Australian Sea Country Stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders

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Eora means 'first people' in the language of the Darug, traditional owners of the land the Australia National Maritime Museum museum now stands on. Join us with Beau James for an interpretive description of some of these precious works. The EORA First People Exhibition takes us on a journey from Tasmania to Far North Queensland and the Torres Strait, exploring this deep connection through art and adornments.

EORA First People Exhibition works

EORA First People Exhibition works include:

Elaborately carved and painted Pukumani burial poles from the Tiwi people

Hollow log coffins decorated with the story of Mäna, the shark. Following a funeral ceremony still practised today, the bones of the deceased are placed in the top of the log coffin.

Ceremonial sculptures and handwoven works from Arnhem Land and Cape York

Delicate shell work from Tasmania

Spectacular headdresses, body ornaments and dance machines of the Torres Strait.

A SPECIAL FEATURE:

SALTWATER - YIRRKALA BARK PAINTINGS OF SEA COUNTRY

This series of paintings explains the spiritual and legal basis of the Yolngu's claim on the Saltwater Country of north-east Arnhem Land. The stories were painted to teach the Balander (stranger or white people) about the lore and law of the Yolngu people. The collection is a record of sacred lore based on the wisdom of thousands of lifetimes.

"... They represent a social history; an encyclopaedia of the environment; a place; a site; a season; a being; a song; a dance; a ritual; an ancestral story and a personal history."

- Djon Mundine, OAM, Aboriginal curator, on the Saltwater paintings.

The EORA FIRST PEOPLE EXHIBITION is a small sample from over 4000 pieces from the local people that include

Burial poles from northeast that were placed around a burial site

Hollow log coffins with intricate designs and totems

Saltwater barks created by local elders sharing the stories of poachers and showing secrecy designs.

Beau shares the intricate stories with us of how the barks portrayed the person they are and who they are related to within some of the barks.

The 80 barks were also used to help prove their connection to the land and the bark paintings were used in a court case to help claim sea rights for the local people from that country.

Bark gathering is hard work, and then the bark is used and worked to have a vibrancy that shares the connection to the country, and many are preserved over time at the gallery.

The waters around give story and meaning, and the fibres used also include spinifex.

Stories emerged from looking out into the area and observing the local animals including the stingray as that area could be someone’s totem, and therefore this area is someone’s responsibility to look after the nests of that area as they could become the voice of that country and the voice of that nesting area.

Saltwater or freshwater people

Precious objects were carefully around the grave to help with the journey into the next life, and then bags could be placed on or near totem poles so that a person's story and connection are taking them to the other side and so there is definite a connection on the journey into the next life.

The Tasmanian section

Massacres wiped out many people in Tasmania, and the seaweed baskets and the shell necklaces are an essential part of the collection from this country.

Baskets from this collection were also used to carry clams and oysters, and Eel traps were utilised along with sardine scoops.

More details can be found on the website below.

WARNING: This website may contain the names, images and artworks of deceased people which may cause sadness or distress to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People.