Difference between revisions of "AY Honors/Aboriginal Lore/Answer Key"

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[[Image:Alice_Springs4260.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Alice Springs Desert Park, Bush Tucker]]
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'''Marn Grook''' (also spelt ''marngrook'') is an [[Australian Aborigine|Australian Aboriginal]] ball game, and is said to have had an influence on the modern game of [[Australian rules football]], most notably in the spectacular jumping and [[Mark (Australian football)|high marking]] exhibited by the players of both games.
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The  word '''Bushfood''' refers to any food native to [[Australia]] and used as sustenance by the original inhabitants, the Australian Aborigines, although it is sometimes used with the specific connotation of "food found in the [[Outback]] while living on the land". It is also called '''bush tucker'''. It includes both animal and plant foods native to Australia.
 
  
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Examples of Australian native animal foods (meats) include [[kangaroo]], [[emu]] and [[crocodile]]. In particular, kangaroo is quite common and can be found in many normal supermarkets at prices comparable to beef. Other animals, for example [[goanna]] and [[witchetty grub]]s, were eaten by [[Indigenous Australians|Aboriginal]] Australians and thus qualify as bushfood in every sense of the word. [[Fish]] and [[shellfish]] are culinary features of the Australian coastal communities.
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Marn Grook, literally meaning "Game ball",  was a traditional game played at gatherings and celebrations of up to 50 players by the [[Gunditjmara|Djabwurrung]] and [http://www2.visitvictoria.com/displayObject.cfm/ObjectID.00043955-3A4A-1A66-88CD80C476A90318/vvt.vhtml Jardwadjali] people of western [[Victoria, Australia|Victoria]].
  
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Examples of Australian native plant foods include the fruits: [[quandong]] (''Santalum acuminatum''), [[bush tomato|Australian desert raisin]] (''Solanum centrale''), [[muntries]] (''Kunzea pomifera''), [[riberry]] (''Syzygium luehmannii''), Davidson's plum (''[[Davidsonia]]'' spp.), and, [[Finger Lime]] (''Citrus australasica''). Native spices include [[lemon myrtle]] (''Backhousia citriodora''), mountain pepper (''Tasmannia lanceolata''), and, [[aniseed myrtle]] (''Syzygium anisatum''). A popular leafy vegetable is [[warrigal greens]] (''Tetragonia tetragonoides'').
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== Eye-witness accounts ==
 +
[[Robert Brough-Smyth]], in an [[1878]] book ''The Aborigines of Victoria'', quoted Richard Thomas, a [[Protector of Aborigines]] in Victoria, who stated that in about [[1841]] he had witnessed Aborigines playing the game.
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:''The men and boys joyfully assemble when this game is to be played. One makes a ball of [[possum]] skin, somewhat elastic, but firm and strong. The players of this game do not throw the ball as a white man might do, but drop it and at the same time kicks it with his foot. The tallest men have the best chances in this game. Some of them will leap as high as five feet from the ground to catch the ball. The person who secures the ball kicks it. This continues for hours and the natives never seem to tire of the exercise.''
 +
In [[1889]], anthropologist [[Alfred Howitt]], wrote that the game was played between large groups on a [[totemic]] basis &mdash; the white [[cockatoo]]s versus the black cockatoos, for example, which accorded with their [[Australian Aboriginal kinship|skin system]]. Acclaim and recognition went to the players who could leap or kick the highest. Howitt wrote:
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:''This game of ball-playing was also practised among the [[Kurnai]], the Wolgal ([[Tumut]] river people), the Wotjoballuk as well as by the [[Wurundjeri|Woiworung]], and was probably known to most tribes of south-eastern Australia. The Kurnai made the ball from the [[scrotum]] of an "old man [[kangaroo]]", the Woiworung made it of tightly rolled up pieces of [[possum|opossum]] skin. It was called by them "mangurt". In this tribe the two [[Australian Aboriginal kinship|exogamous divisions]], [[Bunjil]] and Waa, played on opposite sides. The Wotjoballuk also played this game, with Krokitch on one side and Gamutch on the other. The mangurt was sent as a token of friendship from one to another.<ref>AW Howitt, "Notes on Australian Message Sticks and Messengers", ''Journal of the Anthropological Institute'', London, 1889, p 2, note 4, Reprinted by Ngarak Press, 1998, ISBN 1-875254-25-0</ref>
  
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Nuts include [[bunya nut]] (''Araucaria bidwillii''), and the most identifiable bushfood plant harvested and sold in large scale commercial quantities is the [[macadamia]] nut (''Macadamia integrifolia'').
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[[Tom Wills]], who drew up the rules of Australian rules football in [[1858]]-59, was raised in Victoria's western districts and is said to have played with local Aboriginal children.<ref>http://www.dpc.vic.gov.au/domino/Web_Notes/MediaRelArc02.nsf/17ed9415cb17e3d34a25682500254734/67d1f54851b3304b4a256965007bb637!OpenDocument&Click=</ref> He recalled watching a game in which they kicked a [[possum]] skin about the size of an orange, stuffed with charcoal.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}
  
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Knowledge of Aboriginal uses of [[fungi]] is meagre but ''[[Fistulina hepatica]]'' and Native bread ''([[Laccocephalum mylittiae]])'' were certainly eaten.
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== Marn Grook and the football term "mark" ==
 +
Some claim that the origin of the [[Australian rules]] term "[[Mark (Australian football)|mark]]", meaning a clean, [[fair catch]] of a kicked ball, followed by a [[free kick]], is derived from the Aboriginal word "''mumarki''" used in ''Marn Grook'', and meaning "to catch".<ref>http://www.footystamps.com/ot_early_history.htm</ref><ref>http://www.aboriginalfootball.com.au/marngrook.html</ref>  However, many believe that this is a [[false etymology]] and that the term instead came from the  practice &mdash; in old and/or extinct [[football|British football codes]] &mdash; of a player who had caught the ball ''marking'' the ground with a foot, to show where the catch had been taken, and calling "mark" to be awarded a free kick. The term mark has been used in modern football codes since the 1830s, notably in [[rugby football]] and early [[Association football]] (soccer). It is still used in [[rugby union]], in reference to a fair catch by a player who calls "mark" when catching a ball inside their team's 22 metre line.
  
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==Traditional Aboriginal use==
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== The "Marngrook Trophy" ==
  
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[[Australian Aborigines]] have eaten  native animal and plant foods for an estimated 60,000 years of human habitation on the Australian continent (''see [[Indigenous Australian food groups]], [[Australian Aboriginal sweet foods]])''.
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In [[2002]], in a game at [[Stadium Australia]], the [[Sydney Swans]] and [[Essendon Football Club]] began to compete for the '''''Marngrook Trophy''''', awarded after home-and-away matches each year between the two teams in the [[Australian Football League]].  However, the games are played under normal rules of the AFL, rather than anything approaching Marn Grook.
  
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Various traditional methods of processing and cooking are used. Toxic seeds, such as [[Cycad]] (''Cycas media'') and Moreton Bay Chestnut (''Castanospermum australe'') are processed to remove the toxins and render them safe to eat. Many foods are also baked in the hot campfire coals, or baked for several hours in ground ovens. ‘Paperbark’, the bark of ''Melalauca'' species, is widely used for wrapping food placed in ground ovens. [[Bush bread]] was made by women using many types of seeds, nuts and corms to process a flour or dough to make bread.
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==References==
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+
<div class="references-small"><references /></div>
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Aboriginal traditional native food use has been severely impacted by non-indigenous immigration, especially in the more densely colonised areas of south-eastern Australia since  1788. There, loss of traditional lands has resulted in reduced access to native foods by Aborigines. This impact on traditional foods has been further accentuated by the destruction of native habitat for agriculture, and the introduction of non-native foods to Aborigines by colonists.
 
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The recent recognition of the nutritional and gourmet value of native foods by non-indigenous Australians is introducing native cuisine to white Australians, many for the first time. However, there are unresolved intellectual property issues associated with the commercialisation of bushfood.
 
−
 
 
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==Colonial use==
 
−
 
 
−
Bushfoods provided a source of nutrition to the non-indigenous colonial settlers, often supplementing meager rations.  However, bushfoods were often considered to be inferior by colonists  unfamiliar with the new land's food ingredients, generally preferring familiar foods from the homeland.
 
−
 
 
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The only Australian native food developed and cropped on a large scale is the [[macadamia nut]], with the first small-scale commercial plantation being planted in Australia in the 1880s. Subsequently, [[Hawaii]] was where the macadamia was commercially developed to its greatest extent from stock imported from Australia.
 
−
 
 
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==Modern use==
 
  
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In the 1970s non-indigenous Australians began to recognise the previously over-looked indigenous aspects of Australia, including native foods. Textbooks like ''Wildfoods In Australia'' by the botanist couple, Cribb & Cribb were popular and later the author [[Tim Low]] published ''Wild Food Plants of Australia''. Jenifer Isaacs wrote the book ''Bushfood'', and [[Vic Cherikoff]] wrote ''The Bushfood Handbook''.
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== External links ==
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+
* [http://www.aboriginalfootball.com.au/marngrook.html AboriginalFootball.com, "Marn Grook"]
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TV shows also made use of the bushfood theme. [[Malcolm Douglas]] was one of the first presenters to show how to 'live off the land' in the Australian Outback. Major [[Les Hiddins]], a retired [[Australian Army]] soldier popularized the idea of bush tucker as an interesting food resource. He presented a hit TV series called ''Bush Tucker Man'' on the [[Australian Broadcasting Commission|ABC]] TV network in the late 1980s. In the series, Hiddins demonstrated his research for Norforce in identifying foods which might sustain or augment army forces in the northern Australian Outback. In 1983, the University of Sydney's Human Nutrition Unit, headed by [[Jennie Brand-Miller]], also undertook a nutritional analysis programme analyzing bushfood for Aboriginal health.
 
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In the late 1970's regionally based horticulturists started to assess local native food-plants for commercial use. In the mid-1980s several Sydney restaurants began using native Australian ingredients in recipes more familiar to modern tastes. This provided the first opportunity for bushfoods to be tried by non-indigenous Australians on a serious [[gourmet]] level, and led to the realisation that many strongly flavoured bushfoods have [[spice]]-like qualities. This led to the establishment of a specialist bushfood supply chain. Some of these bushfood ingredients now feature in modern Australian cuisine, and [[Australian spices]] are being increasingly recognised internationally (see [[bushfood industry history]]).
 
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Value-added bushfood products were also developed for the domestic and export markets. The raw ingredients were initially sourced from the wild and more recently cultivated using largely organic methods with an emphasis on maintaining sustainable quantities from both sources. Many Aboriginal communities continue to be involved in the supply chain and in investigating other socially and culturally appropriate opportunities.
 
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The term "bushfood" is one of several terms describing native Australian food, evolving from the older-style "bushtucker" which was used in the 1970s and 1980s. The word "bushfood" was chosen to reflect the sustainable nature of the industry's products, and to help exporters with product branding. The term "authentic Australian food" is another marketing term recently coined to create further separation from the more rustic bush connotations, although "bushfood" is the most established and widespread term that describes native Australian food.
 
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==Native Australian food-plants listed by culinary province and plant part==
 
−
 
 
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Australian bushfood plants can be divided into several distinct and large regional culinary provinces. Please note, some species listed grow across several climatic boundaries.
 
−
 
 
−
===Top-end===
 
−
Monsoonal zone of the Northern Territory, Cape York and Western Australia.
 
−
 
 
−
====Fruits====
 
−
{|
 
−
|''Buchanania arborescens''||Little Gooseberry Tree
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Citrus gracilis''||Kakadu Lime
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Eugenia carissoides''||Cedar Bay Cherry
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Ficus racemosa''||Cluster Fig
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Manilkara kaukii''||Wongi
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Melastoma affine''||Blue Tongue
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Mimusops elengi''||Tanjong
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Morinda citrifolia''||[[Noni]]
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Physalis minima''||Native Gooseberry
 
−
|-
 
−
|''[[Terminalia ferdinandiana]]''||Kakadu Plum
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Syzygium suborbiculare''||Lady Apple
 
−
|}
 
−
 
 
−
====Vegetables====
 
−
 
 
−
{|
 
−
|''Cycas media''||Cycad palm seeds (Require detoxification: see [[Bush bread]] )
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Dioscorea alata''|| Chinese or winged yam <br> ''Dioscorea transversa''||Pencil Yam, Long Yam
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Dioscorea bulbifera''||Round Yam
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Eleocharis'' sp.||Mat-Rush, a traditional staple for [[Yolngu]]
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Ipomoea aquatica''||Native Kang Kong
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Lotus nelumbo''||[[Lotus]]
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Nelumbo nucifera''||[[Nelumbo|water lily]]
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Nymphaea macrosperma''||[[Nymphaea|water lily]]
 
−
|}
 
−
 
 
−
====Nuts====
 
−
{|
 
−
|''Semecarpus australiensis''||Australian Cashew Nut
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Terminalia catappa''||Sea Almond
 
−
|}
 
−
 
 
−
====Spices====
 
−
 
 
−
{|
 
−
|''[[Eucalyptus staigeriana]]''||Lemon Ironbark
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Melaleuca leucadendron''||Weeping Paperbark
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Ocimum tenuiflorum''||Native Basil
 
−
|}
 
−
 
 
−
===Central Australia===
 
−
Arid and semi-arid zones of the low rainfall interior.
 
−
 
 
−
====Fruits====
 
−
{|
 
−
|''Capparis'' spp.||Native Caper, [[Caperbush]]
 
−
|-
 
−
|''[[Capparis mitchelii]]''||Wild orange
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Capparis spinosa <br>ssp. nummularia''||[[Wild passionfruit]]
 
−
|-
 
−
|''[[Carissa lanceolata]]''||Bush plum, Conkerberry
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Citrus glauca''||[[Desert Lime]]
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Enchylaena tormentosa''||Ruby Saltbush
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Ficus platypoda''||Desert Fig
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Marsdenia australis''||[[Doubah]], [[Bush Banana]]
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Owenia acidula''||Emu Apple
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Santalum acuminatum''||[[Quandong]]
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Santalum lanceolatum''||[[Sandalwood]]
 
−
|-
 
−
|''[[Solanum centrale]]''||Akudjura, Australian Desert Raisin, Bush tomato
 
−
|-
 
−
|''[[Solanum cleistogarnum]]''||[[Bush tomato]]
 
−
|-
 
−
|''[[Solanum ellipticum]]''||[[Bush tomato]]
 
−
|}
 
−
 
 
−
====Vegetables====
 
−
 
 
−
{|
 
−
|''Calandrinia balonensis''||Parakeelya
 
−
|-
 
−
|''[[Ipomoea costata]]''||Bush potato
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Vigna lanceolata''||[[Pencil Yam]]
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Lepidium'' spp.||Peppercresses
 
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|-
 
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|''Portulaca intraterranea''||Large Pigweed
 
−
|}
 
−
 
 
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====Spices====
 
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−
{|
 
−
|''[[Eucalyptus polybractea]]''||Blue-leaved Mallee
 
−
|}
 
−
 
 
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====Seeds====
 
−
 
 
−
{|
 
−
|''Acacia aneura''||[[Mulga]]
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Acacia colei''||
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Acacia coriacea''||Dogwood
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Acacia holosericea''||Strap Wattle
 
−
|-
 
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|''Acacia kempeana''||Witchetty Bush
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Acacia murrayana''||
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Acacia pycantha''||
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Acacia retinodes''||
 
−
|-
 
−
|''[[Acacia tetragonophylla]]''||Dead finish seed
 
−
|-
 
−
|''[[Acacia victoriae]]''||Gundabluey, Prickly wattle
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Brachychiton populneus''||[[Kurrajong]]
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Panicum decompositum''||native millet
 
−
|-
 
−
|''[[Portulaca oleracea]]''||Pigweed
 
−
|-
 
−
|''[[Triodia spp. ]]''||commonly known as spinifex
 
−
|}
 
−
 
 
−
====Insects in gall====
 
−
 
 
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[[Bush coconut]]
 
−
 
 
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[[Mulga apple]]
 
−
 
 
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===Eastern Australia===
 
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Subtropical rainforests of New South Wales to the wet tropics of Northern Queensland.
 
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====Fruit====
 
−
 
 
−
{|
 
−
|''Acronychia acidula''||[[Lemon Aspen]]
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Acronychia oblongifolia''||White Aspen
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Antidesma bunius''||Herbet River Cherry
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Archirhodomyrtus beckleri''||Rose Myrtle
 
−
|-
 
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|''Austromyrtus dulcis''||Midyim
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Carpobrotus glaucescens''||Pigface
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Citrus australasica''||[[Finger Lime]]
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Citrus australis''||Dooja
 
−
|-
 
−
|''[[Davidsonia jerseyana]]''||New South Wales Davidson's Plum
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Davidsonia johnsonii''||Smooth Davidsonia
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Davidsonia pruriens''||North Queensland Davidson's Plum
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Diploglottis campbellii''||Small-leaf Tamarind
 
−
|-
 
−
|''[[Eupomatia laurina]]''||Bolwarra
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Ficus coronata''||Sandpaper Fig
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Melodorum leichhardtii''||Zig Zag Vine
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Pleiogynium timorense''||Burdekin Plum
 
−
|-
 
−
|''[[Podocarpus elatus]]''||Illawarra Plum
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Planchonella australis''||Black Apple
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Rubus hillii''||Broad-leaf Bramble
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Rubus probus''||Atherton Raspberry
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Rubus rosifolius''||Rose-leaf Bramble
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Sambucus australasica''||Yellow Elderberry
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Syzygium fibrosum''||Fibrous Satinash
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Syzygium luehmannii''||[[Riberry]]
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Ximenia americana''||Yellow Plum
 
−
|}
 
−
 
 
−
====Vegetable====
 
−
 
 
−
{|
 
−
|''Geitonoplesium cymosum''||Scrambling Lily
 
−
|-
 
−
|''[[Tetragonia tetragonoides]]''||Warrigal Greens
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Trachymene incisa''||Wild Parsnip
 
−
|}
 
−
 
 
−
====Spices====
 
−
 
 
−
{|
 
−
|''Alpinia coerulea''||Native Ginger
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Backhousia citriodora''||[[Lemon Myrtle]]
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Backhousia myrtifolia''||[[Cinnamon Myrtle]]
 
−
|-
 
−
|''[[Prostanthera incisa]]''||Cut-leaf Mintbush
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Syzygium anisatum''||[[aniseed myrtle]]
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Tasmannia stipitata''||Dorrigo pepper (leaf and pepperberry)
 
−
|}
 
−
 
 
−
====Nut====
 
−
 
 
−
{|
 
−
|''[[Araucaria bidwillii]]''||Bunya Nut
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Athertonia diversifolius''||Atherton Almond
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Macadamia integrifolia''||[[Macadamia]] Nut
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Macadamia tetraphylla''||Bush Nut
 
−
|-
 
−
|''[[Sterculia quadrifida]]''||Peanut Tree
 
−
|}
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
===Temperate===
 
−
Warm and cool temperate zones of southern Australia, including Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria and the highlands of New South Wales.
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
====Fruit====
 
−
{|
 
−
|''Acrotriche depressa''||Native Currant
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Billarderia cymosa''||Sweet Apple-berry
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Billarderia longiflora''||Purple Apple-berry
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Billarderia scandens''||Common Apple-berry
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Carpobrotus rossii''||Karkalla
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Eustrephus latifolius''||Wombat berry
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Exocarpus cupressiformis''||Native Cherry
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Gaultheria hispida''||Snow Berry
 
−
|-
 
−
|''[[Kunzea pomifera]]''||[[Muntries]]
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Rubus parvifolius''|| Pink-flowered Native Raspberry
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Sambucus gaudichaudiana''|| White Elderberry
 
−
|}
 
−
 
 
−
====Seed====
 
−
{|
 
−
|''Acacia longifolia''|| Golden Rods
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Acacia sophorae''|| Coast Wattle
 
−
|}
 
−
 
 
−
====Spice====
 
−
 
 
−
{|
 
−
|''[[Eucalyptus dives]]''|| Peppermint Gum
 
−
|-
 
−
|''[[Eucalyptus olida]]''|| Strawberry Gum
 
−
|-
 
−
|''[[Eucalyptus globulus]]''|| Tasmanian Blue Gum
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Mentha australis''|| River Mint
 
−
|-
 
−
|''[[Prostanthera rotundifolia]]''|| Native Thyme
 
−
|-
 
−
|''[[Tasmannia lanceolata]]''|| Mountain pepper
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Tasmannia stipitata''|| [[Dorrigo Pepper]]
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Tasmannia xerophila''|| Alpine Pepper
 
−
|}
 
−
 
 
−
====Vegetable====
 
−
 
 
−
{|
 
−
|''Apium insulare''|| Flinders Island Celery
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Atriplex cinerea''|| Grey Saltbush
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Burchardia umbellata''|| Milkmaids
 
−
|-
 
−
|''Microseris scapigera''|| Murnong
 
−
|}
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
==See also==
 
−
*[[Australian Aboriginal sweet foods]]
 
−
*[[Bush bread]]
 
−
*[[Bushmeat]], something quite different
 
−
*[[Bush medicine]]
 
−
*[[Indigenous Australian food groups]]
 
−
 
 
−
==External links==  
 
−
*[http://indigenousaustralia.frogandtoad.com.au/bushtucker.html Aboriginal Australia]
 
−
* [http://www.bushfood.net/ Australian Bushfood and Native Medicine Forum]
 
−
* [http://www.bom.gov.au/iwk/walabunnba/wantangka.shtml Aboriginal women's knowledge]
 
−
*CSIRO plant profiles [http://www.cse.csiro.au/research/nativefoods/crops/index.htm]
 
−
* [http://www.cherikoff.net/ Site of an industry pioneer]
 
−
* [http://ausbushfoods.com/ Bushfoods Magazine]
 
−
* [http://eataustralia.info Eat Australia]
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
==References==
 
−
* Bruneteau, Jean-Paul, ''Tukka, Real Australian Food'', ISBN 0-207-18966-8.
 
−
* Cherikoff, Vic, ''The Bushfood Handbook'', ISBN 0-7316-6904-5.
 
−
* Issacs, Jennifer, ''Bushfood'', Weldons, Sydney.
 
−
* Kersh, Jennice and Raymond, ''Edna's Table'', ISBN 0-7336-0539-7.
 
−
* Low, Tim, ''Wild Food Plants of Australia'', ISBN-13: 978-0207143830
 
  
−
[[Category:Bushfood|*]]
+
[[Category:Australian Aboriginal culture]]
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[[Category:Australian cuisine]]
+
[[Category:Australian rules football]]
−
[[Category:Indigenous Australian culture]]
+
[[Category:Sport in Australia]]
−
[[Category:Flora of Australia]]
+
[[Category:Traditional football]]
−
[[Category:Australian Aboriginal bushcraft]]
+
[[Category:Australian Aboriginal words and phrases]]

Revision as of 02:27, 25 April 2007

Marn Grook (also spelt marngrook) is an Australian Aboriginal ball game, and is said to have had an influence on the modern game of Australian rules football, most notably in the spectacular jumping and high marking exhibited by the players of both games.

Marn Grook, literally meaning "Game ball", was a traditional game played at gatherings and celebrations of up to 50 players by the Djabwurrung and Jardwadjali people of western Victoria.

Eye-witness accounts

Robert Brough-Smyth, in an 1878 book The Aborigines of Victoria, quoted Richard Thomas, a Protector of Aborigines in Victoria, who stated that in about 1841 he had witnessed Aborigines playing the game.

The men and boys joyfully assemble when this game is to be played. One makes a ball of possum skin, somewhat elastic, but firm and strong. The players of this game do not throw the ball as a white man might do, but drop it and at the same time kicks it with his foot. The tallest men have the best chances in this game. Some of them will leap as high as five feet from the ground to catch the ball. The person who secures the ball kicks it. This continues for hours and the natives never seem to tire of the exercise.

In 1889, anthropologist Alfred Howitt, wrote that the game was played between large groups on a totemic basis — the white cockatoos versus the black cockatoos, for example, which accorded with their skin system. Acclaim and recognition went to the players who could leap or kick the highest. Howitt wrote:

This game of ball-playing was also practised among the Kurnai, the Wolgal (Tumut river people), the Wotjoballuk as well as by the Woiworung, and was probably known to most tribes of south-eastern Australia. The Kurnai made the ball from the scrotum of an "old man kangaroo", the Woiworung made it of tightly rolled up pieces of opossum skin. It was called by them "mangurt". In this tribe the two exogamous divisions, Bunjil and Waa, played on opposite sides. The Wotjoballuk also played this game, with Krokitch on one side and Gamutch on the other. The mangurt was sent as a token of friendship from one to another.&

Tom Wills, who drew up the rules of Australian rules football in 1858-59, was raised in Victoria's western districts and is said to have played with local Aboriginal children.& He recalled watching a game in which they kicked a possum skin about the size of an orange, stuffed with charcoal.Template:Fact

Marn Grook and the football term "mark"

Some claim that the origin of the Australian rules term "mark", meaning a clean, fair catch of a kicked ball, followed by a free kick, is derived from the Aboriginal word "mumarki" used in Marn Grook, and meaning "to catch".&& However, many believe that this is a false etymology and that the term instead came from the practice — in old and/or extinct British football codes — of a player who had caught the ball marking the ground with a foot, to show where the catch had been taken, and calling "mark" to be awarded a free kick. The term mark has been used in modern football codes since the 1830s, notably in rugby football and early Association football (soccer). It is still used in rugby union, in reference to a fair catch by a player who calls "mark" when catching a ball inside their team's 22 metre line.

The "Marngrook Trophy"

In 2002, in a game at Stadium Australia, the Sydney Swans and Essendon Football Club began to compete for the Marngrook Trophy, awarded after home-and-away matches each year between the two teams in the Australian Football League. However, the games are played under normal rules of the AFL, rather than anything approaching Marn Grook.

References

  1. ↑ AW Howitt, "Notes on Australian Message Sticks and Messengers", Journal of the Anthropological Institute, London, 1889, p 2, note 4, Reprinted by Ngarak Press, 1998, ISBN 1-875254-25-0
  2. ↑ http://www.dpc.vic.gov.au/domino/Web_Notes/MediaRelArc02.nsf/17ed9415cb17e3d34a25682500254734/67d1f54851b3304b4a256965007bb637!OpenDocument&Click=
  3. ↑ http://www.footystamps.com/ot_early_history.htm
  4. ↑ http://www.aboriginalfootball.com.au/marngrook.html

External links

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