The Dug Out Canoe Project
By Rob Robson
The tradition of canoe making in South-Eastern Australia has been revived in recent years in a number of communities in regional Victoria. This project, which took place in 2006 in the communities of Shepparton, Echuca, Heywood, Swan Hill and Ballarat, has had an ongoing ripple effect, prompting other projects and exhibitions. Bangerang Elder and community leader Uncle Sandy Atkinson acknowledges that the most important result, however, was the transmission of traditional skills to young people and their reconnection with the Elders.
Two newly carved dug-out canoes
Photo courtesy of Uncle Sandy Atkinson
Uncle John Sandy Atkinson was born a Moidaban Man on the Cummeragunja Mission in 1932. He is a well-known and respected Elder of the Koorie community and also an actively involved member of the Bangerang community. Uncle Sandy was the Chairman of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Arts Board of the Australia Council, a Commissioner for the Aboriginal Development Commission and the first Indigenous person to serve on a UNESCO committee and still maintains an active involvement in Aboriginal Affairs.
The Dug Out Canoe Project arose out of a simple premise - it was time to pass on the skills of canoe making to young Indigenous people. "We all know how to make boomerangs and a lot of other things but we don't generally get around to making canoes and watercraft. These were very important to our tribes who lived on rivers, lakes and creeks," Uncle Sandy said.
Children at Cummeragunjah mission near Barmera in Victoria test out one of the canoes
Photo courtesy of Uncle Sandy Atkinson
Uncle Sandy, assisted by Neville Atkinson and nephew Peter Atkinson, led a series of workshops targeting participants from Shepparton, Echuca, Heywood, Swan Hill and Ballarat. Those selected participated in a three day workshop "out bush" producing a dug-out canoe. Seven canoes were made as part of this project, but the outcomes have been far more wide-reaching than the organisers anticipated with broader public outcomes, informing and influencing Indigenous and non-Indigenous audiences in the context of popular community celebrations and activities.
One of the canoes produced during the workshops was donated to the Dhurringile Prison (Murchison, VIC) where it is now on display in the new Indigenous area of the prison. Another was put on display at Wominjeka - Welcome Place at Federation Square during the Commonwealth Games in 2006 and was viewed by many local, national and international visitors.
A smaller canoe was made by Uncle Sandy and Uncle Neville for a Melbourne Museum show, held at the same time as the Games. Titled Carve, the exhibition brought together artists in all forms of indigenous practice in woodcarving and sculpture from Canada, New Zealand and Australia. In March 2007, four of the canoes made as part of the project were featured on the Yarra River at Birrarung Marr as part of the Moomba Festival opening.
As a lasting legacy, the canoe making process and the experiences of the project participants have been documented using video, audio and photos and these have now been put into the archives of the Koorie Heritage Trust and will form the basis of resource materials for education programs.
Please visit Regional Arts Victoria for more information about this project and other great arts stories.
