My Survival as an Aboriginal
Clip 1: Zig zag
2 min 52 sec
Taken from the documentary My Survival as an Aboriginal (1978)
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
Essie Coffey instructs some young people on how to track animals. They are looking for porcupine tracks, and finally find one. A porcupine never walks straight says Essie, but always walks in a zig zag. They follow the porcupine to a hollowed log.
Curator’s notes
While it was carefully constructed, this sequence is very much the equivalent of an Indigenous home video, with the family out on a hunting and gathering expedition, and in this instance, looking for the prized flesh of the porcupine or echidna.
Romaine Moreton, curator







