Crook Hat and Camphoo
Clip 3: Spearing kangaroo well
1 min 40 sec
Taken from the documentary Crook Hat and Camphoo (2005)
Original title classification not known – this clip chosen to be G
Availability of the complete title
Please be aware that this clip may contain the names, images and voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who may now be deceased.
Curator’s clip description
A dead kangaroo sits on the ground between Camphoo and Crook Hat. The elder hooks the stick under the sinew of the kangaroo, and turns it to remove the long tendon. They then take the kangaroos guts out so that they can use the fresh grass from the main gut. They rub the fresh grass along the shaft of the spear, saying that it helps to spear the kangaroo well.
Curator’s notes
Elders Reggie ‘Camphoo’ Pwerl and Donald ‘Crook Hat’ Thompson Kemarre show us how all resources that are available to Indigenous peoples within the environment are a valuable facet in Indigenous technology. The kangaroo is an important animal in this part of the country, and its uses are many and varied. The elders convey the importance of younger generations learning ancient skills and technologies. The key skills that are passed on generation after generation speak of an intimate relationship with land, and the importance of possessing such skills to maintain that relationship.
Romaine Moreton, curator
have teachers’ notes.
