sections, four foot in width, which, when joined together for the purpose of the chase, would extend sometimes to a mile and a half in length...”.35 Rainforest timbers were used to manufacture spears, a variety of clubs, shields, boomerangs and digging sticks.36 Boomerang manufacture has been described by Dawson: “The boomerang tree had symmetrically curved, thin slabby roots or hips above ground from which boomerangs could easily be cut with the right curve or shape needing only to be trimmed down to the correct thickness and weight. After being scraped down, the boomerang was dried and hardened over a fire.”37 On the Richmond – Tweed, non-returning boomerangs were used for hunting small marsupials, flying foxes and birds, as well as for combat.38 Another important tool made from timber, usually mangrove wood, was the pademelon stick or throwing stick, used chiefly for hunting small animals and sometimes in tribal conflict.39 The women’s digging stick was another important tool that could be applied to many tasks. The digging stick was constructed from a similar hardwood to that of spears, with digging sticks reportedly being between 1.8 and 2 metres long, pointed at both ends, and specially hardened by being placed on the fire.40 These were used to dig out yams and other vegetables, to kill small animals and as a women’s weapon in conflict. A similar tool, used by males, was the nulla-nulla. Nulla-nullas, or clubs, employed both hardwood and stone in their manufacture. Stone chips or bits of bone were embedded or attached to the head of the club using an adhesive agent, making it a more formidable weapon.41 Conflict played a significant part in traditional Aboriginal life with a number of weapons manufactured specifically for use in battle. Spears, boomerangs, nulla-nullas and digging sticks performed dual roles, being used for food gathering and warfare, whilst shields and battle axes were primarily constructed for combat. Dawson describes battleaxes: “…a battle axe of flat hardwood curved at one end and pointed, and a battle axe of round wood curved at one end and pointed and used like a pick.”42 Shields were manufactured from the wood of a tree called the Yahroohgul Tree, which grew mostly in the forest country of the Richmond and is described as, “…deciduous, its wood soft and heavy; it cuts like cheese when green but dries hard and tough.”43 The shield was trimmed to an oval shape and shaped convex on the front side with the reverse left flat. On the back side the hand grip was cut out when the wood was green and soft. The complete shield was then smoke dried and the convex side was rubbed with bees wax and polished so that flying missiles would be deflected off it.44
3.2.4
Interaction Between Aboriginal People and European Settlers
The first European people that the local Aborigines experienced contact with are likely to have been convicts from the penal settlement at Moreton Bay (established in 1826), who had absconded while working on the Tweed River cutting timber. More substantial contact began in the 1850s, as cedar getters moved into the area to exploit the large stands of cedar 35
Ainsworth. J. 1922. Reminiscences 1847-1922. Beacon Printery, Ballina. p. 17. Ibid. 37 Dawson. R. L. 1935. Aboriginal Words and Place Names of the Lower Clarence River District. Quoted in Collins. J. P. 1992. Byron Shire Aboriginal Heritage Study. Prepared for Byron Council. p. 23. 38 Ibid. 39 Collins. J. P. ibid. p.23. 40 Ibid. p. 23. 41 Ibid. p. 24. 42 Dawson. R. L. 1935. Aboriginal Words and Place Names of the Lower Clarence River District. Quoted in Collins. J. P. 1992. Byron Shire Aboriginal Heritage Study. Prepared for Byron Council. p. 23. 43 Ibid. 44 Ibid. 36
47 Proposed Dunoon Dam – Heritage Impact Assessment
