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Image Not Available for Ngarrindjeri bark spear shield
Ngarrindjeri bark spear shield
Image Not Available for Ngarrindjeri bark spear shield

Ngarrindjeri bark spear shield

Maker (1945-1992)
Date1991
Object number00015873
NameShield
MediumRiver red gum (Eucalyptus Camaldulensis), cane, red and white ochre
DimensionsOverall: 820 x 320 mm, 2.75 kg
ClassificationsArt
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionIn pre-European contact years, the ancestors of the Ngarrindjeri made an extensive array of shields.This bark spear shield was made by Paul Kropinyeri, a Ngarrindjeri man from the Murray River, South Australia. The shield is made from a single piece of River Red Gum wood (Eucalyptus Camaldulensis). On the reverse there are two cane handles with red ochre colouring.HistoryIn pre-European contact years, the ancestors of the Ngarrindjeri made an extensive array of shields. Some were hard wood shields for parrying and were finely incised with geometric patterns. Others, like the shields exhibited here, were made of the outer bark of the river red gum.They were used in spear fights in which the combatants would defend themselves with the shield, which would accept the spear, sometimes shattering on impact. The art of making bark shields was maintained through the invasion of Ngarrindjeri land the creation of missions, until the1930s when the last shields were made by Clarence Long of Raukkan (Point McLeay). In the early 1980s, Paul Kropinyeri revived the art of shield making. While searching for a suitable tree, he often comes across old scars from shields and canoes, a long the Murray River in the area from Overland Corner to Berri. The scars left on the trees will serve as a symbol of Ngarrindjeri culture in future years.SignificanceThe bark spear shield is a powerful symbol of Ngarrindjeri culture and Paul Kropinyeri was a driver behind the renewed interest in the art of shield making in the Lower Murray.
It is not a direct continuation of that region's traditions. While the artists are all descendants from the Lower Murray they have had to revive a tradition that was once thought lost.