An Aboriginal community in South Australia is calling on the state government to reject an application to sell hundreds of Aboriginal artefacts collected by former teacher Geoff Pope between 1965 and 1976. The collection includes axes, digging sticks, boomerangs, shields, spears and coolamons, and the application seeks to sell the objects or move them out of state. The community argues that removing the artefacts would sever their spiritual connection to them.
An axe bought by Mr Pope in Lucindale between 1968 and 1972 and put back into one piece with "jaca gum".
During this time, Mr Pope developed an interest in Aboriginal culture, particularly stone artefacts, while working first in the Gawler Ranges, in the state's west, and then Lucindale, in the South East. If you're thinking about buying an Indigenous artwork, there are some things you should be aware of first.
"I value these sort of things because I've been using them in my classroom teaching and, let's face it, if I didn't value them so much, I wouldn't have them," he said.He said the items were not museum-quality, but he would be "quite happy to donate them" if there was interest."My family's not interested in them … but I reckon if I could get a bit of recompense that would help me as a pensioner — I wouldn't knock back a little bit.
Aboriginal Culture Artefacts South Australia Geoff Pope Cultural Heritage
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