IDNO

P.85736.ACH2

Description

On Catalogue Card for duplicate print P.233.ACH1: “Domestic occupations in summer season on Lower Murray river.”

Summer encampment with small groups of Aboriginals performing domestic tasks, including food preparation cooking, and eating. In the foreground on the right a group of men are knitting nets. Behind them a family is returning with their fish. On the left a family is eating a root dish called Vangall (Typha). Next to them a woman is making string for the nets out of fibres of the root. A group of children playing ‘kick-to-kick’ with a ball made out of Typha roots in the mid-distance; the aim of the game is that the ball should never touch the ground. Three men in the background are drying a fishing net. [JD 23/8/2007]

Place

Oceania Australasia; Australia; Victoria; Lower Murray River

Cultural Affliation

Named Person

Photographer

Muetzel, Gustav [Artist]

Collector / Expedition

von Blandowski, William [Blandowski Expedition to the Lower Murray River, 1857]

Date

1862

Collection Name

Haddon Collection

Source

?Haddon, Alfred Cort (Dr)

Format

Print Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

P.85724. to P.85811. were tied together in a bundle.

Bibliographical Reference: Blandowski, William von, 1862. Australien in 142 Photographischen (Unpublished), with the caption “Aborigines of Australia, Plate 133. William v. Blandowski, Australia. Domestic occupations in the summer season on the Lower Murray River”. [JD 23/8/2007]

Exhibition: This image was displayed at the Mildura Arts Centre until November 2007. A detail from the etching shows Aborigines playing 'kick-to-kick' near Mildura, which Dr Patrick Green, Museum Victoria’s chief executive claims could be the first image of football in Australia. Blandowski's 1857 notes describe a game played by the Yerre Yerre people near Merbein in Victoria's north-west. "The ball is made out of typha roots - it is not thrown or hit with a bat but it is kicked up in the air with the foot," Blandowski wrote. "Aim of the game: never let the ball touch the ground". [Source: The Age Newspaper, www.theage.com.au, JD 9/10/2007]

Bibliographical Reference: For discussion of authorship see: Allen, H. 2006. Authorship and ownership in Blandowski's Australien in 142 Photographischen Abbildungen. Australasian Historical Archaeology 24:31-37. [Jane Lydon, Monash University, 8/7/2009]

Publication: Blandowski, W. 1862. Australien in 142 Photographischen Ahbildungen. Gustav Neumann, Gleiwicz. Edited by Harry Alien. Translated from the German by Lillian Barton. Translation Copyright: Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, 2007. with the caption:
“41. The Aborigines living at the confluence of the Murray and Darling Rivers live mostly on fishing and bird catching, using almost unbelievably large nets. - In the foreground on the right is a group of men knitting nets: behind them is a family returning with their fish. On the left a family is eating a root dish called "Vangall” (Typha), next to them a woman is making string for the nets out of the fibres of the root. – A group of children is playing with a ball; the ball is made out of Typharoots; it is not thrown or hit with a bat but it is kicked up in the air with the foot. Aim of the game: never let the ball touch the ground In the background a fishing net has been laid out to dry.” [WV 27/3/2009]

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Jocelyne Dudding 23/8/2007]

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Aboriginal Visual Histories Project, Monash University. [Wonu Veys 27/3/2009]