Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Teaching traditional skills to children at Mitchell State School

Respected Aboriginal elder Irene Ryder sat in dappled shade, her fingers busy with a few handfuls of glossy bimble box leaves and twigs that she was weaving together to create a hat.

Bimble box leaves (Eucalyptus populnea, also known as a poplar box) are shiny and rounded, therefore the finished hat looked distinctive and would definitely serve to protect the head from rain and also from the heat of the summer sun. Children at Mitchell State School are privileged to have Aunty Irene come to their school to teach them Gunggari language and traditional skills.

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