Indigenous Collection (Miles District Historical Village)

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The Indigenous Collection at the Miles District Historical Village is a

On the sandstone slabs that abound on the banks of L Tree Creek north of Miles, grooves in the stone are clear evidence that they were popular spear sharpening spots. There were places on Dogwood Creek and Chinaman's Lagoon (about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) south of Miles) where the Aboriginal people stopped and ate, and there are old middens of mussel shells on the west bank of the river at Condamine, and at the Round Waterhole north of Dulacca.

The region was also a transition stop for other Aboriginal peoples as they travelled through every three years until 1876, on their way to the Bunya Mountains for the ripening of the bunya nuts. The Village collection includes the "Ilbalunga Cave" as an example of a transition stop. Local Aboriginal people were involved in its creation and decorated the cave with their hand prints.

The collection also includes a map showing the traditional tribal areas, an extensive assortment of rubbing stones,

As few rugs of Aboriginal origin are in existence today, this koala skin rug is rare and of great historical significance as a handcrafted Aboriginal artefact. It may also be useful for researching sewing and rug construction techniques. The rug was found in a cave on Mt Moffatt Station, near Roma, by Mr Dayne Vincent. The twine is made of boodioorie bark and the stitching is particularly unusual. The rug would have provided warmth and comfort due to the thick and soft nature of the koala fur.

Other koala skin rugs exist in Australian museums; however they are not of Aboriginal manufacture but made after British colonisation, when native furs were used in Australia for clothing and other wares. Millions of koalas were killed for their pelts up until the 1930s when protective measures were implemented by state governments to rebuild their numbers and stop the fur trade. Today the koala is protected by legislation in all states and territories where they are found.

Notice regarding the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897

This notice about the

where it had been displayed in the old Police Station for over 50 years, probably since 1897. The Notice is written in English and Chinese, and could be very rare as there are no other known copies.

Eleven of the 32 sections dealt stringently with control of the supply of opium to Aboriginal people. However the Act had wider social significance as its practical outcome was oppressive and restricted the rights and freedoms of Aboriginal people.

The legislation established

Protectors of Aborigines – civil servants, police and missionaries, later controlled by and later Aboriginal Protection Boards

. People were restricted to these reserves ostensibly to protect them from the ravages of European immorality and disease. Furthermore, the legislation was used to control Aboriginal people at the workplace and to remove their basic civil rights, reducing them to the position of State wards. This Act was not overturned until the Community Services Act 1984.

King Dick of Boondie Plate

Windorah

area, near Julia Creek.

King plates were metallic crescent-shaped plaques worn around the neck which sat across the chest. This chest plate belonged to King Dick of Boondie. A 'boondie' is an Australian term for a sand cake that is carved from, or broken off, a larger, hardened pocket of sand and can be thrown like a snow ball. Boondies are common in Western Queensland.

Known 'Kings' of the Miles district were King Billy of Tiereyboo who came in to live at Chinaman's Lagoon (near Miles) in the early 1900s, and King Sandy of Moraby. Tiereyboo was one of the early holdings taken up in this area, and was situated between the Condamine River and Dogwood Creek, and Moraby was an adjoining early holding further west.^[1]

See also

• Australian Aboriginal culture

References

1. ^ Significance Assessment of the Miles & District Historical Society Collections 2010