We honour and respect all Elders and Traditional Custodians of the lands the Botanic Gardens of Sydney stand on. We acknowledge the lands as significant historical, ceremonial and traditional trade grounds.
Using raffia, we will be mimicking traditional seaweed rope, used to make fishing lines, nets, spears and traps for harvest from beautiful Sydney Harbour.
What you need
2 strands of raffia
your imagination
Important!
As you follow the instructions below, imagine how the Gadi women would collect fish with their lines and nets and how the men would create traps and spears for animals such as eels and crabs.
Please join us to create a rope just like the local Cadi people would have used for their hunting, binding, building, clothing and much more!
Using raffia, we will be mimicking traditional seaweed rope, used to make fishing lines, nets, spears and traps for harvest from beautiful Sydney Harbour.
Making string!
Collect two strands of Raffia
Tie one end of both strands together using a loop-tie method
Once ready, hold your raffia in your least dominant hand so that your dominant hand is free
With your dominant hand, hold ONE strand between your pointer finger and thumb
Roll the strand between your thumb and finger, away from your body (just until you see a nice, tight twist)
Once satisfied, bring that strand over the other, towards your body
Pick the other strand up and repeat the process
Remember the saying “Twist it out, towards the ocean and bring it back over the mountains!” this is the method to follow until you have your string at your ideal length.
Just as you began with a loop tie, tie the end of your string in a loop to keep it in place.