Smoking trees

Smoking trees

Manna Gum and Red Gum trees were used to smoke eels and fish. Existing hollows at the base of a tree were expanded and burnt out forming a chimney. Eels and fishes were hung inside the chimney and smoke from the small fire lit inside the base of the tree would start the smoking process. Smoking eels and fishes preserved the meat to be stored for when food was scarce, or to be traded to other areas.

  • Project: Aboriginal eel Aquaculture – Gunditjmara Country.
  • Climate: Temperate – Warm-summer Mediterranean
  • Year: 4000 BC
  • Water type: Fresh water
  • Landscape: Volcano stream
  • Meaning: Utilitarian
  • Water workers and users: Aboriginal fishers
  • Material: Manna Gum (Eucalyptus viminalis) and Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis)
  • Temporality: Seasonal, autumn and winter
  • Use or Function: Smoking eel and fish