Crook Hat and Camphoo: The right tree

The attention to detail is a fascinating aspect of this clip, as Crook Hat and Camphoo take us through the technical aspects of spear making, beginning with the Acacia tree. The legacy of ancient wisdom and knowledge is revered by the two elders, and spear making is not just an arbitrary act of construction, but also a ritual.

Crook Hat and Camphoo synopsis

A documentary that shows two Alyawarr elders, Donald ‘Crook Hat’ Thompson Kemarre and Reggie 'Camphoo’ Pwerl making spears and woomeras in the tradition of the old people, using technology and knowledge that are millennia old and passed generation through generation.

Crook Hat and Camphoo curator's notes

A beautifully told story that shows two elders using technology thousands of years old to make a spear and a spear thrower or a woomera. The gentle nature of the two elders and the repetition with which they state the importance of not losing the technology and knowledge that it takes to craft a spear from the environment is the rhythmic momentum of this film. The young people, they say, are not learning this culture, but the elders insist upon the ingeniousness of the old people or the ancestors from whom the knowledge and skills evolved.

A charming and defiant testimony to the ancient people of the area, and the caretakers and custodians of the people who now hold the knowledge. An important feature of the Nganampa Anwernekenhe series is language and cultural preservation. The filmmakers who record this information are now a part of the cycle of the transmission of cultural knowledge and its practice. Crook Hat and Camphoo reiterates the importance every aspect of Indigenous culture, its practice and its application, whether it is making spears or gathering honey ants. The emu bush for example, is a bush that has its own Dreaming, reinforcing an aspect of Indigenous belief that values all being – plant, mineral, animal, human – as equally important in sustaining a healthy environment.

This program has also screened on NITV, National Indigenous Television.

Notes by Romaine Moreton

Education notes

This clip shows two Alyawarr men from north-east of Alice Springs, 'Crook Hat’ Thompson Kemarre and Reggie 'Camphoo’ Pwerl, making spears in the traditional way. They discuss the spearmaking process as they walk through bush in search of suitable acacia trees to use and then cut trees with an axe and prepare the wood. An adze and a stone knife are used to cut out bumps and smooth the wood. The men speak in the Alyawarr language and their conversation is subtitled in English.

Educational value points

• In 2005, as seen in the clip, spearmaking knowledge among Alyawarr people encompassed all aspects of the traditional process, including identification of a suitable tree and heating the thin trunk, bending it, removing the bark and smoothing out bumps. The tree selected in the clip is most likely a mulga, an acacia tree well-suited to spearmaking because its trunk is long and straight and its wood is relatively heavy.

• The two men use stone and metal tools to make the spears and point out the efficacy of the stone tools used by earlier generations. In the clip the men use a metal axe to cut down the tree and a metal adze blade bound to a wooden handle to remove bumps. Stone knives, seen here being used for smoothing, are generally sharper and maintain their edges longer than metal knives; their major drawback is that they break more easily.

• Traditionally, knowledge is handed down through generations by older people providing explanations and examples to younger people; while this documentary relies on film to transmit knowledge of spearmaking, it still follows the traditional teaching model of older people demonstrating and explaining. In many Indigenous communities, senior men and women provide leadership in matters affecting the whole community, including education of the young.

• The repetition of phrases such as 'the same way the old people made them’ and the switch to black and white are used in the clip to emphasise the long tradition of spearmaking. The men use repetition to convey the message that their techniques are the same as those of their grandfathers’ generation. The filmmakers reinforce the men’s message by using black and white to suggest archival footage.

• The language spoken in the clip is Alyawarr, which is used by people in a large region stretching across the south-east of the Northern Territory and into western Queensland. The National Indigenous Languages Survey (NILS) Report 2005 found that Alyawarr is one of 18 Indigenous languages in common use by all age groups.

• The clip is taken from Crook Hat and Camphoo (2005), a documentary produced by the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA) in Alice Springs. CAAMA was established in 1980 and focuses on Indigenous culture, training and employment. The group consists of a radio network (8 KIN FM), CAAMA shop, CAAMA music and CAAMA productions, and is a major shareholder in Imparja TV. CAAMA broadcasts in all the major local Indigenous languages.

Education notes provided by The Learning Federation and Education Services Australia