A review of early Indigenous artefacts incorporating bird materials in the Lower Murray River region, South Australia

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper is a literature review of the use of birds in the Indigenous material culture of the Lower Murray River region in temperate South Australia, as observed in the early years of British colonisation. This record is augmented with additional data from fieldwork in the 1980s and early 1990s. It was found that Aboriginal people in this region made artefacts incorporating avian materials based upon their perceived physical and cultural properties. Analysis of material culture with respect to birds contributes to the understanding of Aboriginal use and perception of the Australian landscape.