Dillybag
Traditional Aboriginal woven bag for gathering food and ceremony.
A dillybag—also called a mindirr, bulbbe, or other names depending on the region—is a traditional Australian Aboriginal bag, typically woven from plant fibers. These bags were primarily made and used by women for gathering and carrying food, and they are most often found in northern Australia.
The word "dilly" comes from the Turrubal language of the Jagera people in South East Queensland, where *dili* refers both to the bag and to the plants used to make it. Other Aboriginal groups have their own names: in central Arnhem Land it is *mindirr*; among the Gaagudju people of west Arnhem Land, *bulbbe*; the Kunwinjku people of west Arnhem Land call it *numalga* or *djerrk*; and the Bundjalung people of New South Wales use *bindan*.
Fibre weaving has been used in northern Australia for a very long time. Rock paintings in western Arnhem Land, dating back around 20,000 years, show dillybags. On Injalak Hill, rock art depicts the ancestor Yingarna (the Rainbow Serpent) carrying 15 painted dillybags. These bags can be painted or decorated with feathers for sacred ceremonies, and they are still made today from pandanus leaves.
Most dillybags from Arnhem Land are conical, often with a cord for carrying. Others are worn like a satchel with a cord around the neck. One example, collected in 1905 from Boulia in south-western Queensland and now held at the Australian Museum in Sydney, is made from woollen blanket thread and is almost semi-circular, with a small opening looped with cord for hanging over the shoulder. Natural pigments such as charcoal, pipe clay, and ochres are used for decoration, as are plant dyes—for instance, purple dye is used in the area from Wugularr to Katherine in the Northern Territory.
Traditional dillybags are woven from tough dried grasses, bark, leaves, stems, roots, human hair, animal fur, and animal sinew. In Arnhem Land, Queensland, and northern Western Australia, plants of the *Pandanus* genus are common. According to Kunwinjku woman Garnbaladj Nabegeyo, Kunwinjku women use banyan root (cooked until black) and grass for their *djerrk*, while Gagadju people use bark rather than root to make their string. The bark of the stringybark tree is also used for the handle.
Although mainly used by women for gathering food, men sometimes carry them for hunting tools. Some dillybags hold personal or sacred items. Today they are also made as art. The
- field
- Traditional Aboriginal weaving and basketry
- known_for
- Gathering and transporting food, ceremonial and sacred uses
- materials
- Plant fibres, grasses, bark, leaves, stems, roots, human hair, animal fur, animal sinew, pandanus leaves
- region
- Northern Australia, particularly Arnhem Land, Queensland, and northern Western Australia
- variant_names
- mindirr, bulbbe, numalga, djerrk, bindan
Lore & Background
The word 'dilly' comes from the Turrubal language (of the Jagera people of South East Queensland) word 'dili', which refers to both the bag and the plants from which it is made. Other names used by different Aboriginal peoples include mindirr (central Arnhem Land), bulbbe (Gaagudju people of west Arnhem Land), numalga or djerrk (Kunwinjku people of west Arnhem Land), and bindan (Bundjalung people of New South Wales).
Fibre weaving has long been used to make various artefacts in northern Australia. The oldest known sequence of rock paintings in western Arnhem Land, dating from around 20,000 years ago, show dillybags. Rock art on Injalak Hill shows the ancestor Yingarna (Rainbow Serpent) carrying 15 painted dillybags. Bags may be painted or decorated with feathers as sacred objects for various ceremonies, and continue to be produced using pandanus leaves.
Most dillybags from Arnhem Land are conical in shape, often with a cord attached for carrying. Others are worn like a satchel with a cord around the neck. One example, collected in 1905 from Boulia in south-western Queensland and held in The Australian Museum in Sydney, is made from woollen blanket thread and is almost semi-circular in shape, with a small opening looped with cord for hanging over the carrier's shoulder.
Reader's Guide
The dillybag holds deep cultural and practical significance in Aboriginal Australian societies, particularly in northern Australia. Primarily crafted and used by women for gathering and transporting food, these woven bags also serve sacred and ceremonial purposes. In the creation story of Djang'kawu, the Dhuwa people imbue feathered dillybags with sacred significance, regarding them as containers of sacred law. Men decorate their baskets with orange breast feathers of the lorikeet, describing them as 'the embodiment of their authority and land ownership.'
Traditional dillybags are woven from a variety of natural materials including tough dried grasses, bark, leaves, stems, roots, human hair, animal fur, and animal sinew. In Arnhem Land, Queensland, and northern Western Australia, plant species of the Pandanus genus are often used. Natural pigments such as charcoal, pipe clay, and ochres may be used as paint to decorate the baskets, and natural dyes from plants are also employed.
In recent years, dillybags have become an art form, demonstrating skilled artistry in weaving. Using traditional weaving techniques, women have created new designs and used new colours, with the baskets becoming a form of cultural expression. Notable weavers include Margaret Rarru Garrawurra, whose mindirr are held by the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the National Gallery of Victoria.
Did You Know?
- The word 'dilly' comes from the Turrubal language word 'dili', referring to both the bag and the plants from which it is made.
- The oldest known rock paintings showing dillybags in western Arnhem Land date from around 20,000 years ago.
- One dillybag collected in 1905 from Boulia, Queensland, is made from woollen blanket thread and is almost semi-circular in shape.
- Feathered dillybags are regarded by the Dhuwa people as containers of sacred law in the Djang'kawu creation story.
More in Australian inventions 1-24
Spotted an error? Know more?
This is a living reference — every entry is fact-audited, and reader corrections feed straight into our audit queue. Suggest an edit · See this site's audit record