
The Birpai people are the traditional custodians of our local country. The country was created during The Dreaming when the Ancestral Beings wandered, forming the rivers, mountains, plants, animals and other natural features. The Dreaming is a powerful life force that connects Aboriginal people to the land and to a complex system of spiritual beliefs and cultural practices.
Totems classify all things including plants, animals, birds and people. They provide a link between the natural world and kinship relationships with spiritual beliefs and personal responsibilities.
The shark, eagle, kangaroo, bass, stingray, porpoise and crab are examples of Birpai totems.
Families and individuals have totems which are determined by their ancestry and are from either their mother or their father. Belonging to a totem bestows upon the individual responsibilities and obligations for maintaining knowledge and ceremony. These responsibilities and obligations include restrictions on the use of the totem, including a taboo against killing and eating. They will also ensure the adoption of other practices to protect and conserve the species, including ceremonies to enhance their well-being.
Ceremonial attire, including headdress, body painting and implements such as shields, are usually decorated with depictions of the participant’s totems.
As a person moves through different stages of ceremony (and life), their relationship to their totems and other species often changed. Former taboo species may now be eaten.
The relationship with totems extends beyond the physical. Aboriginal people often look to their totems for particular signs, including ongoing association with The Dreaming.
Shark
The shark is the major sea totem of all Birpai people, extending from Point Plomer in the north, to the Worimi in the south. Its significance was observed by Oxley’s expedition when Gooris refused to eat sharks that had been caught. In this artwork lineal patterns emulate the movement of water and the traditional markings carved into trees by Birpai peole. Circles represent water, and the colours depict deep and shallow water, and the river and the ocean.
Eagle

Kangaroo

Bass

Stingray

Porpoise

Crab

Prepared by Jenssen Design for the Glasshouse Port Macquarie (2009). All designs compiled by Cheryl Robinson and designed by Marion Hampton with additional artwork by Wes Drew. All design and text copyright to the creators. Presented here as a community service and not to reproduced for commercial purposes.