The Bundjalung people, also spelled Bunjalung, Badjalang and Bandjalang, are Aboriginal Australians who are the original custodians of a region from around Grafton in northern coastal New South Wales to Beaudesert in south-east Queensland. The region is located approximately 550 km northeast of Sydney and 100 km south of Brisbane that now includes the Bundjalung National Park. In the north, Bundjalung Nation shares a border with Yuggera Nation and Barrunggam Nation; to the east the Tasman Sea (Pacific Ocean); to the south Gumbaynggirr (also known as Kumbainggar) Nation; and to the west it borders Ngarabal Nation. The languages of the Bundjalung people are dialects of the Lower-Richmond branch of the Yugambeh-Bundjalung language family. The names of the 15 tribal groups comprising the Bundjalung Nation are Arakwal, Banbai, Birbai, Galiabal, Gidabal, Gumbainggeri, Jigara, Jugambal, Jugumbir (Yugembeh), Jungai, Minjungbal, Ngacu, Ngamba, Nyangbal and Widjabal/Wiyabal.

History

In pre-colonial times, Bundjalung Nation encompassed some of the richest hunting and fishing grounds anywhere on the Australian continent. According to the oral traditions of the Bundjalung People, these areas were first settled by the Three Brothers and their descendants. To the best of knowledge the Bundjalung Nation Aboriginal people from the East Coast of Australia, the Far North Coast of New South Wales and South East Queensland area, are the only ones whose dream time stories talk about arriving in Australia from elsewhere. They came from the land "at the centre of the world" when a massive catastrophe destroyed it. There are also mobs in Perth region that hold a spiritual belief they are descendants of 'star people' or people from stars & solar system. Bundjalung Nation Aboriginal people have lived on and visited Goanna Headland for at least 12,000 years. The Aboriginal tribes were not united anytime before the 18th century, with more than 20 main groups, known collectively as the 'Bundjalung Nation'. Certain deities and religious practices were specific to certain localities. Goanna Headland is also significant as the site where the ancestors of the Bundjalung people arrived by sea and populated the surrounding country. This event is related through the legend of "**The Three Brothers (Bundjalung Nation) **".

European arrival

On 15 May 1770 the coast in the vicinity of Evans Head was first mapped and described by Lieutenant James Cook on the Royal Navy Bark HMS Endeavour. This was during the First voyage of James Cook to what became known as New Zealand and Australia. Cook did not land. On the next day Cook saw and named Cape Byron and Mount Warning (known to the Bundjalung Nation as Wollumbin). He named Mount Warning after encountering nearby offshore reefs. Cook failed to notice the entrance to the Richmond River, but noted the presence of about 20 Bundjalung Nation Aboriginal people on what is now Seven Mile Beach, just to the south of Broken Head. Sir Joseph Banks also noted these people and remarked that they completely ignored the presence of HMS Endeavour. This would seem to indicate that HMS Endeavour was not the first ship that they had seen (Richmond River Historical Society {RRHS}, 1997). On 20 August 1828 Captain Henry John Rous on the frigate HMS Rainbow dropped anchor at Byron Bay. His mission was to discover a navigable river and safe anchorage site. On 26 August 1828 Captain Rous discovered the entrance to the Richmond River (the longest navigable river on the coast of New South Wales) and explored 32 km upstream with two lieutenants in a pinnace, as far as Tuckean Swamp. Captain Rous subsequently named the river Richmond after his brother's best friend, Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond.

European Settlement

The beginning of European settlement into the Richmond River area was the result of early explorations into the region by red cedar cutters and farmers, who arrived in approximately 1842, after hearing stories from 'stray natives' of the great Wudgie-Wudgie (Red Cedar) in the Richmond river area to the north of the Clarence river. Red cedar getters, as obsessed by 'red gold' as those who later suffered 'gold fever', brooked no interference in their quest for the magnificent old trees. To legally cut red cedar, cutters were required to obtain a cedar cutter's license from Grafton (& later Casino), issued by Commissioner Oliver Fry for the North Creek and Emigrant Creek scrubs in 1851, for 6 pounds. The license did not provide ownership to land, but did allow the cedar-getter to build a hut and cut cedar on unsettled land. Word rapidly spread about the wonderful red cedar timber which made small fortunes for the men of the Richmond River.

Timeline

Language

Bundjalung is a Pama-Nyungan language. It has two unusual features: certain syllables are strongly stressed while others are "slurred", and it classifies gender into four classes: (a) masculine (b) feminine (c) arboreal and (d) neuter.

Country

Norman Tindale estimated the Bundjalung People lived over an area approximately 2300 mi2, from north of the Clarence River to the Richmond River including the site of Ballina and inland to Tabulam and Baryugil. The coastal Widje clan ventured no further than Rappville. The area underwent significant change with sea level rise 18,000 to 7,500 years ago which completely displaced inhabitants of previous coastal areas and resulted in dramatic changes in distributions of peoples.

Alternative names

According to Norman Tindale, various spellings and other names were used for the Bundjalung people:

Culture

Initiation ceremony

According to R. H. Mathews, the Bundjalung rite of transition into manhood began with a cleared space called a walloonggurra some distance from the main camp. On the evening the novices are taken from their mothers around dusk, the men sing their way to this bora ground where a small bullroarer (dhalguñgwn) is whirled.

Musical instruments

The Bundjalung used a variety of instruments, including blowing on a eucalyptus leaf, creating a bird-like sound. Clapsticks were used to establish a drumbeat rhythm on ceremonial dancing occasions. Emu callers (short didgeridoos about 30 cm long) were traditionally used by the Bundjalung when hunting (Eastern Australia Coastal Emus). When striking the emu-caller at one end with the open palm it sounds like an emu. This decoy attracts the bird out of the bush making it an easy prey.

Native title

In late April 2021, the Federal Court of Australia convened at Evans Head, where a native title determination was made over 7.2 km2 of land, consisting of 52 separate areas of land. The application had been launched in 1996, and the first determination made in 2013. Included in the land is a bora ring of great cultural significance near Coraki.

Notable people

Citations

Sources