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Coolamon (vessel)
Encyclopedia
It is a multi-purpose shallow vessel, or dish with curved sides, ranging in length from 30–70 cm, and similar in shape to a canoe.
Coolamons were traditionally used by Aboriginal women to carry water, fruits, nuts, as well as to cradle babies. Today when women gather bush tucker, they usually use a billy can, bucket or flour tin. Coolamons were carried on the head when travelling any distance, or under the arm if used as a cradle. If carried on the head, a ring pad (akartne in Arrernte) was placed on the head, made out of possum and/or human hair string, twisted grass, or feathers.http://gunada.curtin.edu.au/local/images/artefacts/DSC47.jpg This helped to cushion and support the carriage of the coolamon; the same purpose as those used by women in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
to carry vessels on their heads. The Pintupi
Pintupi
Pintupi refers to an Australian Aboriginal group who are part of the Western Desert cultural group and whose homeland is in the area west of Lake MacDonald and Lake Mackay in Western Australia. These people moved into the Aboriginal communities of Papunya and Haasts Bluff in the west of the...
of the Western Desert would attach a double strand of plaited rope (ngalyibi) made of hair or plant fibre to sling the coolamon over their shoulders. They also wore smaller coolamons as hats, with the twine around the chin.
Coolamons were used for winnowing grains in the traditional bread
Bush bread
Bush bread, or seedcakes, refers to the bread made by Australian Aborigines for many thousands of years. The bread was high in protein and carbohydrate, and helped form part of a balanced traditional diet....
-making process, as well as a general heating and cooking vessel. They could even be used as an umbrella
Umbrella
An umbrella or parasol is a canopy designed to protect against rain or sunlight. The term parasol usually refers to an item designed to protect from the sun; umbrella refers to a device more suited to protect from rain...
.
Construction
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Hardwood
Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood...
such as mallee
Mallee (habit)
Mallee is the growth habit of certain eucalypt species that grow with multiple stems springing from an underground lignotuber, usually to a height of no more than ten metres...
. In Central Australia, the bean tree
Erythrina vespertilio
Erythrina vespertilio is a tree native to north and north-east Australia. Its common names are Grey Corkwood, Bat's Wing Coral Tree, and the more ambiguous "bean tree". In the Western Desert language it is also known as ininti....
was often used. A piece of the outer bark of the tree is removed, then moulded over the fire to give it its distinctive curved sides. Deep ridges were made using a quartz stone knife. It needed to stand for a number of days, with a stick of wood holding it open to prevent it losing its shape. It may also be made of a knot, or excrescence (“wirree”), from a tree.
Coolamons were often ornately decorated on their exterior with various etchings – depicting tribal insignia
Insignia
Insignia or insigne pl -nia or -nias : a symbol or token of personal power, status or office, or of an official body of government or jurisdiction...
and totemic designs. They were also used in ceremonies, such as for aromatic smoking
Smoking ceremony
A smoking ceremony is an ancient custom among Indigenous Australians that involves smoldering various native plants to produce smoke which they believe has cleansing properties and the ability to ward off bad spirits....
, which was believed to have purifying effects. They were rubbed regularly with fat, such as emu
Emu
The Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae) is the largest bird native to Australia and the only extant member of the genus Dromaius. It is the second-largest extant bird in the world by height, after its ratite relative, the ostrich. There are three subspecies of Emus in Australia...
fat to keep the wood in good condition.
Some names in other Aboriginal languages
Coolamon is a word from the east coast of Australia, used by Murri, or QueenslandQueensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
Aborigines, as well as by the Dharug, or Eora
Eora
The Eora are the Aboriginal people of the Sydney area, south to the Georges River, north to the Hawkesbury River, and west to Parramatta. The indigenous people used this word to describe where they came from to the British. "Eora" was then used by the British to refer to those Aboriginal people...
people from the Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
area. Some other names, and their respective languages, include:
| Word | language |
|---|---|
| piti |
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|
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Ualarai |
| binguie | Wollaroi |
|
|
Kutthung Worimi language Worimi or Gadjang is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language. It was the traditional language of the Worimi people, whose descendants now speak English.-Classification:... |
| oorlarda | Bardi Bardi language Bardi is a moribund Australian Aboriginal language. There are approximately 20 speakers out of an ethnic population of 380.-Classification:... |
| tarnuk | |
| lijarri | Wagiman |
| urtne | Arrernte |
| yandandakko | Pintupi Pintupi language Pintupi is an indigenous Australian language. It is one of the Wati languages of the large Southwest branch of the Pama–Nyungan family. It is one of the varieties of the Western Desert Language .... |
| yoko | Kaurna Kaurna language "Kaurna" is the language of the Kaurna people, an Australian aboriginal ethnic group, in South Australia. It was historically spoken on the Adelaide Plains from Crystal Brook and Clare in the north, to Cape Jervis in the south. It became extinct in the 19th century but was revived and reconstructed... |