Canoe launch at Riversdale

On Saturday 10 December the first aboriginal bark canoe in living memory was launched on the Shoalhaven River at Riversdale.

The canoe was made in September from the bark of a Stringybark tree sourced on the Bundanon property by a group of local Aboriginal men and led by local expert Jim Walliss as part of Bundanon’s Siteworks project.

Steve Russell, Phyliss Stewart and Noel Lonesborough from Boolarng Nangamai Aboriginal Corporation in Gerringong were in residence at Bundanon, with Jim and artist Diego Bonnetto, to tackle the challenge of making a canoe based on directions provided by Maritime Architect Davis Payne from the National Maritime Museum, and contemporary marine artist James Dodd.