Australian Aboriginal sweet foods facts for kids
Aboriginal people in Australia have always found clever ways to get sweet treats from nature. They didn't have candy stores, so they looked for natural sugars! The main types of sweet foods they collected were honey from ants and bees (called sugarbag), sweet sap from leaves (called honeydew or lerps), tree sap, and nectar from flowers.
Even today, in some parts of Australia, especially in Central Australia, people still use these traditional ways to find sweet foods. These foods can be eaten straight away as a sweet snack or mixed with water to make a sweet drink.
Sweet Foods of the Arrernte People
The Arrernte live in Central Australia. They have special ways of grouping their foods. Many other Aboriginal groups also did this. The Arrernte word for sweet foods is Ngkwarle. This word means "honey-like foods."
| Arrernte Name | English Name | How it's Collected and Eaten |
|---|---|---|
| Ngkwarle athenge arlperle |
Ironwood (Acacia estrophiolata) Tree Gum | This gum drips down ironwood trees. It can be red or clear. People break it off the branches, mix it with water, and let it set. Then they scoop it up with a small stick and eat it. |
| Ngkwarle alkerampwe | Mulga (Acacia aneura) Tree Gum | Small blobs of this gum are found on mulga branches. Some are clear, some are red. People use a wooden skewer to snap them off. Once they have enough, they give them to children as a special treat. |
| Ngkwarle arlperrampwe | Whitewood (Atalaya hemiglauca) Tree Gum | This gum is found in big globs on the trunk and branches of whitewood trees. It's collected and kneaded until it's soft, then eaten. |
| Ngkwarle atnyerampwe | Supplejack (Ventilago viminalis) Tree Gum | This gum is scraped off the tree bark. It's twisted onto a stick and is chewy, like chewing gum. You can only eat a little bit without water, or it might give you a headache. |
| Ngkwarle akikarre | Witchetty Bush (Acacia kempeana) Gum | When witchetty bush flowers fall, gum forms on the tree trunk. It can be red or clear. People knead it into a lump, adding a little water. It can even be put on a stick, like a lollipop! |
| Ngkwarle aperarnte | River Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) Honeydew | This is a sweet substance that drips from the bark of the river red gum tree. It's collected from the bark or from the ground where it has dripped. |
| Ngkwarle aperaltye | River Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Psylla eucalypti) Leaf Scale | These are small, waxy white flakes found on river red gum leaves. People shake the branches so the flakes fall onto a sheet or bowl. Then they sweep them up and press them into a ball to eat. |
| Ngkwarle alhelpe-arenye | Mallee (Eucalyptus) Leaf Scale | This sweet scale is scraped off mallee leaves and eaten. |
| Ngkwarle yerrampe | Honeyant (Melophorus camponotus) | Honeyants live underground in mulga country. Their nests have smaller holes than other ants. Women dig down to find the ants. They pull the honeyants out with a small stick. People don't swallow the whole ant. Instead, they place it on their tongue, bite the abdomen, and suck out the sweet honey. |
| Ngkwarle arwengalkere; Ngkwarle urltampe |
Native Bee Honey, Sugarbag | Sugarbag is honey from native bees, found inside hollow trees. People look for a small "nose" of wax sticking out of the tree. They chop into it to open the hollow. First, they get the part with the bee larvae, then the honey. The honey is collected in a coolamon (a traditional wooden dish) or a billycan to be eaten later. |
| Ngkwarle untyeyampe | Corkwood (Hakea suberea) Flower Nectar | When the yellow corkwood flowers hang down, their nectar is ready. People shake the nectar onto their hand and lick off the dark bits. Sometimes, it's put in water to make a sweet drink. This drink can be used when someone is sick. Everyone enjoys collecting this sweet food. |
| Ngkwarle ntewale | Bloodwood (Eucalyptus opaca) Flower Nectar | Ntewale is the flower of the bloodwood tree, which has pale nectar. Native bees also make honey from these flowers. People break off the flower and suck the nectar, or shake it onto their hand and lick it. After these flowers die, bush coconuts grow. |
Other Sweet Foods and Drinks
Many other Aboriginal groups across Australia used similar ways to find sweet foods, just like the Arrernte. But the customs changed depending on where people lived. Here are some other interesting sweet foods:
- Banksia: People would put the flower spike into a hole lined with paperbark and filled with water. This made a sweet drink.
- Grevillea: The sweet nectar from these flowers was shaken out and eaten. It could also be mixed with water to make a sweet drink.
- Xanthorrhoea: A sweet drink was made from the nectar of these plants by soaking them in water.
