Damper Seed - Aboriginal Art Stories - Japingka Gallery (2024)

By: David Wroth, Japingka Gallery, Updated Aug 2020

Damper, also known as bush bread or seedcake, is a European term that refers to bread made by Australian Aborigines for many thousands of years. Damper is made by crushing a variety of native seeds, and sometimes nuts and roots, into a dough and then baking the dough in the coals of a fire. The bread is high in protein and carbohydrate, and helped form part of a balanced traditional diet. Millstones for grinding seeds into flour have been discovered which have been dated to 50,000 years old.

Although women living in remote communities may still bake damper, the arrival of pre-milled white flour has mostly replaced the use of ground native seeds. Sadly this, along with the introduction of white sugar, has contributed to health problems such as diabetes among Aboriginal people.

Traditionally, bread-making, a labour intensive task, was a woman's job and was generally carried out by several women at once. It involved collecting seasonal seeds, grain, legumes, roots or nuts, grinding these into a flour, then usually adding water to form a dough. Sometimes, as with Spinifex seeds, there would be enough moisture in the seeds to form the dough directly.

Seeds varied depending on the time of year and the area in Australia in which the people lived. In Central Australia, native millet (Panicum decompositum; Panicum australianse) and Spinifex (Triodia) were commonly used. Wattleseed, from various species of Acacia, could also be used in the flour mix. Some seeds (such as the seed of acacia) need to be heated, hulled and then ground dry, while others (such as those of grasses) would be ground with water.

Women harvested the fully ripe, dry seeds of the plant by beating the grass, or pod-laden trees in the case of wattleseed, with sticks to dislodge the seeds. Some species were eaten at the green stage and, when ground, would produce a juice at the side of the millstone, which was drunk directly. Acacia seed flour has recently gained popularity throughout Australia due to its high nutritional content, hardiness, availability, and low toxicity. Due to its low glycemic index it is also often incorporated into diabetic foods.

In the Kimberley region of Western Australia, women observed that, after the dry season, many seeds would be gathered around the opening of harvester ants’ nests. The ants had effectively collected and husked the seed for them, and they were able to collect just the seed, making their job a lot easier. After allowing the grain to dry, they could begin to prepare the flour.

Some other seeds used by aboriginal women for making dough are: Pigface (Portulaca oleracea), Prickly/Elegant wattle (Acacia victoriae), Mulga (Acacia aneura), Dead finish seed (Acacia tetragonophylla) and Bush bean (Rhyncharrhena linearis).

Making the flour

After the grain was collected, it needed to be winnowed, which was done using a coolamon, a multi-purpose wooden carrying vessel. Sometimes it needed to be winnowed several times. Once the grain was winnowed, it was ground using a millstone, to create flour. The flour was then mixed with water to make a dough and placed in hot ashes for baking, either into small buns, today referred to as johnny cakes, or a large loaf, known today as damper. The dough could also be eaten raw. Cooking was a good way to prepare the bread if the group was about to travel for some time.

Bread could also be made from roots and corms of plants. In the Top End of Australia, people such as the Yolngu used the lotus root and wild taro. These were ground and then mixed to a paste to make bread.

Water lily seed bread was also popular in the Top End. The two species of water lily used were Nelumbo nucifera and Nymphaea macrosperma. During the early part of the dry season, water lilies form an important part of the diet, with seed pods eaten raw or ground into paste.

Women had expert knowledge of how to de-toxify certain plant foods. The seeds of the cycad palm, Cycas media, are highly carcinogenic when raw and require elaborate treatment including shelling, crushing, leaching in running water for up to five days, then cooking. After this they are made into small loaves, which can keep for a number of weeks.

In Queensland, the people of the Mount Tamborine area used the Bunya Pine cone (bunya nut) endemic to the area, to make bread in this way.

Janet Long Nakamarra, a Warlpiri artist from Willowra in Central Australia, describes Spinifex grass damper. “Spinifex grasses are long and yellow. People used to go out hunting and collect seeds from the spinifex. They put the seeds in the coolamon, then they clean (away) the dirt, sticks and grass.

Once the seeds are clean, they put them on the grinding stone and grind them with a little water. They grind and grind until the seeds become very sticky and pasty. When the seeds (have) been ground then they put the damper seeds into a wooden dish and put coals on top. It takes a few hours until the damper seed is cooked. They then take the dish from the fire and prick the damper with the stick to see whether it is cooked or not. If the stick is dry they put the dish with the damper out to let it cool off. When the damper is cool then they cut the damper and eat it.

The creator of the damper seeds (Ngurlu) was the crested pidgeon. It had to gather seeds and put them in a pile for people to collect. It also sang creation song of the seeds. The seeds are called ‘Lukarrara/Warripinyi’.”

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Back to Aboriginal Dreamtime Stories

Damper Seed - Aboriginal Art Stories - Japingka Gallery (2024)

FAQs

What is an Aboriginal damper? ›

Damper, also known as bush bread or seedcake, is a European term that refers to bread made by Australian Aborigines for many thousands of years. Damper is made by crushing a variety of native seeds, and sometimes nuts and roots, into a dough and then baking the dough in the coals of a fire.

Why is the damper called damper? ›

According to Bonwick, the name was derived from Bond's way of “damping” the fire, covering it with ashes. This preserved the red coals, ready to rekindle the fire the following morning. The damper was buried in the ashes to bake. n the bush, it was cooked in the same way.

What do the dots mean in Aboriginal art? ›

Dots were used to in-fill designs. Dots were also useful to obscure certain information and associations that lay underneath the dotting. At this time, the Aboriginal artists were negotiating what aspects of stories were secret or sacred, and what aspect were in the public domain.

What is the meaning of the Dreamtime story? ›

Dreamtime or Dreaming for Australian Aboriginal people represents the time when the Ancestral Spirits progressed over the land and created life and important physical geographic formations and sites. Aboriginal philosophy is known as the Dreaming and is based on the inter-relation of all people and all things.

What is the purpose of a damper? ›

Dampers are a lot more than simple airflow adjusters. They are integral to the control of cool, warm, high temperature, dirty, or even toxic air. They may also be used for fire protection. Dampers maintain air quality and provide worker safety, which is why they are essential for industrial airflow regulation.

Why was damper so popular? ›

Damper was utilised by stockmen who travelled in remote areas for long periods, with only basic rations of flour (much less bulky than baked bread), sugar and tea, supplemented by whatever meat was available. It was also a basic provision of squatters.

What are some interesting facts about damper? ›

It was made famous by drovers, who baked this bush bread in the coals of their camp fire, and has been recognised as a staple of bush life for decades. It is believed that Damper was originally developed by stockmen, who needed a way to carry food with them into remote areas.

What is a damper in Australian slang? ›

Because it was the most common form of bread for bush workers in the nineteenth century, to earn your damper means to be worth your pay. First recorded in the 1820s.

What is a damper also known as? ›

A dashpot, also known as a damper, is a mechanical device that resists motion via viscous friction. The resulting force is proportional to the velocity, but acts in the opposite direction, slowing the motion and absorbing energy. It is commonly used in conjunction with a spring.

What is the Aboriginal symbol for love? ›

The spindle motif in his 'Man's Love Story' artworks has become synonymous as an Aboriginal symbol for love.

Is it okay to paint Aboriginal art? ›

A non-Indigenous Australian has no authority to paint an Aboriginal work of art. The artist's background will influence the appearance of the work, intertwining a part of their own story within each piece.

What religion do aboriginals believe in? ›

Australian Aboriginal religion and mythology is the sacred spirituality represented in the stories performed by Aboriginal Australians within each of the language groups across Australia in their ceremonies. Aboriginal spirituality includes the Dreamtime (the Dreaming), songlines, and Aboriginal oral literature.

What is the Aboriginal word for new beginning? ›

WOMINJEKA – A NEW BEGINNING.

What are the 4 parts of the Dreamtime? ›

The Dreamtime has four parts: The beginning of everything; the life and power of the ancestors; the way of life and death; and power in life. Dreamtime was all four of these things at the same time because it is more powerful than time and space. In it all things exist at once.

What is the tradition of damper? ›

How was damper traditionally made in the outback? Damper was traditionally made in a cast-iron pot with a lid, called a “camp oven”. The entire pot was either covered in hot wood coals or the camp oven was placed in a hole in the ground and surrounded with hot wood coals.

What is considered disrespectful in Aboriginal culture? ›

Saying a name or displaying images. In some communities, when a person passes away, it may be considered disrespectful to say that person's name or to even refer to them directly in general conversation. In cases such as this, a different name may be used to refer to the deceased person.

Why do aboriginals stack rocks? ›

Aboriginal stone arrangements are places where Aboriginal people have positioned stones deliberately to form shapes or patterns. The purpose of these arrangements is unknown because their traditional use ceased when European settlement disrupted Aboriginal society. They were probably related to ceremonial activities.

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