Upper gallery

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Upper gallery

WARNING: Visitors should be aware that this website includes images and names of deceased people that may cause sadness or distress to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The upper level of the gallery features a rich array of exhibitions about specific Indigenous communities.

The Welcome space reflects the traditional protocol of welcoming a visitor to another person's country. A pressure-sensitive floor allows visitors to interact with the projection of Aboriginal dancers and images.

The Seven Sisters constellation in the ceiling at the entrance to the gallery reflects the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cosmologies, creation stories, and guides to navigation present in the night sky.

Ngunnawal and Ngambri people have lived in the Canberra region for thousands of years. This display acknowledges the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people as traditional owners of the region through the display of a variety of stone tools.

The gallery shows that Aboriginal cultures have instigated many 'world firsts'. These include some of the earliest known evidence of art and some of the oldest ground-edged axes in the world. The axe on display was made between 19,000 and 23,000 years ago.

Rock paintings and engravings found throughout central Australia feature circles and concentric circles, animal tracks, crescents, dots and straight-lines. In this display, visitors can view designs that were pecked into the rock with a stone.

This display showcases some of the Museum's collection of boomerangs from south-east Australia. Boomerangs were used over much of mainland Australia for hunting, fishing, sport and to keep time for songs.

The diversity of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is reflected in the great variety of fibre containers produced throughout the country.

A wide range of tools are used for fishing such as woven traps, stone traps, lines and hooks, spears, harpoons, boomerangs and clubs. This display showcases some of these fishing technologies.

The influence of the Macassans on Yolngu culture is shown in this display.

 Read and listen to more on the Macassan trepang industry

This display features a fishtrap made by Anbarra elder Frank Gurrmanamana and a audiovisual piece showing the making of the fishtrap.

The Tasmanian display presents the survival and revival of Tasmanian Aboriginal culture through a collection of contemporary works.

The Tooloyn Koortakay display follows the work of four Victorian Indigenous women who have revived the lost art of making possum skin cloaks.

This display draws on the Museum's rich holdings of material from Central Australia's Ernabella community – one of Australia's longest continuously running Aboriginal arts organisations.
Read more about the Ernabella Arts collection

The Gallery of First Australians features an extensive range of tools used by Aboriginal people. It demonstrates how these tools were made and the different techniques used to make them.

This display showcases the Museum's collections of these highly-prized tools and trade goods from the Kimberley region of north-west Australia.

Stone-tool makers have a detailed knowledge of the properties of different types of stone. This display showcases the different types of stone and techniques for producing different types of stone tools.

This display highlights the number of ways in which Aboriginal people made fire.

The portrait wall showcases photographs representing the diversity of First Australians past and present.

The Frieze is an audiovisual presentation across 11 screens that features the geographical, environmental and cultural diversity of Indigenous Australians.