Summary

During the early 1930s, artists from the Adnyamathanha community in the Flinders Ranges created beautiful and unique material culture depicting insects, lizards and birds. Regrettably the names of these highly skilled artists were not recorded, but the museum's collection of small shields, dishes, boomerangs and clubs is remarkable. The engravings are painted black to contrast with the dark wood of the background, highlighting the intricate figures.
The detailed depiction of the beetle and moth on this dish reveals the Adnyamathanha artist's knowledge of and connection to their country. The wood-boring larvae of several moth and beetle species found in the roots of certain plants are an important food source. These are commonly called witchetty grub, which comes from the Adynyamathanha words wityu (hooked stick) and vartu (grub).
Aboriginal people across Australia have long used insects from their lands as food and medicine, and have expressed their cultural connections to them through art. Insects are also recognised as important prey for birds and lizards. Traditional ecological knowledge about insects provides the community with vital information about the availability and location of plant and animal foods and the health of the land.

Physical Description

Small, elongated, oval coolamon. Outer surface is decorated with totemic pattern comprised of lizards and insects. The figures have been blackened(burnt) to give a contrasting effect. Background of design is made up of finely incised diamond pattern. Inner surface is decorated with wide even fluting.

Significance

The lands of the Adnyamathanha people are approximately 500km north of Adelaide in the northern Flinders Ranges, in South Australia. This area includes Lyndhurst and Moolawatana Homestead in the north-west and north-east, Lake Frome in the east, and Parachilna and Blinman in the south. Atuwarapanha (Mount Serle) and Wayanha (Mount McKinlay) in the central-north of this area are important focal points for Adnyamathanha traditions and more recent history.
The Adnyamathanha traditional owners continue to live and practice their culture on their ancestral lands. In 2016 the oldest known evidence of Aboriginal settlement in arid Australia was found on the lands of the Adnyamathanha people in the Flinders Ranges, proving between 46,000 and 49,000 years of continuous occupation.
Many contemporary projects which focus on cultural maintenance and revival have been undertaken by Adnyamathanha peoples in recent times. The work of Adnyamathanha Elder Aunty Lily Neville has contributed greatly to language revival with her translations and publications in Adnyamathanha language which include songs, wordlists, observations of bush life and family stories. Her acclaimed book 'Adnyamathanha Ngawarla' includes unedited texts and hand-drawn annotated illustrations.
Adnyamathanha language has been taught in schools in and around the lands of the Adnyamathanha people for many years and in 2009 it was being learned by over 1,000 students in nine schools (five in the larger town of Port Augusta and at each school in Leigh Creek, Hawker and Quorn as well as at one school in the Adelaide area).

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