To discover what kind of materials were used I spent days checking and reading everything I could about the different ways a kadaicha man may have made and used the bone. As most kundelas are made from emu or kangaroo bones I figured if I kept a lookout on an interstate trip I might find one or the other that had been killed in a road accident and I would have the main element of my replica.
Fortunately while resting the dog on the side of the Adelaide road, he started sniffing around under a wattle tree and found the skeleton of a dead kangaroo . Now all I needed were a few feathers, something to replicate human hair and spinifex gum. I couldn't find spinifex but a gum tree provided a rich red resin that could be heated and moulded to make a pad on the handle end of the bone. Some twine was found and plaited to make the strap.
Using a fine cutoff wheel in an angle grinder I began shaping the bones. I took two tibia bones from the skeleton, these showed greenstick fractures, the animal had been hit by a vehicle of some sort and crawled into the scrub to die. Using the cutoff disc I tapered both bones and cleaned them with a burnishing pad.
The photo below shows my finished replica.
This is an example of meeting authenticity. Well done, Terry. I doubt if many others would go to these lengths - and the Kundela looks so good.
ReplyDeleteThanks Merlene,
ReplyDeleteProps like this help me to know my story better, even writing a queation and answer sheet for an interviewer to be guided by is a daunting task but as you have oftened told me you can never prepare too much.
I spent 3 hours last night on the internet tracking down every mention I could find about kundelas and pointing bones. Unfortunately even people who have written about them seem to have copy and pasted from Wikipedia.
I'm pleased with how the bones turned out.
Wow, what a fantastic job you've done Terry. As Merlene said, your efforts are inspiring.
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