Elizabeth Galaminda

This basket that Elizabeth made is from Pandanus leaves, which are collected from the Pandanus tree that are all over the island. Elizabeth then striped the leaves into thin strands. These strands are then boiled in ‘colour’. The yellow, red and orange are from colour is from the roots of the medicine tree – these colours change depending on how long they are left soaking for. The black is from a berry that grows near the freshwater Ajuruma Billabong, the white is from the base of the pandanus leaf, and the purple is from a berry that grows on the mainland. 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 moths depending on the size of the work.