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Handmade goggles
Handmade goggles

Handmade goggles

Datebefore 1988
Object number00015720
NameGoggles
MediumWood, string, wire, nylon, rubber
DimensionsOverall: 38 x 475 x 35 mm, 0.05 kg
ClassificationsTools and equipment
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Fisheries Department of Western Australia
DescriptionA pair of handmade googles used for diving on the offshore reefs of north western Australia. These googles were confiscated from an Indonesian type II motorised vessel, CAHAYA INDAH by the Fisheries Department of Western Australia. HistoryIt is likely that these googles and the additional equipment confiscated from the CAHAYA INDAH are from the Buginese people of the South Sulawesi region. Although not confirmed by the Fisheries Department of Western Australia, there are a number of indications that the material did not come from Rote Island where orginally thought. Rote Island is the last island in Indonesia that Indonesian fishing vessels anchor at on their jorney to Australia. Vessels are often mistakenly reported as coming from their while actually they started their journey elsewhere. Also Rote Island does not use that type of motorised vessel. 'Cahaya' is a Buginese name and 'Indah' means 'beautiful'. The carving on the goggles is typically Buginese. It is therefore assumed that the boat, and crew where mainly Buginese.SignificanceThese googles are representative of the type of gear used by Indonesian fishermen in the fisheries they pursue in Australia - trepang, trochus shell and meat, giant clam meat, and fish for the crew's consumption and for sale as dried fish in the markets in Indonesia.