We were up and ready by 7:00AM today.
Like yesterday, the boys and girls were split into two groups. The boys went with the male rangers to learn how to make spears and how to hunt, while the girls went with the female rangers to learn how to collect plants to weave baskets. In order to make the spears, the fire needs to be prepared, some of the guys worked on the fire while the rest of us worked with the rangers to make the spears.
The spears consists of the body and the tip. For the body part of the spear, we used beach mangrove wood and for the top of spears they always use the iron wood. The iron wood it needs to be very sharp as spears are often used for hunting. We also did different designs for the head of the spear which has different uses. The spear is held together by a tool called a Burndok and when people throw it, it makes the spears more accurate in hitting the target. On the end of the spear, there is a hole which is part of the Burndok and slots into the tool to assist in throwing the spear. For the Burndok, the rangers used the knife to cut the wood into the shape of a club with a hook on the end.
In order to stick the iron wood and beach mangrove wood together, we used a traditional form of Aboriginal glue known as bee’s wax. The rangers also mentioned to us that the wax can be mixed with other ingredients to make a sweet paste which can be eaten as a treat. When the bee’s wax sticks to the spear, we will burn it in the fire to make it hard so it moulds around the spear and the spear won’t fall apart.
We then decorated the spears by painting them with original colours made from certain rocks and charcoal. The group then organised a competition where we shot targets with our newly made spears… we were trying to find then who was the best at Spear throwing! We also created a kun (Kangaroo) and crocodile cardboard cutouts to use as our targets. It was a great experience for us boys. It just showed us just how much effort is needed to make such basic tools that are very powerful and how simple things can make the biggest difference.
After learning how to hunt and craft spears, we had our lunch and headed back to Gunbalunya. We learnt more about what the Rangers are trying to do to help protect this ecosystem. One example of this is when they place camera traps to monitor what was going on in the ecosystem.
Just before we left, the rangers introduced some traditional Aboriginal instruments – clap sticks and the didgeridoo. Everyone tried the didgeridoo and had a great time!
A big thank you to the Njanjma rangers for hosting such a special day.
Love,
Sam and Benjamin on behalf of the Australia Group
