Series 02
Story 01
Ballawinne (Red Ochre)
as told by Jim Everett - TASMANIA
The story of trade between two tribes and how ochre and crayfish can be found in Tasmania.
Synopsis:
Two tribes in Tasmania traded in ochre (colour dye powder). One of theses tribes had the only ochre mine. One day when the two tribes were trading, an argument started over who owned the ochre. While the leaders where arguing, a young fella from one of the tribes stole a big lump of red ochre and started to run away with it.
The other tribe went mad when they saw what was happening and started to chase the young fella, but he was too quick.
The lump of red ochre the young fella stole was all that was left in the mine. As the young fella ran all over the Big River tribal lands he broke off little pieces of the ochre and dropped them on the ground to slow up the people chasing him. This left a trail of red ochre everywhere and as the rain came the ochre grew to be new ochre mines.
The young fella who stole the ochre jumped into Lake Saint Clair where eventually the Big River spirit Warrawa turned him into a freshwater crayfish as punishment for stealing the ochre.
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