lesson 1/2; traditional fire starting Flashcards
Traditional fire starting methods
Indigenous peoples worldwide have purposely developed their own unique fire starting methods. The Inuit peoples of southwest America employed the pump drill method, while the bamboo fire thong method was used throughout Southeast Asia and Papa New Guinea. These traditional fire starting methods are still being used across the regions today, as well as more contemporary methods. For millennia, aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have tended to the land using file. This practise has occurred across the continent from the wet tropics through the desert regions to the Alpine areas. Fire is used for a variety of purposes including food and Land Management, warmth, cooking, lighting, particularly when travelling, cultural practises, and conservative practises. Throughout Australia, aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples have developed multiple fire starting methods that are local to their region. It is well known that aboriginal on Torres Strait Islander peoples have in depth ecological knowledge and understanding of their environment, which allows them to select appropriate drill sticks, sores, hearths and tinder to create suitable methods to produce fire. The two most common fire starting methods across Australia are the hand drill method and the fire saw method, which were and still are used by many aboriginal and Taurus straight island the peoples today. Within the tourists straight islands come on the hand drill method was the most common method to kindle the fire. Aboriginal and the Torres Strait Islander peoples have developed a profound knowledge and skill set to successfully produce fire. The hand drill, fire saw, fire plough, and percussion methods or rely on heat being generated by force and friction between pieces of wood causing the tinder to create ignition.
connect
The ideas presented in the reading connect to methods used today, such as backburning. Controlled bushfires are created by the council, sometimes with the help of first nations people, and in doing this they burn away the old, dry scrub. This allows fresh plants to grow, and because they are no longer dead and dry, reduces the risk and severity of bush fires in that region. Other things I was familiar with was that friction, which is formed by rubbing the sticks together, create fire, and that first nations people created their own methods for creating fire.
extend
Some new ideas that extended my thinking was the different types of flora used for different traditional fire starting. Firstly, I did not realise that there were other fire starting techniques, such as a hearth, hand saw, and bamboo fire thong. Secondly, I didn’t know that different types of wood were to be used for the different methods. Another thing that was new, was that people carved holes in the wood, allowing people to create fire.
challenge
*How did First Nations people deal with rain?
*How did they create these fire starting methods?
*What happens if people lived in Alpine regions?
*What would happen if the First Nations people did not have access to the correct wood in order to start a fire?
*How did people discover all of the different types of wood best suited for the different methods?
hand drill method
Two pieces of wood are required for this method. The two pieces of wood can be the same or different types of timber. One acts as the drill stick and the other as the base or hearth stick. The base is placed near easily flammable tinder, and it contains a round socket with a side notch. The side notch allows the heated sawdust ember to fall out onto the tinder material and with enough heat and oxygen, the tinder ignites. The blunter end of the drill stick is pushed down into a small indentation in the hearth and the stick is twirled by vigorously rubbing it between the palms of the hands. The kinetic energy of the moving hands is transferred to the moving stick. The friction between the two sticks transforms the kinetic energy to heat.
*Friction fire
*Two sticks are used
*The saw dust creates coal, and then is blown into dry grass
*Flower stalks are ideal for this method
*The spinning creates speed and then pushing down creates pressure
*Hands move down the stick, and then go back to the top for a faster round
*The wood dust is collected and then transferred into a nest of dry grass
*Blow on the coal to create the flame, you must blow directly on the coal for this to work.
fire saw method
This method used existing weapons and utensils as fire saw and so reduced the number of materials needing to be carried from place to place. The sharp edge of the wooden weapon/tool is rubbed back and forth in a sawing motion at right angles, across another piece of wood. The intense friction between the fire saw and the hearth base produces sawdust and heat. The heat causes the sawdust to smoulder which then ignites the tinder.
* Dry fibre is put into the cavity inside the piece of wood
* This method is easier if you were out and about
* Wood is sawed slowly over the first piece of wood, gradually picking up speed
* More dry straw is added into the wood, and scrubbing continues
* The wood creates a cross shape
* Hot embers begin to smoke, and the dry straw fibres begin to smoke
* Blow on the coal to create the flame, you must blow directly on the coal for this to work.
* The embers are poured into a timer/straw bundle
* Dry grass is wrapped around the bundle, allowing the flame to grow
