Aboriginal Plant Use JP
Junior Primary Teacher's Guide
Education @ Adelaide Botanic Garden is made possible by a partnership between The Department for Education and Child Development and the Botanic Gardens of Adelaide.
Acknowlegements
Content: Steve Meredith and Michael Yeo
Illustrations: Gilbert Dashorst
Contents
- Bookings
- Subscribe
- Purpose and Australian Curriculum Connections
- How to use this guide
- Before and after the visit
- When in the garden (Guidelines for school groups)
- Trail Map
- Plant information, key points and discussion ideas
Bookings
Bookings are essential
Whether teachers are planning a self managed visit or a session planned with the education manager, for reasons of risk management, emergency alert and OHS, bookings are essential for all school visits.
Phone: 82229311
Fax: 82229399
Online: www.botanic.sa.edu.au
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To discuss possibilities or book the Education manager for a session
Phone: 82229344 or Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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© 2013 The State of South Australia, Department for Education and Child Development and the Botanic Gardens of Adelaide. This publication is protected by copyright. It may be reproduced by South Australian teachers for use with their students.
Purpose and Australian Curriculum Connections
Target year levels: F-2.
Key ideas: Aboriginal people developed an intricate knowledge of plants over a long period of time. Plants were significant in culture, survival and everyday lives of Aboriginal people.
Students will investigate a range of plants used by Aboriginal people in a variety of ways including, food, medical, shelter tools and ceremonies. The scope covers plants from across
Students are encouraged to observe, analyse, inquire, connect knowledge they already have with new learnings, hypothesize and record.
TfEL: Provide an authentic context in which to engage learners and build their understanding whilst using a range of learning modes.
Australian Curriculum Connections
General capabilities
- Literacy
- Critical and creative thinking
- Personal and social
- Intercultural understanding
Cross-curriculum priorities
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures
- Sustainability
Foundation
Geography: Protecting landscapes and internal migration
History: Ancient
Science: Biological Science and human endeavour
Year 1
Geography: Biomes, food, connection to places.
History: Making a Nation’
Science: Biological Science and human endeavour
Year 2
Geography: Custodial Responsibilities
History: Rights and Freedoms’.
Science: Biological Science and human endeavour
How to use this guide
This guide is designed to provide background information for teachers on each plant included in the walk. Some suggested student responses are included but they are by no means exhaustive. Many of the questions invite open ended response and are of a sensory nature.
Before and after the visit
The plants on the trail are numbered and may be found by referring to the map of the Adelaide Botanic Garden and by looking for plant name labels.
- The student guide should be photocopied so that each student has a copy of student activity materials and the map.
- Prior learning – it would be useful if students have a basic understanding of some of the terms used in the trail.
- This excursion is outdoors; students may require sun protection. In the colder weather raincoats or umbrellas are good. There are lots of protected spaces in the garden.
Before the visit:
This student guide should be photocopied so that each student has a copy of the student activity materials and the map.
- Prior learning – it would be useful if students have a basic understanding of the terms used in the trail.
- This excursion is outdoors. Students may require sun protection. In the wetter seasons raincoats or umbrellas are advised however there are lots of protected areas in the garden.
Discussions:
Traditional plant uses. Multipurpose plants.
- Tyndale map of Aboriginal groups. How is this map useful?
- Ask students to consider why aboriginal people would move from place to place. Why would they move to the foothills in winter?
- What roles would women, men and children have in the group? Why would they be different?
When in the Garden
(Guidelines for school groups)In the garden students must be supervised at all times.
Before starting your walk please remind your group that:
- Gardens are peaceful places for people to relax and enjoy
- Walking slowly and talking quietly ensures everybody and everything will enjoy the gardens
- Plants are fragile, touch them gently
- Flowers, leaves, bark, seeds etc. growing on plants or lying on the ground are there for all to enjoy. When you have finished with plant material found on the ground always return it to the garden
- Keeping to paths and not walking on beds or borders avoids damage to plants.
The garden is a special place. Please leave it as you find it.
Map
Plant information, key points and discussion ideas
This section is designed to assist teachers with background information on each plant. Some suggested student responses are included, they are by no means exhaustive. Many of the questions are of a sensory nature and invite open ended responses. It is worth noting the plants listed here refer to usage by different Aboriginal groups living in different areas across Australia . Where possible, reference has been made to local Kaurna (Adelaide Plains) and Ngarrindjeri (Coorong/Lower River Murray) people. If known, traditional Aboriginal plant names (mainly Kaurna) have been included with the plant information.
1. River Red Gum, Eucalyptus camaldulensis Karra
This tree has been growing here, on what was Kaurna land, for more than 250 years -100 years before Europeans came to
Near the River Murray, Ngarrindjeri people cut huge slabs of bark from river red gums to make canoes. The pattern of missing bark on the trunk of this tree is similar to the shape cut for canoes. The hard, durable wood was used for a range of utensils and weapons including digging sticks, carrying dishes, shields and boomerangs.
Many insects, birds and other animals which live in and around the tree were hunted. The scratches on the northern side of this tree are possum marks. Possums live in a hollow halfway up the trunk of the tree on the western side. Possums provided food and fur skins to make blankets and cloaks. Directly above the possum hollow is a colony of bees. Native bees were a source of honey and wax. Hollows also provided homes for birds like parrots, kookaburras and wood ducks all of which could be hunted for food.
Eucalypts were often used medicinally. Different types of crushed gum leaves provided relief from congestion and when laid on a fire were said to smoke out fever.
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2. Moreton Bay Fig, Ficus macrophylla
This massive tree is native to the forests of NSW and Queensland. The fruits of native figs are all edible but vary in quality and size. They taste best when ripe and soft. These figs were pounded, mixed with flour and honey, then baked to make fig cakes. Here in Adelaide the fruit drops almost continually filling the air with a distinctive fermenting aroma.
3. Grass Tree, Xanthorrhoea quadrangulata
This local plant is a source of sweet nectar in the Autumn when the flowers are in bloom. The shaft of the flower spike was used by Kaurna and Ngarrindjeri people for light weight spears and for fire sticks. Grass tree spears were made by attaching a pointed, hardwood end to the stem of the flowering spike. This sharp end was secured using kangaroo sinews and a cement resin gathered from the trunk of grass-trees. Both the creamy coloured base of the young leaves and roots were edible. In summer the seeds were ground to make flour.
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4. Ducks
Ducks were an important food source but were not easy to catch. One Ngarrindjeri hunting method involved women and children going upstream to drive the ducks towards a net slung across a stream. As the ducks neared the net men would throw a boomerang or club above the duck's head to imitate a duck-hawk. The ducks would swoop down and over a hundred or more could be caught in the net at once.
Another method involved swimming under water to catch floating birds by their legs. Skilled hunters could take a number of ducks this way, one at a time, without disturbing other ducks. A refinement was to use a long pole with a slip-knot noose.
5. Queensland Nut Tree, Macadamia integrifolia
Macadamia nuts are a nutritious and tasty source of food from
Special nutting stones were used to open the shells. These stones consisted of slabs of tough rock with a number of depressions ground into them. Nuts would be placed into the depressions and then cracked with a blow from a hammer stone. A large macadamia tree may bear up to 100 kilograms of nuts in a season.
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6. Palmer Spear Lily, Doryanthes excelsa
The Spear Lily grows in NSW. The large flower stalk was eaten after soaking and roasting. The edible roots were crushed with rocks and then baked. The flowers attracted many nectar-feeding birds. Hunters with nets would hide under the large leaves waiting to capture these birds for food. The leaves were easily split into strips for weaving mats and baskets.
7. Illawarra Plum, Podocarpus elatus
This plant has a false fruit consisting of a fleshy, sweet stalk attached to a large, round seed. The soft, fleshy part, which looks a little like a plum, was eaten raw. Although it lacks flavour the flesh has a pleasant jelly like texture. The seed is also edible and has a pine flavour.
8. Bottle Tree, Brachychiton rupestre
The Bottle Tree survives long periods of dryness in Northern Australia by storing water during the wet season. The fibrous tissues in the trunk and roots swell up as more and more water is absorbed. Aboriginal people needing water would chop into the bark and squeeze the soft, spongy wood to obtain a drink. The seeds, shoots and roots are edible and the trunk exudes a gum which is a source of starch. The wood was used for firemaking and for shields. Some of the shields from the bark of this tree arrived in South Australia via Aboriginal trade routes.
9. Parapara, Pisonia umbellifera
Some North Queensland Aboriginal groups used the very sticky fruit of this plant to trap ground feeding rainforest birds. The birds were caught by placing the sticky pisonia fruit in a circle surrounding a tasty fruit lure. Birds crossed the circle and became encumbered with the capsules making any escape flight difficult and capture easy.
10. Hollow Tree, Eucalyptus camaldulensis Karra
This river red gum reached about 400 years of age before it died. A class of students can easily fit inside. There is no record of the tree having been burnt by European settlers and it is very likely that this shelter was burnt and enlarged by the Kaurna people. The shelter would have been made more comfortable by blocking off openings exposed to the weather and lining the floor with bark and animal skin rugs. A bush verandah made of leaves, bark and branches probably extended the shelter. The tree shelters or WATTOWALDI were most often used in winter as family groups moved inland to escape the cold winds near the coast.
11. Ribbon Gum, Eucalyptus viminalis
Look for small holes in the lower trunk. This is where the moth or beetle larvae have burrowed into the tree. Aboriginal people would look for fresh sawdust falling from the hole indicating there was a live grub inside. This could be extracted by using a fine, flexible sharp stick. The Kaurna people called grubs found in the trunk 'barti' and those dug up from the roots were called 'koope'. Koalas could often be found in these trees. They were quite easy to catch for food and skins.