Aboriginal baskets and Dilly Bags
Aboriginal Australia is renowned for its traditional dilly bags and woven baskets, crafted using natural materials like pandanus leaves, bark fibre, bush string, and native grasses. These Aboriginal baskets vary in style and material depending on the region, climate, and purpose.
Most commonly, dilly bags were made and used by Aboriginal women in Northern Australia—particularly in Arnhem Land, the Northern Territory, Queensland, and Western Australia—to collect and carry bush food such as roots, fruits, seeds, and small animals. Worn over the shoulder or around the neck like a satchel, these oval-shaped bags were not only practical but also beautifully crafted.
Men also created and used dilly bags, especially for ceremonial purposes. These ceremonial dilly bags often held sacred or ritual objects and were sometimes worn as body adornments during special occasions.
In more arid parts of Australia, where weaving was less feasible, Aboriginal people relied on coolamons (carved wooden carrying vessels)
If you have an old Aboriginal basket and you want to sell it or know what it is worth please email me an image and dimensions.
Dilly Bags: Aboriginal baskets of Arnhemland.
Dilly bags are traditional woven baskets made and primarily used by Aboriginal women in northern Australia for gathering bush food. These aboriginal baskets or bags range in size between 20cm – 60cm in length. The value of Dilly bags varies from $100-$2000 Australian dollars and largely depends on the painted designs and condition.
Their name is believed to derive from the Turrubal word dili. These culturally significant bags are typically crafted from natural fibers like pandanus and are especially common in regions such as Arnhem Land.
Traditionally, dilly bags feature a simple oval shape with an attached string for easy carrying. Some styles resemble satchels with cords designed for wearing around the neck. While early designs were often uncolored, modern dilly bags now showcase vibrant dyes, intricate weaving techniques, and contemporary forms—blending traditional craft with artistic innovation.
Regional variations
Dilly bags vary in size style and weave depending on their intended purpose. The distribution of Dilly bags was from the Very North in Torres straight right through to the South in Tasmania. Aboriginal Dilly bags have a lot in common with Billum bags from Papua New Guinea
Dilly bags appear in ancient Aboriginal rock art, including a 10,000-year-old depiction of the ancestral figure Yingarna on Injalak Hill. She’s shown carrying 15 baskets, each symbolizing a new language group and clan identity she gifted to the people of western Arnhem Land.
While originally used by men for carrying ceremonial items, dilly bags are deeply tied to women’s cultural knowledge. Girls begin learning how to forage and weave from a young age, often mimicking their mothers with miniature dilly bags of their own.
Collectable and Interesting Forms of Aboriginal baskets and Dilly Bags
Queensland Bicornual Baskets (Jawun)
The jawun, also known as the Queensland bicornual basket, is a rare and highly distinctive traditional Aboriginal basket, crafted by the rainforest peoples of northeastern Queensland, Australia. Known for their elegant for, these two-horned baskets are a hallmark of Indigenous basket weaving and are produced exclusively in the region between Cooktown and Cardwell.
Aboriginal Bicornual Baskets are very collectable due to their elegant form and range in size from 25cm -50cm in height. Painted examples are more valuable than plain examples and condition is very important.
These handcrafted bicornual baskets feature a curved, dual-pointed shape and were traditionally woven from lawyer cane (Calamus species). Originally used for gathering bush food like nuts and seeds, jawun baskets also served as sieves for detoxifying native plant foods such as black beans. During this process, the food-filled baskets were anchored in flowing water, allowing toxins to be leached out naturally over time.
Functionality was central to their design. Jawun featured two handles: a short loop for hanging the basket from trees or shelter posts to protect its contents from animals, and a long strap handle worn across the forehead to carry the basket on the back, keeping the user’s hands free during foraging.
Once crafted only by men, jawun basket making is now a shared cultural practice among male and female artists. While most traditional jawun were undecorated, post 1920 examples may be painted with natural ochres and symbolic designs. These designs often echo patterns seen on rainforest shields and may be used in ceremonial contexts or as items for cultural exchange.
Nobar Aboriginal baskets
Aboriginal bark baskets come from the upper Murray River, north Queensland. They are made from moulded bark, cane, spinifex resin and natural earth pigments. They are called Nobar by the Koorkunbutta tribe.
Tiwi Tunga and Pukumani Ceremonies
The Tiwi people of the Tiwi Islands, located off the coast of Darwin, hold pukumani—elaborate funerary ceremonies—some months after a person’s burial. These ceremonies are rich in meaning and ritual, acting as a bridge between the world of the living and the spiritual realm of the deceased. They are central to Tiwi cultural identity and are deeply expressive acts of mourning, remembrance, and release.
At the heart of the pukumani are tutini (burial poles) and tunga (large bark baskets), both created specifically for the ceremony. Tutini are carved and painted with natural earth pigments and erected at the grave site. These poles symbolically represent the body of the deceased or sometimes ancestral spirits, serving as powerful physical markers of memory. Alongside them, tunga are placed—painted baskets traditionally used to carry gifts of food to the ceremony. At the end of the ritual, these baskets are upended on top of the tutini, reinforcing their role as offerings and symbols of transition.
The designs painted on both the body of the mourners and the ceremonial objects are known as jilmara. These patterns are rich in cultural meaning, reflecting the identity, clan affiliations, country, or dreaming (spiritual ancestry) of the deceased. The careful decoration of participants and objects alike emphasizes the interconnectedness of the Tiwi people, their land, and their spiritual beliefs.
Tunga Tiwi Baskets vary from 25cm -70 cm with older examples tending to be larger and more intricately painted. There are many contemporary examples but they only have decorative and not collectable value. Traditionally these baskets were left to rot.
One well-known traditional story tells of Murtankala, an old woman who emerged from beneath the earth on Melville Island carrying her children in a tunga. As she journeyed across the land, she brought it to life—creating animals and clothing the landscape in vegetation to sustain her children and future generations.
Pituri Narcotic / stimulant bags
This yoke-shaped dilly bag is from Boulia in south-western Queensland. In Boulta the bags were considerably bigger indicating this was where Pituri was abundant. It is likely that the style of the bag was adopted as it was traded. I suspect the further it was traded the more valuable it became and the smaller the bag
These extremely well woven bags were designed to transport their precious trade item and so are very well made
The small top opening and the close weave of the bag were intended to contain fine plant material. The handle was slung over a person’s shoulder and supported by the same arm. The yoke shape allows the bag to be stored flat when empty.
The plant matter found inside the bag, ‘Duboisia hopwoodii’ (pitjuri bush), grows in the arid interior of Australia but because of its economic and social value it was transported long distances along trade routes. The plant has a high nicotine content and was used as an anaesthetic, a stimulant and an appetite suppressant and was smoked during ceremonies.
The pitjuri within the dilly bag would have been prepared by male Elders using a high level of technical knowledge. The leaves and stems were dried, chopped and ground to a fine powder. The powder was mixed to a paste with ash, which freed the nicotine from the acids in the plant making it quickly absorbed into the bloodstream. The paste was rolled into quids (balls) for chewing.
Oenpelli Magic Bags
Also known as biting bags or power bags, Central Arnhem Land magic bags are traditional Aboriginal artifacts with deep spiritual significance. Known as marlarrka in Oenpelli and balluk in Gaagudju, these small, handwoven string bags were worn by men during rituals and combat.
Made from vegetable fibre, painted with natural pigments like red ochre and white pipe clay, and stuffed with feathers or sacred objects, these bags were believed to hold magical powers. Worn around the neck or clutched between the teeth during fights, they were thought to grant strength, courage, and protection.
Dating back at least 1,500 years, these powerful symbols appear in rock art from Injalak Hill to the Liverpool River area, where dynamic male figures are depicted wearing them
Further reading
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