[7] A cave near Milbrodale contains many Wonnarua Aboriginal paintings, including a large figure of a man who may be Baiame. It was a very simple process for the tribe to kill all they needed. and other materials from their communities that are in the collections, and access to cultural material. They were covered with pieces of bark and bushes. Instinct and. . Indeed the men would never discuss them at all. The bark would be stripped carefully from the tree and soaked in water until the outer portions could be readily scraped off with a shell. Among the tribes in the Williams valley it was not uncommon for the medicine- men of hostile tribes to sneak into a camp at night under cover of the darkness, or a cloud, and with a net of peculiar construction garrotte one of the tribe, drag him a few hundred yards from the camp, cut up his abdomen obliquely, take out the kidney and caul-fat and then stuff a handful of sand and grass into the wound. Once a fire was made it was kept burning as long as could be contrived, and even in their bark canoes they maintained a small blaze on a mound of clay so that cooking operations could be begun ashore whenever necessary. Monday, 10th June. The upper end of this pole is ornamented by having, a bunch of green leaves or grass tied around it. His mother then approaches him, and holds her breast to his face, pretending to suckle him. leaves which have been prepared for them, between the fire and the embankment bounding the ring, their guardians sitting down behind them in such a way that each boy may be said to be sitting in a mans lap. The novices are then lifted up in the mens arms, two or three men, including the guardian, to each boy, who advance and stand on the green bushes, which by this time are emitting a dense smoke, which ascends round the men and boys. The keerango, and other men who remained at the womens camp have been standing by as spectators, directing the proceedings all the time - the principal headmen being among them. The animal or bird representing the respective totem is of course sacred to the particular person to whom it belongs, and though he may not kill or eat it, those in other groups are free to do so. The men at Port Stephens did not employ this method the toe-hold affording them all the assistance necessary. "It offers insights into the contestation between the traditional dwellers and early colonisation, the contestation between master and convict, the contestation between the land, agricultureand industry," she said. H e explained that he never felt a hit from a nullah, and only realised he had been struck when he noticed the blood streaming down his [face]. The men make a guttural noise as the novices are shown each tree, and also in going from one tree to another. hVmo:iNK$ ]z!C;IL}s,9,.EbxX08,vp1 X3?,XcB1#]S;4=>|e~wqbI? On the Main Creek, somewhere in the region of Mr. Gams timber mill, there is a stone standing on end, bending down hill. A timeline of Australian Museum exhibitions, events, cultural object and policies connected to Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders. If the course of performances in the bush have been completed, the boys may be returned next day, but if some further instruction is necessary, the date is arranged accordingly. It may be taken generally that sickness of all kinds was believed to be caused by the incantations and magic of the koradjis or medicine men of hostile tribes. The boys then went through a strange and most symbolic ceremony. You have reached the end of the main content. As they were fairly plentiful in the bush they were often on the menu. "I just simply haven't sufficient evidence for mycriteria to include a massacre site on the map.". This cleared space and its adjuncts is called kweealbang (fire place, or place of the fire). endstream endobj 73 0 obj <>stream Members are despatched to summon tribes from far and near, and on their return full preparations are made for the celebration, a place being selected and a day appointed. Find your family in the world's largest shared family tree. It required but little effort to keep the communal larder filled to repletion. This only lasts a few minutes and then all the men follow after the novices. Robert S Fuller et al, The Astronomy of the Kamilaroi People and their Neighbours, 12. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Baiame&oldid=1103216289, This page was last edited on 8 August 2022, at 21:04. The boombits were seated on some bushes that were placed in the inside of the ring, near the side that was nearest to their country, and told to put their heads between their knees. Turning my horse I rode quietly around the hill and up its side opposite from the camp. When the fumigating of the men and novices has been completed the women go away to their camp, which is close by, and the men proceed to theirsthe married men joining their wives later on. A dreamtime story from the Wonnarua explains how the hills and rivers in the Hunter Valley were created by a spirit called Baiame. After Mr. McKenzies death Mr. Simon Lord, a well-known Sydney merchant (after whom Lords Creek is named) of the early Forties of last century, took over the management of the Rawdens properties for a few years and until they were sold. The recipient would don the gift, usually after a fashion never originally Intended, and would strut proudly about the camp displaying himself and his adornment. Gringai lands are mostly in the Williams River in the Manning Valley, and include what is now known as Dungog, Paterson, Gresford, Brookfield, Tocal, to the headwaters of the Williams and Chichester rivers. Man was given the knowledge to read the land and for every rock, tree and creek he found an explanation for existence. The blacks had an uneering instinct for spot- ting a tree that harbored a possum. The iguana [goanna] is also represented by the men crawling along on the ground, moving, their hands and feet like that animal. The depositions taken were duly transmitted by me to His Majestys Attorney- General the following day, and the prisoner was forwarded from Dungog in charge of two of the mounted police, who were expressly sent for, being apprehensive of a rescue by the turbulent blacks of the district. A native was captured and executed at Dungog, near where the present Court House stands. This smaller section was held in place by a binding of fibre and grass-tree gum. Tho leader, scanning the. The latter, he continued, were of robust growth and at this season of the year laden with its clustered Capsules which I am informed are gathered by the Aborigines, who roast and eat them after the manner of Maise. Pride . like shoulder-belts. (VMR, VHR). Afterwards the gift, whatever it was, never seemed to have any particular owner, for it would be free for all the tribe. 69 0 obj <> endobj They would often knock the feathered forager from a tree trunk with a purrahmlrre (the throwing-stick), or a stone, laughing uproariously at the feat. 1820. exposed pith of the under piece. To give th e canoe rigidity so that It could bear Its passengers safely, stretchers were ingeniously fitted at intervals along its length somewhat after the manner one sees In an ordinary clinker-built boat. Figure 12: The men and novices silently surround the women at the Kweealbang. On the floor of the canoe, usually at the stern, there would be the inevitable mound of clay, the floating fireplace. The black warriors lay down and died all around. "There's differing views and that can even be related to heritage.". The canoe was an essential part of the fishing operations, and these crude but effective craft were greatly in evidence. Thus tinko a native bitch is generally printed dingo.. If the ground is wet and cold, pieces of bark are spread upon it for the women to lie upon. address << /Length 5 0 R /Filter /FlateDecode >> 0 The lobsters were caught by the [women] who, on the sea front, dived down among the rocks for them. Mary Gilmore and her father saw the blacks get one of these logs in place. An assigned man was splitting timber near the head of Tin Creek, when four blacks came along and watched him at work for some time. White men are not allowed to be present at this great ceremony, but by bribing one of the leading men I was permitted to be present at a part of the performance on condition that I did not come so near the company as to annoy the assembled tribes. His audience would listen intently until they had mastered the words, the tune and all the business that went with it. Strings are bound tightly round the upper arms of the novices to make their muscles swell, which is supposed to cause their arms to grow stronger. They wrote down what they thought they heard, but the Gringai language (Kathang or Gathang) does not have equiv- alent English consonants. A wide range of plant foods was collected from the lowland forests. When the Wonnarua see the wedge tailed eagle, they know Kawal is looking over them, protecting them. The woman about to be married made a camp and a fire, to which the man was led by his father or any old man of the tribe. There were blacks present from Port Stephens, Gloucester, the Allyn and Paterson Rivers. Good temper pervaded their whole conduct, and it was hard to put any of them out of countenance. Open Microsoft Word, click then insert menu and then choose SmartArt graphics. And the aborigines there being contaminated and emboldened by such example have lately become most troublesome at the different stations in that locality, killing sheep and spearing cattle, without concealment, and when spo- ken to threaten the lives of the shepherds. The shout then set up by all was deafening. A curious practice obtained among these tribes, that of flattening the childrens nose by the mother to improve its appearance. In a new document, Filling A Void, the heritage office says there is no record of the word Guringai or any of its derivatives, including Ku-ring-gai, in any of the early accounts of the colony after white settlement and no hint that the Aborigines of the northern beaches or any other part of Sydney had ever heard the word. Ms Ley said a decision on the application would be made "in the near future". lower coastal property. On the 30th last I discov- ered in the bush opposite iny residence, three head of Mr Myles cattle speared. They undermined the roots on the river side, and waited for a flood, then guided the tree to where they wanted it, but you would need to read her book to understand. Fortunately sickness troubled them but little. Contact Us used or I believe ever heard of by our blacks. Scott identifies the mob at the North Shore of Port Stephens as Gringai, in an area Miller clearly identifies as Worrimi. Figure 8: A sketch of a bora ground near Gloucester, showing the position of the two rings 18 chains or 362 metres apart. The strangling net was then unwound, and if the victim was not already dead he would be a ghost inside twenty-four hours. [8], An Aboriginal Australian people of New South Wales. Polding spoke of the sexual abuse of mere children who are thus made incapable of becom- ing mothers. He is always painted in front view; Dharramalan is drawn in profile. Lyn MacBain, who hasstudied local history in Singleton for the past 30 years, said the homestead should stay put. Thomas Rodwell being sworn, saidI am a free man residing at Mr. Mackenzies establishment at Williams River; Mr. M. is resident magistrate there; on a Thursday morning in April, about two oclock, I was awoke by two of Mr. Archibald Mossmans men, who informed me on the previous night they had been attacked by a party of blacks, and that they expected before they returned to the station, the remainder of the men there would be murdered by them; the distance between the two stations, is about seven miles; I acquainted Mr. M. of the circumstance, and he gave me some arms and ammunition, and told me if I could find any men on his or Mr. Mossmans stations, to take them with me, and apprehend two or three of the depredaters; I mustered seven stand of arms and ammunition; I and the two men, who came with the information there, went to Mr. Mossmans, where we obtained six other men, making in the whole party nine persons, all of whom were armed save two, and we then went to the blacks camp, which was about two miles from Mr. Mossmans station [on the opposite bank of present day Seaham], near a small creek; when we arrived there, we saw about 20 black men; we divided ourselves into two parties; a blackboy, called Lumpy, who we took with us, pointed out the blacks to us; we had seven stand of arms, which we did not conceal from the blacks; the deceased John Flynn, was not in the same party with me, but both parties were to meet before we went up to the blacks, with whom we intended to speak peaceably. Two old men, and two of the elder women, now go inside the ring, of men and boys, and walk round - a man and a woman going one way, and the other man and woman going in the contrary direction. The Chief Justice recommended the prisoner to the Sheriffs humane attention. Starving Aboriginal people began killing stock. The mothers of the novices are painted with red and white stripes on the face, chest and arms. I once inquired the reason of this fear of the place and was quaintly informed that too many shark were there. The women were not allowed to go up this path nor approach the top of the hill at all. A row of fires are lit in front of this shelter, and beyond these fires the surface of the ground is cleared of all loose rubbish and grass for a distance of several yards, the rubbish forming a sort of embankment around the farther side of the cleared space. He more than anyone, seemed to enjoy the joke best. A few of the men at the back of the kweealbang commence chopping at a tree, and the boys are helped to their feet, and are put standing in a row near the fires, each boy being supported by his guardian. These performances are generally carried on at night by the light of the row of camp fires-the novices sitting in the shelter, while the men are acting on the other side of the fire. Groups living near the Wonnarua include the Darkinjung and the Wirad Strangely enough neither men nor women adorned themselves with ornaments of any description, being content to present themselves to the world as Nature so fashioned them. When the kangaroos came hopping along, a cloud of spears and purrahmirre. How they worked out the mathematics of the curve and balance was ever a puzzle to me, as it has been to anthropologists all over the world, but though they always seemed to be making boomerangs, one never heard of any being spoiled or made in such fashion as to prove useless when put to the crucial test. They were distributed over the district in local groups known as Nuria and were located at distances about eight miles apart in what the histo- rians of those days termed villages. The Wonnarua Strategic Plan 2009-2012 (WSP). Ceremonies in the Bush. A cord, made of possum hair, was passed around his body a couple of times, the ends being held by the woman who knelt on the ground, leaning over the little canoe of water. Whirling the stick with amazing speed its hardened point would emerge from the pith, spilling a fiery dust that dropped on a little heap of soft, fine bark placed to catch it. The principal bora ground was in Mr. Harold McLeods paddock and today one can see the ring plainly. At a distance of about 7 chains in a north-north-westerly direction from the goonambang, along the top of the ridge, were a few other marked trees, the dharroong on some of which are still distinguishable. Doughboy Billy, to whom Mr. Boydell presented a brass plate with the inscription, King of the Tribe, died in the gully behind what is now Mr. R. G. Berrys. Groups living near the Wonnarua include the Darkinjung and the Wirad. The body of one was never recovered. Shortly there was. Macarty then took the whites and put us across the creek where the dam now is. Wonnarua Nation Aboriginal Corporation chief executive Laurie Perry said there were "tit-for-tat skirmishes" on the land, but "there was no massacre on the site or recorded massacre on the site". A possum or kangaroo would be placed on top of a glowing fire and when half cooked one of the older men would remove it and proceed to dismember it. They learned to track the native animals, became wise in the ways of fish and bird, and made a game of life generally. Many Wonnarua may be uncertain of their heritage and the Elders are keen to help their members trace their family lines. All the men at the goonambang then start towards the kackaroo in single file, march- ing in a meandering course, and shouting as they go. The Kweealbang Camp.-A short digression will now be made for the purpose of describing how the women are released from their prostrate position, and their subsequent proceedings. The belt and four tails or kilts are now put upon each boy, as well as head-bands, and bands across the body. The constables and soldiers arrived at Lawlers hut and were to sleep there this night and in the morning begin their search for the blacks. It is said that the youths mother is custodian of the tooth and takes great care of it. These men were not allowed possession of fire arms. For the most part full dress consisted of a possum-fur belt, with narrow strips of skin pendant there from both in front and at the back. 188.-THEHUNTER RIVER. This unfor- tunate circumstance has given the blacks more courage, and their depredations are becoming more formidable, so that several respectable persons who have stations on the Manning have lately called on me and [called] for protection, but I could only refer them to Captain King, the Commissioner for the Australian Agricultural Company. In the centre of this circle there was a fire of moderate dimensions and attended to by one of the men. Ganghat became anathema to the tribe a valley of death. punitive expeditions, and fixes the date at, 48. The local Allyn River tribe were the first to erect their camp, around which the other tribes took up their positions, each in the direction of the country from which they had come. Two young Blacks who made a nuisance of themselves by continually begging for food at a certain accommodation house on Fosterton Road, were easily disposed of a little poison was put in their food. FamilySearch Terms of Use (Updated 2021-09-27), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Their good temper and childish relish of fun was never more exemplified than when someone made a present to a stalwart black of an old hat, coat, or other discarded garment. Australian Race 1887, pp350-359. Oral history tells us that by 1840 the natural food supplies were almost exhausted. The women belonging. The fire-making sticks they used were usually parts of the dried stem of the grass-tree (pummirri). All you need to do is follow the two simple processes give above. The markings as those who have seen the figures of early-day blacks will know when finalised were quite a white and weird color. an interpreter. The women started humming in a low drone. Note the belt. The same location is given for both these poisonings, Upper Gangat. The lamentation at the grave and the chopping of heads.and burning of arms was something not easily to be forgotten. Most of the Gringai were named Kumbo, but there were some Ipai, Kubbi and Murri among them. Their pronunciation was confusing to the early white settlers, hence many words were corrupted. Choose the design that fits your site. And then I read Mary Gilmores book Old Days, Old Ways, telling of how the blacks felled, the trees across the rivers to make fish traps. This was all their bodily protection against the elements, and their fullest concession to the conventions im- posed by the white people about. It was manifestly a mere mockery to call upon the prisoner to make his defence before persons by whom he could not be understood, Mr. Nichols then submitted that the prisoner was entitled to his acquittal in point of law. No European casualties are mentioned but it said that the Aboriginals had acquired some guns which was the reason for the retreat. Of course, the whites could not for their own safety allow such an event to pass without in some way punishing the blacks, but the way they did retaliate must appear to us moderns as shockingly cruel but unfortunately for themselves the blacks were looked upon by the early settlers as vermin fit only to be destroyed. In response to the PCWP's application for Aboriginal heritage protection, she appointed an independent anthropologist to prepare a wide-ranging report. We would like to acknowledge the Wonnarua people who are the traditional custodians of this land. The Valley was always there. Find out more, an offensive content(racist, pornographic, injurious, etc. The Australian Museum holds a collection of about 300 Indonesian textiles. All the armed men who are standing round, make a noise by beating together two boomerangs, or any two weapons which they may happen to have with them. He is a Koori water with eager eyes, would watch until the shoal came within striking distance. necessity no doubt guided their deft hands, for the art of fashioning their weapons was inherited from countless generations who had to pit their wits against Nature in the battle for survival. Flash Tommy was almost killed and lay insensible for several days. The third difficulty is the racist presumptions of some of these texts. I believe the blacks had a story about them, but I do not know it. Fans hoped they might learn the identity of the grandfather of John Dutton, the Yellowstone patriarch played by Kevin Costner. And, no matter where he deposited his store, nor how many knew of its existence, the weapons were never touched again until the owner removed them. Many of these objects are on display in our First Nations galleries, Garrigarrang and Bayala Nura. Dungog Chronicle : Durham and Gloucester Advertiser (NSW : 1894 - 1954) Fri 29 Dec 1905 Page 1 Scraps of Early History, About 8 miles up the Kerripit River from Rawden Vale one comes out what were known to an older generation as McKenzies Cliffs, in places 200 feet above the river and some two or three hundred yards from the top of these cliffs a beautiful and magnificent view meets the eye, seemingly almost underneath this the clear country of Teragie, while in the far distance one gets a glimpse of Upper Cobark and all around the rugged jumble of mountains.

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