Mangroves have traditionally been used by Indigenous Australians as sources of food, including mangrove fruit, mud crabs, clams and fish such as barramundi. Mangrove timber has traditionally been used to make canoes, paddles and weapons such as shields, spears and boomerangs.
The increasing interest in bush tucker amongst non-Aboriginal people has highlighted the use by Aborigines of the resources of many habitats in Australia. There has been an upsurge in respect for knowledge held by Aborigines, which demonstrates a fundamental change in attitude towards Aborigines and their skills and talents. Coastal Aborigines in the northern Australia are major users of the mangroves, where there is an abundance of animal and plant resources.
Plant resources
There are three potential types of use for plants in a traditional society, for food, for medicines and for other purposes including tools and weapons. Table 1 lists some of uses of mangroves made by Aborigines in northern Australia. The uses vary from place to place, depending on which species are present locally and the experience of the Aborigines there. There does not appear to be much ‘shared knowledge’ even between adjacent groups; this is probably a consequence of groups using the mangroves in isolation whereas in other environments they are more likely to come in contact with other people
Traditional uses of mangroves and other plants in the mangrove habitat by Aborigines. Uses of mangroves vary from place to place and locations are given for uses in specific uses. This table is not comprehensive and comes from a variety of sources (see References).
| Mangrove species | Food use | Medical use | Tool use |
| Acrostichium speciosum | stems eaten after roasting | ||
| Aegiceras corniculatum | nectar | smoke for making babies strong (Belyuen) | axe handles and digging sticks (Belyuen) |
| Aegialitis annulata | children’s toys as stingrays (Groote Eylandt, Tiwi), whistles (Belyuen, Tiwi) | ||
| Avicennia marina, white mangrove | fruit eaten after treatment, (Mornington Is; Tiwi; Boorroloola, Roper R; Belyuen; Bardi; Dampierland); flavour in cooking mussels (Groote Eylandt); nectar | sting-ray and stonefish ‘stings’ (Milingimbi); ringworms, sores and boils (Yirrkala); scabies (general); ‘cheeky’ mangrove worm medicine for coughs (Tiwi) | shields |
| Bruguiera exaristata | mangrove worm (Tiwi) | fishing boomerangs (Bardi) | |
| Bruguiera gymnorrhiza | mangrove worm (Tiwi); hypocotyls eaten after treatment (Cape York) | spear tips (Belyuen); throwing sticks for hunting magpie geese (Tiwi); boomerangs | |
| Bruguiera parviflora | mangrove worms (Milingimbi; Tiwi) | paddles (NQ) | |
| Brugiera rheedii | hypocotyls eaten after treatment (Cape York) | ||
| Camptostemon schultzii, kapok mangrove | skin sores and scabies; leprosy sores (Galiwin’ku, Ramingining; Milingimbi) | canoes and catamarans (Kimberley); canoes and floats (Milingimbi; Tiwi); floats (Ramingining) | |
| Ceriops australis | spear shafts (Tiwi) | ||
| Ceriops tagal | sores and infections (Yirrkala); scabies (Tiwi) | fishing boomerangs and spears (Bardi); sticks for hunting magpie geese (Tiwi) | |
| Diospyros compacta | fruit eaten | ||
| Excoecaria ovalis | nectar (Groote Eylandt) | toxic plant, latex causes skin to swell (Milingimbi); leprosy sores, marine stings, body pain | floats for turtle hunting, firewood (Groote Eylandt); cordage |
| Hibiscus tiliaceus | boils (Yirrkala, Galiwin’ku); washing wounds (NT); headaches, splints for fingers (Groote Eylandt) | woomeras, light spears, fire sticks, harpoon rope (Groote Eylandt); string from inner bark (Belyuen); string and rope from inner bark, spear shafts, fire-sticks (Tiwi) | |
| Lumnitzera littorea | nectar-rich flowers as sweets (Yirrkala) | digging sticks, throwing sticks (Belyuen) | |
| Lumnitzera racemosa | nectar | spears for hunting wallabies and stingrays (Tiwi); firewood, fire sticks, spears | |
| Nypa fruticans | mud mussels at base (Tiwi); unripe seeds eaten (NQ) | ||
| Osbornia octodonta | cooking herb | toothache, insect repellant | |
| Pemphis acidula | toothache (Groote Eylandt) | woomera peg, digging sticks (Groote Eylandt) | |
| Rhizophera apiculata | mangrove worm (Tiwi) | skin sores (Tiwi) | ceremonial armbands (Tiwi) |
| Rhizophora stylosa | mangrove worm (Tiwi); mud crabs found at roots (Belyuen; Tiwi) | skin sores (Tiwi); ulcers and yaws (NT) | ceremonial armbands (Tiwi); boomerangs, spears, firewood (Bardi); clubs (Arhnem Land) |
| Scyphiphora hydrophylacea | spears and digging sticks (Tiwi); yamstick | ||
| Sonneratia alba | nectar | skin disorders (Tiwi) | tops (Tiwi); carving wood |
| Thespesia populneoides | scabies | plates (Groote Eylandt); spears, (Milingimbi); axe handles (Bardi); fire sticks, shafts for spears (Kalumburu); rope from inner bark, fire-sticks (Tiwi); fish poison | |
| Xylocarpus mekongensis | all-purpose medicine (NT) | canoe repairs, shade tree (Groote Eylandt) |
Mangroves Australia 