Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 mins

Tune In: Finding fish

25 mins

Find Out: The lasting legacy of First Nations fish traps

20 mins

Take Action: Protecting good designs

5 mins

Reflection

Tune In: Finding fish

Step 1

Ensure each student has a Student Worksheet.

Display the image of a camp by a river on the attached visual explainer - and provide the students with the following situation:

You’re camping on a river with your family. You’d like to catch something from the river for dinner, but you forgot to bring a fishing rod and have no phone reception. What would be your ideas for how to catch something to eat?

Ask students to generate as many options as possible, including any creative suggestions. They can write as well as draw their solutions. If some students seem stuck, prompt them to consider the shape of the river itself or the types of food they’re trying to catch (such as fish, eels, crabs, crayfish, yabbies) and the natural materials they might use.

Step 2

Ask students for their responses and write up a list of student suggestions. If a fish trap has been suggested, focus on this one.

Inquire with students about the idea of a fish trap and how there would be many ways this could be constructed. Ask students to quickly sketch it, or have them come and draw it onto a board. Ask students about the thinking behind their suggested designs and the use of materials.

Step 3

Explain to students that today's lesson will provide some answers on these designs from First Nation Australians, who have mastered the art of catching fish and other creatures from rivers and the sea over thousands of years without ever needing a fishing rod!

Find Out: The lasting legacy of First Nations fish traps

Step 1

Explain that First Nations fish traps are found all over Australia, along rivers and on our coastline. Ask students:

Would you expect these fish traps to be all the same or be designed differently? Why might that be?

First Nations’ peoples fish traps have been located in many places across the country, such as in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia. Fish traps in rivers and along the coast have been designed with rocks, wood, woven grass, and custom ponds. These vary depending on the type of animal being caught, such as a fish, eel, or crab. Knowledge of using stones and rocks to design fish traps was passed down between many different First Nations communities, with some fish traps dating back over 6,000 years.

We will look at two types of fish traps and their designs.

Step 2

Let’s delve deeper into the design of a specific type of fish trap - an eel net. Has anyone ever tried to catch an eel? They’re fast and very slippery. Have the following webpage ready to play the video - ‘Deep Time: Ingenuity of Indigenous fish traps’

(ABC, runtime: 5 mins)

Ask students to listen and watch for the particular skills and design concepts of this eel net. This design is used by the Ngarrindjeri people of the lower areas of the Murray River in South Australia. After the video, ask students -

What struck you about the design and skills of this eel trap?
Why might this artist be trying to revitalise this skillset of her people?

If students were camping and wanted to use an eel net, let’s have a quick look at what that might look like. Use a search engine (such as Google) on a screen display and do an image search for ‘eel net’. Look at the results. Ask the students -

What do you notice?
Why might modern eel nets have a similar design to traditional ones used by First Nations people for thousands of years?

As a further example, describe to students that there is an eel trap system at Lake Condah in southwest Victoria, one of 5 around the lake’s edge, which has been carbon-dated to a remarkable 6600 years old (that’s older than the Pyramids in Egypt!). This area had a permanent freshwater supply and abundant eels, fish and water plants. The Gunditjmara people used ingenious methods for creating ponds and wetlands linked by channels containing weirs. Woven baskets were placed in the weir to harvest mature eels. (Source: National Heritage Places - Budj Bim National Heritage Landscape)

Step 3

Let’s take a look at a second type of fish trap - those built of stones and rocks.

Display the Guardian news page: ‘The fish traps at Brewarrina are extraordinary and ancient structures. Why aren't they better protected?’ The first two images in the news article are of the Brewarrina fish taps.

Explain that we’ll look at a well-known example at Brewarrina, NSW. These traps are a complex ‘network’ of stone walls situated on the Barwon River, where the Ngemba people are the traditional custodians. These traps are believed to be among the oldest human uses of construction technology in the world and show that First Nations people had advanced knowledge of river hydrology and fish ecology. They are listed on the National Heritage Register, which means they are protected and recognised as places of significance. Ask students -

How do you think a fish trap works?

If you scroll further down the news article, you’ll see a simple animated diagram of how the fish traps work. Notice that the fish are trapped as they are swimming upstream, not downstream, becoming locked in carefully designed pools and weirs.

Step 4

Describe to students that there’s a further fish trap technique used by the Barkindji people, who lived along the Darling River.

They used stone, wood and earthen structures to enhance the river and floodplain ecosystems. Fish and other aquatic resources were managed, grown, and stored. Barkandji still practise their traditional fishing culture and retain detailed knowledge about the rivers and floodplains. You might like to read or ask a student to read the following observation from 1907 -

...walls were built, so as to form a series of yards, each having an opening on the upstream side …when they were ready for the fun … men, women and children forming a line across, swam towards the yards, shouting and diving as they advanced, to disturb the fish and drive them into the receiving yards, the opening into which was then closed.”
Source: ‘Indigenous fish traps and fish weirs on the Darling (Baaka) River, south-eastern Australia, and their influence on the ecology and morphology of the river and floodplains’; see also the section on ‘Dry Stone Walls’ for further images of fish traps.

Take Action: Protecting good designs

Step 1

Let’s return to our ideas and designs from the start of this lesson. We were trying to generate ideas on how to catch something from the river during a camping trip. Ask students -

How close were our ideas to those we’ve been hearing about?

Step 2

Reinforce that fish traps are excellent examples of how First Nations Australians have cared for Country. These fish traps have been proven sustainable design models for thousands of years. As researchers and land managers have learned more about the sustainability practices of First Nations people, the management model is changing.

What do you think are the biggest risks to First Nations fish traps?

Note student responses on the board or a large sheet of paper. Prompt students to consider the impact of climate change, introduced species, agriculture and farming along the river systems, man-made dams and large weirs, the impact of a growing society, the loss of First Nations culture and knowledge, as well as a lack of protection of these areas.

Step 3

From their responses on the risks, students should select one of these risks. They can work individually or in a small group (no more than 3 students). Using the provided Student Worksheet, they are to write down (or draw) some approaches based on the following prompts -

What are your suggestions for how we might minimise the risk to First Nations’ fish traps? Students could use a ‘Stop, Start, Keep’ approach to come up with at least three ideas.
What kinds of jobs and roles do we need to address the fish trap risk you’ve selected? Students can think of current jobs or make their own suggestions; remember, raising education and awareness can also be powerful roles for people.
What skills do those people need to help address that risk? Students should think about what people would need to know or learn, who they would need to interact with, or what activities they would need to get better at.

Remind students that time is limited, about 10 minutes, so contribute as many suggestions as they can. Encourage students to help each other.

Reflection

The final close for this lesson is to look back at their ideas and suggestions and respond to this prompt -

What have you learnt about the role of living sustainably and the sharing of useful knowledge?

First Nations’ Fish Traps

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