History / Year 8 / Historical Knowledge and Understanding

• TLF-IDM006549

Spinning balls or tops of various kinds were used as an amusement by Aboriginal people in most parts of Australia and by Torres Strait Islanders. The spin-ball used in the northwest central districts of Queensland was a round ball of about 2 to 3 centimetres in diameter. It was made of lime, ashes, sand, clay and sometimes ...

• TLF-IDM006552

In this game from the Torres Strait Islands, a number of players stood in a circle and sang the kai wed (ball song) as they hit a ball up in the air with the palm of their hands. The game was often played using the thick, oval, deep-red fruit of the kai tree, which is quite light when dry. This game was apparently introduced ...

• TLF-IDM006558

The Walbiri people of central Australia played a stone-bowling game. One player rolled a stone, which was used as a target by the second player. In the traditional game players alternated turns, with each one aiming at the other’s stone. This is a bowling game in which balls are rolled underarm along the ground to knock ...

• TLF-IDM006586

This object-throwing game was observed being played on Mer Island in the Torres Strait region in the nineteenth century. More recent versions have also been observed. A game based on throwing accuracy. Teams of one to two players throw objects, attempting to make them land on a target on the ground. The Yulunga: Traditional ...

• TLF-IDM006596

Various types of toy boats and canoes are found in parts of Australia and the Torres Strait Islands. On Sunday Island in northern Australia, small models of the raft (kaloa) were made for children to play with. In other areas of Australia small replicas of dugout canoes were fashioned. In parts of the Torres Strait simple ...

• TLF-IDM006576

Using a length of twine, adult women and young children of both genders often amused themselves for hours at a time with cat’s cradle (string-figure games). These were played almost everywhere throughout Australia and also in the Torres Strait. In some areas older boys and adult men also played these games. Elaborate figures ...

• TLF-IDM006584

Bowling-ball or disc games were played by Aboriginal boys and men in all parts of Australia. A piece of rounded bark (disc) was rolled by one of the players for the other boys to use as a target for their short spears. A version of this activity is still played in the Kimberley area and Northern Territory (and perhaps elsewhere) ...

• TLF-IDM019317

This is a curated collection of articles, photographs and internet links related to natural, technological and human-caused events including bushfires, cyclones, tsunamis, earthquakes, shipwrecks, urban fires, chemical and industrial events in Australia. Events included have posed a serious threat to a community or property ...

• TLF-IDR3164

This is a gelatin silver-toned composite photograph measuring 32 cm x 25.5 cm, created by E.W. Searle. The Avro-10 Southern Sun plane piloted by Charles Ulm celebrated the arrival in Sydney of aviatrix Amy Johnson, the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia. Amy Johnson had crash landed in Brisbane and was flown ...

• TLF-IDR3262

This is a watercolour measuring 15.8 cm x 24 cm showing the vast, yellowing Challicum plains with grassfires burning smokily in the distance. A flock of sheep is being watched by a shepherd and dog. The artist, Duncan Cooper, included this painting as the sixteenth watercolour in his field sketchbook and inscribed the title ...