"The West Coast tribes felt bonded to the land. They knew it intimately. People lived in villages in beehive-shaped bark huts. In their seasonal hunter-gatherer regimes, women dived for crayfish, mussels, abalone and shellfish. By ‘firestick farming’ the plains, the men hunted wallaby, wombats, possums, quolls and emus, kept access paths open and replenished the feed. Ducks, ravens and muttonbirds were caught. Eggs, herbs and fungi were gathered.
Although much knowledge of tribal societies has been lost, elaborate death rituals, the use of amulets for healing and the idea of the soul transcending the body were all recorded. Petroglyph art sites at Mount Cameron West attest to indigenous interest in astrology, possibly even its spiritual significance. Ochre was widely used for decorative and perhaps spiritual purposes. Inter-tribal marriage was common, with established courting rituals. Gifts such as a supply of ochre facilitated access to another tribe’s territory during seasonal migration."
When Premier of Tasmania Jim Bacon was reported as saying 'the so-called Tarkine' and he is a part of this place's histories. Click here for Lindsay Tuffen's overview
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