Murrawa Shield

Archie is a young Dunghutti Gamilaroi Boy in Year 1. He has a strong connection to his Aboriginal culture and has enjoyed learning the skills in crafting a shield. Andrew is the Aboriginal Educational teacher and provides opportunities for these activities to happen at St John’s. The first step in crafting a shield is selecting the right tree for its bark. Archie and his friend Owen went with Andrew to learn which tree would be suitable and why. Once they had decided on the right tree, they planned how to cut the bark from it. This was Andrew's job to cut the bark from the tree and Archie and Owen helped. It took a lot of hard work and time to remove the bark and Andrew used a traditional stone axe. The bark was heavy and wet and they covered the scar with white ochre so that it can heal and also to say thank you to the tree. They had to scrape the flaky bark off with a sharp rock and shells. Archie and Owen worked together in shaping it correctly and putting two holes in it for the handle. They then waited for the shield to dry. Together they painted it in orange ochre and charcoal and glued the handles using traditional glue. The design was six mountains to represent Archie's family members and the Murrawa fidgety lizard which is Archie's totem. The shield took about 10 weeks to make and Archie was proud to share this experience with Owen and Andrew.