The Earliest Traders - First Nations Trading Routes

Displayed here is an essential item in almost any too-kit for someone who lives off the land- an axe. The maker, Greg Nannup, a local Nyoongar man, was taught traditional tool making skills by his father. He has chosen a piece of stone, possibly from a riverbed, which has an edge that can both cut and hammer objects. Unlike many other examples of this type of implement, Greg has not knapped the striking surface to create a cutting edge. Hence, the weight of the head of this axe would be the major factor in breaking, rather than cutting, the bark of a tree, for example. Typical of axes found in the southwest of WA, the maker has put the head in place by fixing it with melted resin from a balga, or grass tree. For the makers of these implements, it was simply a matter of thinking about how they could improve the basic tool, then innovating, using what nature gifted them to make what they need.

Kodj (axe). Artist unknown, Nyoongar.
Credit: WA Museum Collections