Ngarrindjeri Weaving by Aunty Ellen Trevorrow

Aunty Ellen Trevorrow is a Ngarrindjeri weaver born at Point McLeay (Raukkan ) in 1955 and raised near Tailem Bend. Tailem Bend is a small town in the Murraylands region of South Australia, and she spent her childhood in fringe dwellers camps just outside of the town with her grandmother, Ellen Brown, from whom she gets her name. She attended primary school in Tailem Bend and moved south to Bonney Reserve near Meningie when she was 11. She went on to complete high school. She met her husband-to-be, Tom Trevorrow, when she was fourteen. They were married in 1976 and went on to have 7 (6 boys & 1 girl) children, 16 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren. They have remained in or near Meningie ever since.
Aunty Ellen had watched her grandmother weave as a child; her own weaving practice only began in 1982 when she attended a workshop facilitated by Steve Hemming of the South Australian Museum with Aunty Dorrie Kartinyeri, an elder from Point McLeay. Kartinyeri showed the workshop participants how to weave, where to find the rushes, and how to prepare them adequately for weaving. Before colonisation, weaving had an essential practical purpose in Ngarrindjeri culture.
Globally recognised as ‘Ngarrindjeri Cultural Basket Weaver’, Ellen’s baskets are on display in private and public collections. Ellen uses her skills as a weaver to connect and gather, sharing her culture, traditions and stories freely.
Note:
Aunty Ellen Trevorrow and Dr. Jelina Haines remain the copyright holders of the video and its content.