Jumbi's Gendook

The Gunai/Kurnai of South Eastern Victoria have enjoyed a rich environment for thousands of years consisting of lakes, rivers, ocean, mountains, bush and rainforest. Lands extend from Foster to the Snowy River and up to the Great Dividing Range. Gunai/Kurnai waters include the Gippsland Lakes, the Latrobe, Avon, Mitchell and Tambo Rivers and the coastal ocean.

For thousands of years, the Gunai/Kurnai thrived in the abundant area through fishing and hunting. Although isolated by swamps, mountains, dense scrub and rugged mountain ranges, the Gunai/Kurnai had a harmonious relationship with the environment which yielded a harvest of water fowl, fish, kangaroo, possum, wombat, reptiles, root vegetables, fruits and berries.

While the Superb Fairy-wren is the totem of the Tatungoloong, Krowathnunkoolong, Brayakoloong, Brabuwooloong and Bratowoloong clans of the Gunai/Kurnai the Gunai/Kurnai were taught that Borun the pelican and Tuck the Musk Duck were their creation parents.

Borun the pelican, the first Gunai/Kurnai man, travelled from the mountains to the Port Albert area carrying his bark canoe. While he walked he heard mysterious tapping sounds which he couldn’t identify. Once he reached the water, Borun put his canoe down and was surprised and happy to find a woman in the canoe. She was Tusk the Musk-Duck who became Borun’s wife and the mother of the Gunai/Kurnai people.

The linear and geometric patterns on traditional shields reveal a culture which recalled ancestors, respected the roles of men and women and depicted time and distance.

The Krowathnunkoolong Keeping Place is an inspiration to local Aboriginal people as well as a source of information on Gunai/Kurani people, land and waters.

Frances Harrison

Frances was born in Bairnsdale. She is the daughter of Fay and Frank Harrison with land ties to the Gunai/Kurnai and Monaro. She spent her childhood in Bairnsdale and Cann River before settling in Lakes Entrance. Frances and her family are well-known for their art, craft and artifact making which they have been producing, exhibiting and selling in and around Lakes Entrance for years.

As a child, Frances learnt by watching her father and other family members before completing her first painting at the age of twenty-one. She fondly recalls her Uncle Billy Harrison’s art and craft shop, where, supported and resourced by EGAAC, she and her family continue to work today.

With abilities in a range of mediums including emu egg carving and wood burning, Frances is perhaps best known for her colourful, fine paintings which typically depict the environment where she lives and the land and waters she is traditionally connected to. Frances states: ‘My work is influenced by the ocean and the bush and the plants and animals that live there’. Native bush animals such as kangaroos, lizards, snakes and emus frequently appear in Frances’s work. Also common are sea creatures, for which Frances appears to have a particular affinity. Turtles and crabs have become something of a signature in Frances’s paintings.

Fran’s work is sought after for reproduction for businesses and for gift cards. As an arts worker, Frances is frequently asked to participate in a range of community projects. Frances has exhibited extensively with her intricate work selling well.

Frank (Uncle Sono) Harrison

Frank, known as Uncle Sono, was born in 1941 the son of Mary Harrison (Andy) and Richard (Dick) Harrison. Uncle Sono has links through his maternal grandmother to the Wurundjeri people. He spent his childhood along the waters of Lake Tyers, Metung, Lake Bunga and Lakes Entrance.

In adulthood, Uncle Sono worked in the mills at Cann River, for the shire as a linesman and did seasonal picking where able. He worked at the Naval base in Sale and can be considered a ‘Jack (or Sono) of all trades’.

While relatively new to drawing and painting, Uncle Sono has been making boomerangs, shields, spears, carved snakes and walking sticks for decades. He learnt his skills from observing the ‘old people’ at the Lake Tyers Mission such as Waddy Pepper, Laurie Moffatt and Foster Mullett. Uncle Frank states that he now enjoys teaching his grandchildren the skills of artifact making.

In 1972 Uncle Sono worked with his brother-in-law Peter Gordon to make a bark canoe commissioned by Bulls Ship Yard. The canoe ended up at Nagle College in Bairnsdale before eventually being returned to Uncle Sono at Lakes Entrance. The canoe was a
feature in the Common Ground Festival of 2007.