Magdaline Ilakkilak

This bottle which Magaline made is from Pandanus leaves, which are collected from the Pandanus tree that are all over the island. Magdaline then striped the leaves into thin strands. These strands are then boiled in ‘colour’. The yellow and orange colours are from the roots of the medicine tree. The colours change depending how long they are boiled in the roots for. The black and light grey are from leaves and berries off a tree that grows near the billabong, the green is from the pandanus ashes, the lighter colours are from the white section of the pandanus leaves. The stripped leaves and the colours are boiled in drums over the fire to absorb all the pigment then left hanging to dry. After this the weaving process begins, which can take weeks or months depending on the size of the basket or in this case the lovely pandanus bottle.