Possum skin cloaks were worn by the indigenous peoples of south-eastern Australia for generations.

Worn from a young age, cloaks started out small with a few skins sewn together to wrap a baby. Over time more skins were added so that as a person grew, their cloaks grew with them.

Possums would be hunted, the skin carefully removed, scraped with a shell, and then stretched by pegging them out on the ground. Once the skins were sufficiently dried, animal fat would be rubbed into the pelts to make them more pliable. The edges of the skins were then pierced with tiny holes using a sharp pointed bone. Kangaroo sinew was threaded through these small holes and the skins sewn together, using 40 to 70 skins to make an adult cloak. Wooden or bone pins could be used to fasten cloaks that could be worn skin to skin or with the fur side to the wearer’s skin, exposing intricate designs incised with mussel shell or sharp bone.

In the mid-1800s, British colonies across the south-east distributed woollen blankets to local Aboriginal people. Many Aboriginal people began using government issued blankets rather than their possum skin cloaks. Woven wool blankets, however, were not as effective as possum skin cloaks, they were not as warm nor were they waterproof and offered little protection from the cold and wet winters of south-eastern Australia.