Indigenous Use of Arurine Bay 
Besides its spiritual values, the bay was an important resource. Fish were speared from the beach and reef. Crayfish (lobster) were caught by dangling frogs and other bait on hair strings into holes and ledges of the reef.1 Shells were collected and used for scraping animal skins and grooving wooden tools and vessels.2 |
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By far the most important shell was the prized betawa or pearl shell. This was obtained through trade with neighbouring groups to the north. Through a series of exchanges the valued shell eventually reached the Wattandee.3
See below for the Museum's exhibit of historic grinding tools from the Irwin District.
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- Baskerville, B., Port Denison 1850-1915 Rimmer Sequence, Port Development, p.8
- ibid., p.9 per White, I., (Ed) Daisy Bates pp 252-3
- ibid., p.9 per Bates D., Native Vocabulary of Dhoongarra, dongara Magistrate District, p.70