freediver wrote on Jul 7
th, 2012 at 9:41pm:
Quote:Even if they had arrived by canoe, seeing that Australian Aborigines migrated to Australia thousands of years ago, don't you think that those canoes would be rotten by now?
Falah don't you think it is the technology that matters, not the artefact? Did the Macassan's sell canoes to the Yolngu but never explain how to make them?
Was it only the Macassans that ate the seafood and left the shell piles behind? What did the Yolngu eat?
Are you saying that despite the intermarrying, migration in both directions, introduction to the Yolngu of culture, religion, technology, social norms etc, none of them thought to introduce any kind of agriculture? Surely that would be an inevitable part of the exchanges?
The Yolngu became traders and leasers of land. The sea cucumber trade with macassans made them relatively rich compared to inland Aborigines. The Yolngu were supplied with foods such as flour, rice, tea and sugar by Macassans. The Yolngu collected export products such as sea cucumber, tortoise shell and bees wax during the off season and sold these items to Macassans who then employed Yolngu during trepanging season, and paid tribute to the Yolngu for use of their lands.
The trade with Macassans made the Yolngu rich, and they were able to barter the products they gained from Macassan trade, such as metal axes, with inland Aborigines who produced tools such as boomerangs and spears.
The Yolngu acquired important fishing tools from the Macassans like dugout canoes and fishing nets, which enabled the Yolngu to increase their fishing capabilities. Dugout canoes, unknown in Australia prior to the commencement of the Macassan trade, enabled Aborigines to travel up to 500km across seas.
During the Macassan trading, the Yolngu were supplied with foreign foods, and also had access to better tools for hunting and fishing.
freediver wrote on Jul 7
th, 2012 at 9:41pm:
When you say they introduced rice and fruit, did they merely import it for immediate use or for bartering?
Rice was found growing in Arnhem Land by the earliest settlers. The only recorded source of rice into Arnhem Land prior to European settlement is from Macassan traders. Tamarind trees were brought by Macassan sailors to fight scurvy. The Macassan traders also used it to flavour their cooking. Most of the known Macassan trading camps along Australia's northern coast have tamarind trees growing - in fact the trees have been used by archaeologists to identify places to find artefacts related to the Macassan trade.
Other trees found at macassan campsites include coconut and betel nut trees.
http://austhrutime.com/macassan_traders.htmThe tamarind fruit became an important part of Aboriginal culture as the Yothu Yindi song Macassan Crew demonstrates:
Quote: Yothu Yindi :: :: Macassan crew
Yendharama birrapirra
Tradewinds blow
The southern cross
Taking their prau (perahu/Indonesian trading vessel)
Across the sea
They came in peace
Through the Ashmore Reef
Smoke and steel
And the Tamarind seed
Steer it up right
Steer it up true
Navigate the morning star
Brave Macassan crew
Sailed on through
The hole in the wall
The place we call Rarrakala
To the shores of the far North East
Smoke, steel and the Tamarind tree Gapala Mangatjay
Gapala Gurrumulnga
Navigate the morning star
Brave Macassan crew
Miyaman Matjala,
Miyaman Gurrumulnga,
Daynggatjing Garrnhdalu,
Daymulung Wila'wila'yun,
Miyaman Mangatjay,
Miyaman Gurrumulngu
Daynggatjing Garrnhdalu,
Daymulung Wila'wila'yun,
Steer it up right
Steer it up true
Navigate the morning star
Brave Macassan crew
Quote:Tamarind"Tamarind seed" refers to the careful introduction of a fruit tree species. This was not done lightly, in the same manner as the European introduction of thousands of exotic pests that now cost the government four billion dollars each year to control.
Scholars, farmers and botanists from the two cultures tested, examined and exchanged extensive knowledge about the Tamarind and its habitat before deciding to introduce it. It was carefully integrated with the local ecology over time, then interwoven with the lore of the place, and became a component of the agricultural industry and economy in northern Australia to such an extent that it is now regarded as a native plant by Aboriginal peoples. The first tree was planted on the beach, at the site of the Macassan embassy. It is still there.
http://suite101.com/article/macassancrew-a923
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