Brass Plate Gabala Garment

Gabala Garment Breast Plate is my interpretation of the brass metal plates my ancestors wore to be identified as a King of the tribe. The plates significance were a metal plate worn around a man’s neck, the plates were for the white colonists to identify which Indigenous man to talk to, on behalf of the tribe.
My Gabala Garment Breast Plate highlights femininity, using the soft possum furs and how a women’s perspective and voice was dismissed. Women were not allowed to ‘say it with our chest’, we wore it on our chest.

Images: Gabala Garment Breast Plate paired with Gabala Garment Belt and Skirt

Made in 2025