Irrtyarte (throwing spear) and amirre (woomera)

$1,265.00

My name is Clinton Ampetyane Oliver. I am in my early forties. I was born in Alice and grew up all my life here in Santa Teresa and went to senior school in Darwin at St John’s College. After that I came back here and played footy.

It’s important to share the work that we’ve been doing. We need to show what we’ve been doing to the world, what we’re about, us Indigenous people. Showing our work off makes me feel proud. Proud to be Aboriginal, proud to have culture, proud to have these skills, and to support this community. I’m proud of doing our traditional crafts.

I’ve been making traditional tools like irrtyarte and amirre for many years. These are important tools made by our old people, and I want to keep that strong.

The irrtyarte is mostly made from mulga wood. It’s strong and easy to find around Ltyentye Apurte. Our elders always used mulga. For this artwork I used coolabah wood because I like exploring the colours. Coolabah grows near waterholes and is harder to find, we need to go far distance to get coolabah tree.

The amirre is made from spearwood. It grows on the side of the hills and is nice and straight. If the wood is bent, we use fire to make it straight. It’s best to straighten it the same day you cut it – while the wood is still soft.

We look for the right tree for the right piece. Sometimes we have an idea in mind, and sometimes we find a branch or root that surprises us. First, we cut the wood, hollow it out, and then shape it to fit what we want to make.

Making an irrtyarte takes around one week, but this depends on getting kangaroo sinew for the tip of the spear.

This work is important to me. I learnt from my big brother Dean and from elders. When I was in school, they took us out to climb the trees and showed us how to make spears. Now I do the same with the younger ones. We take them to the bush and teach them about different types of trees, and we teach them how to find the proper trees and make the tools.

Every year, we get better. It’s good work, and we are proud of it. This is how we keep our culture strong.