Unbroken String: ancient art of shell necklaces links generations of Aboriginal Tasmanians
Updated
Just five years ago there were real concerns the ancient Aboriginal practice of shell stringing would be lost in Tasmania.
In 2010, the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) started running luna tunapri [women's knowledge] workshops in the hope the cultural practice, which dates back at least 2,000 years, could be kept alive.
The cultural revitalisation project was such a success a range of necklaces spanning nearly 200 years, created by living pakana [Tasmanian Aboriginal] elders, their ancestors and the next wave of "stringers", will be displayed in a nationwide exhibition.
Indigenous Cultures senior curator and pakana woman, Zoe Rimmer, said that during the workshops women who had not learnt shell stringing from their families were guided through the intricate processes of collecting, cleaning and stringing.
"Shell stringing was one of the only practices that was continued throughout the invasion and colonisation of Tasmania so it's something that obviously had a special importance to people," Ms Rimmer said.
"And now [the necklaces] are incredibly beautiful pieces that people wear to celebrate our culture and identity.
"It's something that has been handed down through generations and was maintained by only a small number of families on the Bass Strait islands."
Passing stringing skills to new generation
Through the workshops Ms Rimmer's mother, Tahana, was able to learn the skill of shell stringing for the first time.
"One of my ancestors, Pularilpana, was taken by sealers to the Furneaux Islands in the early 1800s," Tahana said.
"My mum was born on Flinders Island, [but] when my mum was young a lot of our culture, it was taboo. It was fairly well covered up.
"It was unfortunate that we lost that opportunity to gain that [shell stringing] knowledge.
"Having the opportunity to gain something from our culture that was lost in our family — to revive it — is amazing."
Zoe Rimmer hoped her six-year-old daughter Eve, who also took part in the workshops, would be part of a new generation that will keep the practice of shell stringing going.
"When we first started this project Eve was just a baby and she came along to all the workshops and she was 18-months-old when she first came out in the water with us collecting shells," Ms Rimmer said.
"I really am proud of the fact that she [Eve] is so interested and has really shown a natural knack for shell stringing and I hope that it's something that can continue now in our family."
Eve said mariner shells were her favourite to string.
"I like going to the beach to collect shells and sorting them into shells for me and shells for my nanna [Tahana]," she said.
Necklaces made by Tahana and Eve will be among a range of old and new pieces displayed at TMAG and around Australia as part of the Kanalaritja: An Unbroken String exhibition.
Ms Rimmer said the exhibition would offer a rare glimpse into the past.
"We are going to have on display some significant historic pieces that have never been on display before, alongside pieces from our most senior prominent makers of today along with the new wave of stringers," she said.
One of the necklaces to be featured in the exhibition was originally acquired by George Augustus Robinson, who was given the job of trying to bring an end to the conflict between the white settlers and the Indigenous Tasmanians, known as the Black War.
Another historic work that will be displayed for the first time dated back to about 1830, was the oldest shell necklace known to exist in Tasmania and the only one strung entirely on kangaroo sinew.
The exhibition will run at TMAG from Friday December 9 until May 21, 2017, before touring the rest of Australia.
Topics: aboriginal, community-and-society
First posted
