What is a possum-skin cloak?
A possum-skin cloak is a traditional garment made by Aboriginal peoples of southeastern Australia from many possum pelts sewn together. Cloaks were worn for warmth and carried designs showing identity and connection to country.
Cloaks were made from dozens of brushtail or ringtail possum skins, stitched together with kangaroo sinew using bone awls. The inner side of the skins was incised with designs representing clan, country and personal stories, then rubbed with ochre and fat.
A child might receive a small cloak at birth, with more skins added as they grew. Cloaks were used as blankets, carry bags for babies and drums during ceremonies, and some people were buried in them.
Revival
After colonisation, woollen blankets replaced possum-skin cloaks, and the craft almost disappeared. Only a handful of old cloaks survive in museums, including two from Victoria made in the nineteenth century.
Since the late 1990s, Aboriginal artists and communities in Victoria and New South Wales have revived cloak making through workshops, often using possum skins imported from New Zealand, where possums are a pest.
At the opening ceremony of the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, Aboriginal elders wore newly made possum-skin cloaks.
Did You Know?
The Lake Condah cloak, made by Gunditjmara people, is one of the oldest surviving possum-skin cloaks.