural site for the Yuin people.
Shell body adornments
Riji are unique cultural artefacts made by the Bardi people from the Dampier Peninsula in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. They are pieces of pearl shell that have been crafted into a tear shape and engraved with patterns. Red ochre is rubbed into the carved lines to make the designs stand out.
[icon] An artefact is an object that was made or modified by a person.
A pearl shell used to make riji by the Bardi people
The Rainbow Serpent
Riji are usually engraved with sacred patterns, tribal symbols, or a story. The shells were traditionally worn by men who had been initiated to a high level. They were worn around the waist on a belt made of hair string.
The shells were also highly prized in inland and arid regions, where their shimmering mother-of-pearl surface was linked with rainwater, lightning and the Rainbow Serpent. They have been found at Yuendumu in the Central Desert (Northern Territory), south eastern Arnhem Land, Queensland and South Australia.
Artists with cultural knowledge and permissions are still making riji today. Some have older, sacred patterns, while others have modern designs.
[icon] Visit the museum collection. Search Gwarn and Riji (Objects) to see examples of riji made by Bardi elder, Bruce Wiggan.
Jewellery
The practice of making shell necklaces in Lutruwita dates back at least 2,000 years and continues today. It demonstrates the strength, resilience, adaptability and continuing vitality of Palawa (Tasmanian) art and culture.
A Palawa woman wearing a traditional shell necklace
The necklaces are a form of knowledge-sharing and bonding for Palawa women. Traditionally, necklaces were given as gifts to mark important events in a person’s life. They are also cultural and personal expressions of identity, family heirlooms, trade goods, souvenirs and works of art.
Shells are collected at certain times of the year from the ocean and beachside. The main type of shell used in necklaces is the rainbow kelp shell, which are collected one-by-one at special low tides during the year.
To make a necklace, holes were pierced into each shell with a small tooth from a wallaby or kangaroo. Shells were then threaded onto kangaroo tail sinews or string made from natural plant fibres, and smoked over wood ash to remove the sea snails inside. Finally, they were rubbed in grass and polished with mutton bird or penguin oil to make them shiny.
Washing, cleaning, polishing, sizing and sorting the tiny shells means that making a necklace or bracelet takes a very long time!
[icon] View a shell necklace in the museum collection made by Lola Greeno Rice
Watercraft technology
For hundreds of years before Europeans arrived in Australia, Macassans from Indonesia sailed to the Kimberley region, Arnhem Land and the Tiwi Islands, to trade with First Nations Australians. Along with food and goods, the Macassans also introduced new maritime technology.
One important technology was the dugout canoe. At first, the Macassan visitors traded canoes. Over time, First Nations Australians learned how to build their own. The introduction of metal axes, sail-making and rigging skills allowed the construction of canoes that could travel farther and more safely across the ocean. This made it easier to catch fish, turtles and dugongs, and to collect bird and turtle eggs from islands.
You can discover more about this trading relationship in the Macassan Traders module.
A dugout canoe from Macassan traders
Ochre
Ochre is an earthy material made of clay and sand that has a natural colour such as red, yellow, brown and purple. You won’t find it in the ocean! It comes from inland regions and was highly valued across Australia, including by people living in coastal areas.
Red ochre was one of the most important minerals mined and treasured by First Nations Australians. It was used for body painting in ceremonies, rock art, and to decorate important wooden and stone tools and weapons, jewellery, and animal hides and fur.
Red ochre
The red ochre from the Bookatoo (Parachilna) mine in the Ikara-Flinders Range was famous across central Australia. This is on Adnyamathanha Country. After excavation, the ochre could be mixed with water, shaped into 'loaves', and dried for transport.
[icon] Use the Map of Indigenous Australia to find where this special ochre was collected from.
[icon] Dieri Country is about 500 kilometres north of Bookatoo. Even though the Dieri people could find ochre close to their homes, the Bookatoo red ochre was highly prized! It was so valuable that groups of 70 to 80 men travelled through difficult and sometimes hostile Country to barter with the mine’s owners. They used it for themselves and traded it further north to other communities.
Mines like this were important places where groups met to trade stone and ochre. People also gathered there for ceremonies and other events. Each mine belonged to the clan whose Country it was on, so visitors needed the owners’ permission before entering. Mining was usually carried out by people with special knowledge, who knew how to collect the resource safely and correctly.