Tools and weapons

Traditional tools and implements, like this spear, are still made and used by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

There are an extensive range of tools made by Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people and different methods used for making them. Stone was used for grinding seeds, hammering or flaking, to make other tools or to prepare food. Some stones had handles to make shields, swords, spearheads or other things like axes to chop wood.

Animal teeth (including shark teeth) were used to engrave objects whilst fire was another tool used for warmth, cooking food and forcing animals from their burrows, which made them easier to catch. Some groups use sharkskin for sanding or filing. The bones of stingrays and sharks are used to make tools and the spine in the tail of stingrays are used as spear tips. Fishhooks were made from wood, bone and shells while nets, baskets and traps all aided in hunting and gathering for food. Digging sticks, fire sticks and message sticks are other important tools that helped clans in their daily lives.

The Ngaro people, from the Whitsunday Islands and mainland coastal fringes of the region, used woven grass nets made from plant material to gather shellfish and fish. Traps made from sinew were used to catch land animals like waterfowl and kangaroos. One method for catching food from the sea was the construction of stone fish-traps in inter-tidal areas such as those created by the Bandjin people in the Hinchinbrook region. The receding tide would leave fish trapped in the enclosures, which people could then collect.