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Dugout Canoe

Date1988

Object number00001826

NameCanoe

MediumSilver Paperbark tree (Melaleuca Argentea)

DimensionsOverall: 520 x 4950 x 540 mm, 270 kg
Vessel Dimensions: 4.95 m × 0.54 m (16.24 ft × 1.77 ft)
Display height with sail. 3000mm

ClassificationsVessels and fittings

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionThis dugout canoe was made from the paperbark tree (Melaleuca Argentea) known in Yanyuwa as Binjirri. The tree was felled on the banks of the McArthur River near Borroloola, Northern Territory, Australia. It was made by Annie Karrakayn and Ida Ninganga of the Yanyuwa and Issac Walayunkuma of the Garrawa clan. Both bow and stern of the canoe are coloured with a reddish brown pigment which was traditionally used to protect the vessel from fresh an sea water worms.HistoryThis canoe was specifically commissioned by the Australian National Maritime Museum in 1987 in an attempt to record and preserve a record of the tradition and methods of canoe construction in the Borroloola region. In keeping with Yanyuwa tradition the canoe is called 'Rra-Kalwanyimara', which can be translated literally as “the female one from Kalwanyi'. As Annie Karrakayn puts it: 'All the canoe got name... [from the] country where they come from'. The Yanyuwa history of canoe making is a good example of Aboriginal culture's quick response to change. Dugout, and later aluminium, canoes were readily adopted by the Yanyuwa as they were a better version of the bark canoes they already had. As such they represent cultural change very much on Yanyuwa terms. The use of dugout canoes allowed the Yanyuwa to exploit their environment in new ways. Resources such as bird and turtle eggs on isolated islands could be obtained and previous activities such as turtle and dugong hunting would have been both safer and more productive. This canoe took around 720 hours to make and if in traditional use would last up to 2 - 5 years, sometimes less. It would take a lot of maintenance to keep the canoe in working order however and patching up leaks by using bark, ochre, mud and later metal tacks and tar was a constant. When aluminium canoes became available in the 1960's the move to them was inevitable and saw a decline in the production and thus knowledge of dugout canoe techniques.SignificanceNinganga became involved in canoe making as part of her commitment to ensure that traditional Yanyuwa skills were recorded and handed on to future generations. Canoes had previously been made only by men but, seeing that the canoe making art was in danger of being lost forever, Ninganga decided she would make one. When I asked how she knew how to make one she replied: 'I been look at how olden time men made canoes and I been learn myself.'