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Detailed Artist CV PDF  Barbara Weir

Grass Seed Dreaming

In the Utopia region, there are many varieties of grasses. One grass that is found in the spinifex, sand plains, and sand-hills produces a seed that is collected, crushed into a flour and made into a paste to produce a type of bread that the people eat.

This grass, which is a member of the portulaca family, can grow up to fifteen cm high and is reddish in colour. It is found throughout the year, but is particularly abundant after rainfall. Due to the grazing impact of cattle and rabbits the grass is not as plentiful and the seeds are harder to collect.

 
In years gone by Aboriginal people collected these seeds in an unusual way. Due to the seeds ripening at different stages, many would fall to the ground and be covered by sand and lost from view. The Aboriginal people would look for the nesting site of a particular ant. This ant, which had collected the seeds, and eaten a certain portion, then discarded the rest. The discarded seeds would be found in a pile just outside the nest, to be collected, cleaned and then ground into a thick paste by the women.

These seeds were an important source of food for the Aboriginal people however this bread is not often made today, due to the introduction of readymade bread.

This story is important to Barbara Weir who in Grass Seed Dreaming depicts the grass with woven sinuous strokes, or the seeds using her fine dot work.