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A swagman (also called a swaggie, sundowner or tussocker) was a transient labourer who travelled by foot from farm to farm carrying his belongings in a swag (bedroll). The term originated in Australia in the 19th century and was later used in New Zealand. Swagmen were particularly common in Australia during times of economic uncertainty, such as the 1890s and the Great Depression of the 1930s. Many unemployed men travelled the rural areas of Australia on foot, their few meagre possessions rolled up and carried in their swag. Their swag was frequently referred to as "Matilda", hence Waltzing Matilda refers to walking with their swag. Typically, they would seek work in farms and towns they travelled through, and in many cases the farmers, if no permanent work was available, would provide food and shelter in return for some menial task. The figure of the "jolly swagman", represented most famously in Banjo Paterson's bush poem "Waltzing Matilda", became a folk hero in 19th-century Australia, and is still seen today as a symbol of anti-authoritarian values that Australians considered to be part of the national character. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swagman

TRADITIONAL ABORIGINAL FOOD-GATHERING : TREE-CLIMBING People climbed trees for a number of reasons: To catch possums, lizards, snakes and other native animals. (These animals were also removed from trees by lighting a fire below and smoking them out, and by throwing stones at the animal, knocking it out of the tree.) To collect eggs and young birds from nests. To collect fruit and seeds from high branches. To reach native beehives for honey and wax. Beeswax was used as a seal on water containers, as a resin when making weapons, and as a fixative when making body decorations. (People didn’t always climb trees to obtain honey. Sometimes they chopped the whole tree down instead. Also, some species of native bee make hives at ground level.) To chop and strip long sheets of bark to be used for canoe-making and shelters. Throughout much of Australia, a small hatchet with a stone head was used to cut toe holds into trees to assist in climbing. In these photos, taken in the rainforests of northern Queensland, strong jungle vines (lawyer-vines or lawyer-cane) are used like ropes to assist climbing trees in search of both animals and native bee hives’ wax and honey. Source: www.aboriginalculture.com.au/tree-climbing/

www.wikitree.com/wiki/MacKenzie-4318

Archer sisters wearing high neck lacy tops and full skirts.