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Mun-dirra (fish fence)

Mun-dirra, in Burarra language, means “fish fence”. Mun-dirra were traditionally made by men using coastal sedge grass called gurdagarra and were designed to fence in schools of fish in ocean shallows or riverbeds. They were used in conjunction with conical traps, called an-gujechiya, which are woven with mirlarl, a hardy jungle vine, and burdaga, the sinewy inner bark from Kurrajong trees. 

Fish traps and fish fences have been used throughout west and central Arnhem Land by various language groups; in Kuninjku, people call them kunkarlewabe (fish fence) and mandjabu (fish trap).

Artist Doreen Jinggarrabarra explains, “In the old days, they didn’t have any casting nets, [so] they made a fish trap and a long fence net, [put] them side to side, and put the fish trap in the middle. Then the fish came and went in the fish trap.”

To make a fish trap (an-gujechiya), jungle vine (mirlarl) is soaked in water for one night to make it soft. Then, the structural form of the fishtrap would be worked on, with hibiscus (bardainy) rings fashioned inside to keep the fish trap’s shape. Kurrajong string (burdaga) would be made to attach the inner rings and to tie the conical end of the fish trap closed. This fish trap is used in both saltwater and freshwater.

 The fish fences (mun-dirra) would be set up across rivers and creeks, with the fish trap (an-gujechiya) placed in the middle of the two fences. Sticks, rocks, mud and grass would be used to hold the fences in position and funnel the fish into the trap. This ingenious system could catch fish like saltwater barramundi (rajarra), freshwater barramundi (janambal), small black freshwater catfish (buliya), bonefish (an-guwirrpiya), and sand bass (dalakan).

Doreen remembers seeing the traps in riverbeds around Maningrida when she was young: “The older ladies and the older men [would] usually go down, say about seven or eight o’clock, to go and check the trap. Maybe seven fish can go in, crabs and catfish,” she recalls.

Today, people generally use fishing lines and casting nets for fishing, but the woven traps and fences continue to be made as works of art. Women are now considered the knowledge holders, and are leaders in the development of sophisticated examples of woven design and material culture.

 *Maningrida Arts & Culture acknowledges the work of many academic and non-academic voices when writing on this topic. It is important to note Anna Freeland and Myles Russell-Cook, whose writing have informed this text.

Categories: Maningrida Arts & Culture

Name: Lorna Jin-gubarrangunyja

Language: Burarra (Martay)

Community: Maningrida

Biography:

Lorna Jin-gubarrangunyja was born in 1952. She is a Burarra fibre artist, living at Yilan outstation, who has been regularly producing artworks for Maningrida Arts and Culture since the 1980s. She was often making colourful twined pandanus dilly bags, mats, string bags and baby shade covers. In 1995, she participated in a landmarks touring fibre exhibition Maningirda: the language of weaving which featured two fish traps by Burarra male artist Raymond Walabirr (now deceased). This exhibition aimed at repositioning fibre production into the fine art category. It succeeded at some levels but it failed in changing the overall perception of fibre art by the general public or commercial galleries. For example, no one offered to do a commercial fibre show dedicated to the production of mats or baskets after this major exhibition. In 2002, Jin-gubarrangunyja made her first fish trap, learning this technique from her husband George Ganyjibala, as traditionally men were making fish traps. She now uses fish trap forms as the basis for sculptural works of art. Jin-gubarrangunyja innovates with forms and colours, using diverse weaving techniques to make sculptures that have their origin in the traditional fish trap techniques. The utilitarian purpose of the fish trap is no longer the main focus of her production. She re-explores traditional techniques to create contemporary and innovative works of art and works with diverse fibre such as pandanus (pandanus spiralis) that she dyes with natural colors, jungle vine (Malaisia scandens) and grass (cyperus javanicus).

A year after her first attempt at making a fish trap, in 2003, Jin-gubarrangunyja won the Wandjuk Marika Award at the 20th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA) with a colourful pandanus fish trap. She is now recognised as a leading fibre artist and participates regularly in group exhibitions in commercial galleries. Interestingly enough, her fish trap production has generated an interest in her dilly bags that are now exhibited along with her fish trap forms. Through innovation and working on a bigger scale, Jin-gubarrangunyja has established herself as a successful fibre artist, gaining public recognition for her work and a financial income comparable with artists working in other media. She has also inspired other Maningrida artists to make fish traps. Now, more than 20 artists make fish trap forms on a regular basis, including three men who have switched from painting to fibre production in the last two years as they have realised that they were more succesful fibre artists than painters.

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