Blood and gore
September 19th 2006 01:47
Sheep skin at The Kodja Place Copyright: Wendy Thorn
What a culture shock it is for a young partner of a country bloke to suddenly have landed on the verandah table the gutted carcus of some sheep she had seen running in the yards the day before. If she is lucky she has been warned, as most farmers kill the night before and the meat hangs wrapped in a sheet for the night - a sheet, by the way, she will be expected to wash soon afterwards. (Forensics would have a field day trying to sort out the blood and guts) In earlier days the chopping of the animal would have happened outside with the chopping block and chops would appear with sharp pieces of bones sticking out at weird angles. I think that is why there were so many stews. What else can you do with a piece of meat like that! Now, many farms have their own meat saw - which is fine when it works. Now, all one has to worry about is will the user make it through without losing a finger and what on earth do I do with all these bits of meat?
I have been involved with the development of displays at The Kodja Place, an Interpretive Centre in Kojonup W.A. Here we spent ages discussing all the things that made us who we are in our town. The wool industry featured, but how could we display the other reason we keep sheep - the meat industry? The sheep skin was the result and a peep show of the more gory bits. But here was a thought that stuck in my mind. One of the local Noongar (Aboriginal) women made the comment "Well I came from the city too - how do you think I felt when my husband brought home a kangaroo!" Point taken.
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