Culturally modified trees and everyday material culture items by Yagara people in SEQ, Australia
Tracks
Mossman Ballroom
| Tuesday, July 28, 2026 |
| 1:45 PM - 2:00 PM |
Speaker
(prefer not to say) Kate Greenwood
Principal Archaeologist
Greenwood Consultancy
Culturally modified trees and everyday material culture items by Yagara people in SEQ, Australia
ISE Congress 2026 Abstract
Very little is known in cultural heritage management about the use of trees for material culture items by Traditional Owners in south east Queensland. A collaborative research project was designed and undertaken between a Principal Archaeologist undertaking their PhD with Jagera Daran Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Body as research partners.
The main aim was to understand the Indigenous and archaeological significance of culturally modified trees and the bark/wooden material culture items that are created from tree bark and wood in the area. The project included field work to document and record extant culturally modified trees, interviews with Traditional Owners, archival research and museum visits both in Australia and overseas to understand the wooden artefact assemblages from the area. Analysis of wooden artefacts was completed with a wood technician expert at the British Museum.
This presentation will show the results of the project, including a predictive model of culturally modified trees based on tree species type and use, along with community outcomes such as training of Yagara women rangers and other community members.
The main aim was to understand the Indigenous and archaeological significance of culturally modified trees and the bark/wooden material culture items that are created from tree bark and wood in the area. The project included field work to document and record extant culturally modified trees, interviews with Traditional Owners, archival research and museum visits both in Australia and overseas to understand the wooden artefact assemblages from the area. Analysis of wooden artefacts was completed with a wood technician expert at the British Museum.
This presentation will show the results of the project, including a predictive model of culturally modified trees based on tree species type and use, along with community outcomes such as training of Yagara women rangers and other community members.
Biography
Kate Greenwood is a principal archaeologist and cultural heritage consultant with over 25 years of experience building long-term collaborative partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with a proven continued commitment to social and environmental justice and Indigenous rights.
Madonna Thomson is a member of the Yagara People and is a grandniece of the late Senator Neville Bonner. Madonna has worked with Aboriginal Communities in South East Queensland with a particular focus on developing and sharing traditional knowledge assisting researchers in connecting with Aboriginal communities and businesses for the purposes of translating scientific research in the development of research informed food products, that Indigenous communities and families can use to enter into the native foods industry.
James Bonner is a member of the Yagara People and a grand-nephew of the late Senator Neville Bonner. James continues cultural traditions of making scarred trees (culturally modified trees), boomerangs, string, axes, flakes and other material culture items. James has managed the coordination and implementation of numerous cultural heritage management plans and in excess of 50 aboriginal archaeological excavations within South East Queensland.
Session Chair
Gerry Turpin
Senior Ethnobotanist, Species and Herbarium Collections
Australian Tropical Herbarium (ATH), James Cook University, Nguma Bada Campus
