Brookvale Public School

The Aboriginal people of the Sydney coastal regions looked to the natural environment for their needs.  Tools and utensils used in hunting, gathering and cooking were made from the resources around them.

Men used different types of spears, two of them were a single pronged spear for hunting, the other being a multi-pronged "fish-gig".  The shaft of these were made from the long flower stalk of the grass tree, with a spearhead of oyster shell, bone, fish teeth, stingray spines or wood which the men would make into a point.  Those spears were usually carried in the hand.  The smaller items were often thrust into the band worn around a man's waist when not in use.

Spears were either thrown from hand or with the aid of a spear thrower known as a Woomera.  Spear-throwers were carved from wood and then decorated with a piece of shell, stone or glass.

The waddy or club, made from hardwood, was used in combat or for throwing at animals as was the boomerang.  The manufacture of stone hatchets, known as a mogo, were shaped and sharpened to a fine edged then to a wooden handle and fixed with resin gum.

Fishing equipment used by the women was quite different to the men.  Hooks were made of the inside of a shell resembling 'mother of pearl'.  This was broken into a ring two or three centimeters in diameter, then ground with a coarse file into a crescent shape, sharpened at one end and often notched at the other to attach the line.  The shiny inside of the shell acted as a lure, in addition to the ground bait of chewed shellfish which was spat into the water to attract fish.  Other hooks used by women included those made of wood, bone or bird claws and were probably baited.

Fishing lines were made from twisted grasses and fig tree bark, also the material for nets and bags.  In the bags men and women carried the meat from shell fish, ochre, resin, hooks and lines, shell ornaments and points for spears. Net bags were often slung from the forehead, and hanging down the back.

When fishing, both men and women used canoes formed from tree bark usually she oak.  This was achieved by cutting bark from the trees soon after rain when the sap was rising.  The ends of the bark were simply folded and skewered together with pegs, while any holes and cracks were patched with resin.  Canoes were propelled with paddles,  or a long thick stick where waters were shallow.

Aboriginals found many practical uses for bark other than canoes.  Bark was used to make huts, shields, baskets, fishing lines, bowls and net bags.  It was used to shield their faces from the light as they slept, held over their heads during the rain, and used to lay new born baby's and carry them about.

Bark was not the only useful part of the tree, trunks and branches provided the Aboriginal people with many other important implements, wooden 'digging sticks' used by the women to obtain yams and other rich vegetables made from hardwood.  Hardwood was also used to create bowls, parring sticks, clubs, boomerangs and axe handles.

Stone was also used by aboriginal people. Hard rock was repeatedly struck against another to shatter and give a sharp edge for cutting animal skins, bark etc. and for weapons. Evidence of rocks being used for implement sharpening can be found as well as engravings. Hard stone such as basalt was traded between aboriginal clans from as far away as Lithgow about 150kms from Sydney.

The Darug Toolkit