Traditional Baskets - old photos

ESA Logo

Traditional Aboriginal Knowledge

Traditional Baskets - old photos

 


    
Janjuu (Baskets)
Photos K. Mackay

In collection of Eacham Historical Society
Meston (1904:6) noted that in the wet season 'The men sit in camp and make weapons or dilly bags....so beautifully made from the small lawyer palm..'
"For carrying they were slung over the forehead to hang down the back. ....and used to carry fruit and nuts back to camp and to carry fibre-rope nets and fibre-string fishing lines. It could also be used in the river for soaking plant foods that needed to have the poison leached out of them.      
Pedley (1992)
Lawyer canes (Calamus spp.) which are climbing palms, provide the raw materials for most of the basket making. Lawyer canes are known as rattans in SE Asia and are the main source for cane furniture.