1903.39.23

Collection type

Object

Description

Women's fringe apron made from strands of twisted opossum fur, black and brown in colour. [FB 12/02/2015]

Geographical reference

Australia

Oceania > Australia and New Zealand > Australia

Northern Territory Gulf of Carpentaria Mcarthur River Borroloola

Cultural groups

Marra

Person

Field collector Francis James Gillen

Field collector Walter Baldwin Spencer

PRM source Walter Baldwin Spencer

Date / Period

Date made: Before 1902

Date collected

1901 - 1902

Acquisition information

Donated: 1903

Materials and processes

Material Animal Fur Skin, Material String, Process Twisted, Process Tied

Dimensions

Width: max 880 mm, Length: max 230 mm

Object numbers

Accession number: 1903.39.23 Other numbers: Spencer number 17

Research and responses

Borroloola is where the Spencer and Gillen expedition was 'marooned' during the 'Wet'. Originally the expedition had planned either to go overland to Queensland or to Darwin but a decision was taken to go to Borroloola but the expected boat to take them to Darwin did not arrive and Spencer and Gillen stayed there for some time before they were 'rescued' by a boat sent at the request of Mrs Spencer. see Mulvaney 'So much that is New' 1985: 212-213. During their stay in Borroloola they carried out some fieldwork (and collecting). See also 'Camp Jottings .. ' by FJ Gillen 1968 South Australian Libraries Board [AP]

This object was collected during an expedition of Central Australia led by Walter Baldwin Spencer and Francis Gillen between 1901 and 1902. However, it should be noted that accompanying them was an Aboriginal man called Erlikilyika. He was 'hired' (receiving no monetary payment) to run their campsites, but actually undertook some of the ethnographic work himself. He could speak Arrernte (his native language), Kaytej (another Aboriginal language), and English. In their personal field-diaries, Spencer and Gillen note that they took days off work, leaving Erlikilyika with "entire charge of the ethnological branch", where he spoke with and recorded the complex beliefs and customs of Aboriginal communities that were not his own (the Kaytetye group in particular). Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing if Erlikilyika collected any of these objects himself but we know that he played a vital role in documenting their meaning and significance, and should therefore be credited for his valuable contributions to the expedition. This information was provided by Fionnuala Bradbury, a Master's student in Archaeology at Newcastle University, as part of her thesis entitled "Erlikilyika and Walter Baldwin Spencer: Indigenous Informants, Ethnographic Analogy, and Archaeological Interpretation". There is an abridged version of the thesis in RDF.

Associated publications

S&G 1904: 686 'Like the pubic tassels the women's aprons vary much in size, being larger and more constantly worn in the northern than in the southern tribes. A girl is not allowed to wear one until such time as she has passed through the ceremony of atna-ariltha-kuma (an initiation ceremony). Most often the apron is made out of opossum fur-string. There is a strand which passes round the waist, and from this a number of strands hang pendant side by side (Fig 253). Occasionally, but only very rarely, aprons made of human hair string are met with (fig 254). In all cases, except the latter, they are covered with red ochre. [AP 13/1/2000]

Search terms: Clothing, Ornament, Apron, Skirt, Waist Ornament, Groin-cover