Ro, Cookies help us deliver our services. The men and boys who remained at the water-hole or creeL in the busl, as soon as the keerang left them, proceeded to wash the coloring matter off their bodies. When the grave, which was very neatly dug with the rudest implements, was considered to be of sufficient depth a man got into it and tried it by lying down at full length. At the given signal the men would dash into the water until up to their mid. endstream endobj 70 0 obj <> endobj 71 0 obj <>/Rotate 0/Type/Page>> endobj 72 0 obj <>stream He escaped the last spear at Cold Water Brush in sight of Underbank and safety. A few would be detailed as beaters, driving the mob towards the armed hunters hidden in the bushes. These pieces of bark about 9 inches or a foot long, and 2 or 3 inches wide, are cut off trees or saplings for the purpose. On perceiving these Billy flatly re- fused to accompany us. Scott identifies the mob at the North Shore of Port Stephens as Gringai, in an area Miller clearly identifies as Worrimi. The men stood behind beating boomerangs. These spirits were supposed to dwell in the bodies of the medicine men. and the only cessation was when all burst into screams of laughter. The number of aborigines in the District of Dungogfrom Clarence Town to Underbank is sixty-three ; viz., forty-six men and boys, fourteen women, and three children. The gins peeled the bark off the long straight limbs of the white myrtle and soak it in water holes till the brown skin came off. hb```f``f`a``cg@ ~+s\ N(7?qr[>fz The men and the [women] cut their heads with various implements, until blood flowed freely. Ceremonies in the Bush. Copyright for this website is owned by the State of New South Wales through the Department of Education. [11] As at 2009, the Wonnarua Nation Aboriginal Corporation (WNAC) had three arrangements in place under Native Title and was planning to develop more. Amongthe dense patchwork of open-cut coal mines in the New South Wales Hunter Valley sits a sandstone colonial homestead dating back to the early 1800s. The harden ing was, of course, done by fire later on. The body, nicely tied up in bark, was carried to it by friends of the deceased. This template also provides some clues as to where the . Mathews, R.H. 1897. Marsupials were in abundance among the ridges and on the flat lands; there were birds In the trees and on the swamps. It was amazing the quantity of food the toddlers could consume, and It was astonishing that it did them no harm. Wading through the complexities of the situation is now the responsibility of Ms Ley. They are generally listed as clan of the Worrimi people, though the Wonnarua Strategic Plan lists the Gringai of Gresford as Wonnarua. In this section, find out everything you need to know about visiting the Australian Museum, how to get here and the extraordinary exhibitions on display. My great-great-great grandmother belonged to the Gringai group of the Won- narua people. Nonprofit and free. The map was determined by overlaying an old parish map onto a topographic map. 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. Bark was then carefully placed over the body. Where the line was rolled the skin of the operative was hardened by the application of hot ashes, and in time be- came calloused, smooth, and as hard as dried leather. After the dances and games are over, one of the men sometimes sounds a goonandhakeea (excrement-eater) in the bush near the camp. Some had straight, long shafts tipped with pointed bone, either of fish or animal; others were pointed and barbed. 17.- half-caste lads are generally murdered always I believe. Finally the initiates were sent out into the bush, to prove their capabilities as hunters and men. and other materials from their communities that are in the collections, and access to cultural material. Here the final tragedy occurred; a stand was made by the blacks, but in vain. It focuses on nurturing the history and culture of the Wonnarua Nation, improving the health and education of its members and managing investments to sustain the Corporation's work. The blacks mistook the whip cracks for gun shots, and made tracks for safety. Many Wonnarua may be uncertain of their heritage and the Elders are keen to help their members trace their family lines. Bail steal em, master they protested vigorously, We only take it. This naive explanation was their manner of discrimi- nating between something taken with malicious intent, and something taken merely to gratify a fancy. The markings as those who have seen the figures of early-day blacks will know when finalised were quite a white and weird color. Their creation spirit is Baiami, also known as Koin, the creator of all things and the Keeper of the Valley. The stripping operation was carried out with an exact judgment, lines being cut cross- wise with a tomahawk around and across the tree so that the section removed would be of the required size and shape. 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. By scratches on the bark and other signs not comprehensible to a white person, they would select the forest giant in which the little animal had made his home. The soldiers came by boat via Newcastle and landing at Clarence Town marched in search of the tribe of blacks. These weapons were usually made of wood from the wild myrtle, hardened, like all their other wooden implements, by fire. The fire-making sticks they used were usually parts of the dried stem of the grass-tree (pummirri). This left a white, flax- like fibre, very tough and strong. Most of these womerahs were highly polished by fat and ashes rubbed into them. 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 foreshores were covered with oysters, which formed a staple part of the diet. . The Gloucester Advocate (NSW : 1905 - 1954) Tuesday 7 March 1939 p 4 Old Days and Blacks. like shoulder-belts. Then he came forward to the fire no one speaking to him, nor apparently looking at him. Other traditional plant foods include the bulbs of many orchids and the starch from the crown of tree ferns and the starch from stinging tree roots being roasted to make bread. It was the biggest collection of blacks ever seen in the district. . In my days they had progressed beyond the stage when they used the old stone tool, The tomahawk of the early days was a good deal different from the one in common use now. These were sacred to the owner. Its history could impactthe future of mining in the valley. Leaves are then thickly strewn on this bark, forming a kind of couch, and when the painting of the novices is completed, they are led into the ring and placed sitting down in a row on the couch of leaves - the novices belonging to each tribe being put in a group by themselves on that side of the ring which faces their own country. English thesaurus is mainly derived from The Integral Dictionary (TID). The spirit of Kawal is embodied in the wedge tailed eagle, found throughout the Hunter Valley. In times of wet weather when long continued rain (Kueywon) made everyone and everything miserable and gloomy, the old men of the tribe would perform a remark- able ceremony to ensure a recurrence of fine weather. Dungog Chronicle : Durham and Gloucester Advertiser (NSW : 1894 - 1954) Fri 18 Mar 1927 Page 5 Early Days Of Port Stephens. Ironically, it is directly above Baime cave where Europeans first viewed the Upper Hunter, led from Sydney by a tracker from the Wonnarua tribe. The fear that this race inspired in the natives of localities adjoining their boundaries reached as far as Dungog, and twenty years ago when Brandy was the last of his tribe in the district he would often mention with apparently genuine fear, the possibility of a raid by the wild blacks from the west. The illustration above, Broken Bay [Hawkesbury RIver]Jemmy. In the early days of the settlement they had not come into very close contact with civilisation and he speaks of them as refusing to eat bread when it was offered to them. There followed a quiet space for a little time when suddenly the men returned ( with loud triumphal cries, having in their midst the boys they had supposedly sought. In most seasons the blacks slept between two small fires, getting the warmth on both sides of their bodies so that they could slumber in a reasonable degree of comfort. Long Tommys [wife] picked up a fire stick and flattened Flash Tommy out. A few of the old men remain standing near them, armed with spears, to see that the covering is not interfered with. People sometimes refer to family trees as genealogical trees. In referring to the Manning River blacks he mentions two . To dig his grave a spade was borrowed from us, and the excavation was made on the foreshores, a few yards above high- water mark. Many years later Enright (1937-40:91) wrote of having been given a grinding stone which had been found on the bank of the creek at Milgarra, near Bunnan. These were obtained by all the neighboring tribes in the vicinity of one of the most beautiful spots on the Manning waters, namely, Gummi Plain. . The fire-maker would squat himself on the ground, the soles of his feet on the larger length of wood to hold it firm, the thinner section between the palms of his hands, its tapered point on the. to the new mob also started from where they had been sitting down, as soon as their men started for the goonambang, and proceeded direct to the main camp, where they joined the women of the hosts. The recorded history of the Wonnarua begins in the early nineteenth century when the Europeans settled. The massacre at Kiripit occurred in 35, and resulted in the death of five of Mackenzies convict shepherds. the slightly curved weapon, utilised for striking down game of all descriptions, and the sharply curved var- iety which would return to the thrower. Naturally there was someone or other among them who had a striking physical peculiarity, either an over-emphasised feature, a deformity, a trick of gait or speech common to himself. The Wonnarua people (/hwnrjur/), a group of indigenous people of Australia, are those Australian Aborigines that were united by a common language, strong ties of kinship and survived as skilled hunterfishergatherers in family groups or clans scattered along the inland area of what is now known as the Upper Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia. By this time the keerang have reached the clear space at the keelaybang, where they throw down their bushes and spread out in a line in front of the novices, and jump about, swaying their arms, after which they retire to one end of the camp. Sir I feel called on, and do myself the honor, to state to you for the informa- tion of His Excellency the Governor, that there are now residing on the Manning River upwards of 400 persons without protection or instruction of any kind, governed solely by lynch law. If some of the men have remained in the camp all day, they also will proceed to the goonambang and meet the others there. In 1999 the Wonnarua Nation Aboriginal Corporation acquired the site of the former St Clair Mission where their forebears lived. 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. Hall and Mr. Darch followed them soon after, the whole party intending to go on to Gloucester to-night, as soon as the moon rises. The Blacks of Dungog, Port Stephens and Gresford. "We don't have a connection to this homestead or to this area at all," he said. No longer would they eat the female species of game, or collect fruits and yams or even eat with the women. Social - dances, association meetings and gatherings, visitors, and general gossip columns. Instinct and. Never once In all my life at Carrington did I ever see a [child] slapped or chastised, and the younger fry could be mischievous and very trying on occasions. That, so far as I can recollect, concluded that particular ceremony. They did not do much work, but would catch fish or get game for a bit of nulli (bread). The section of the tree intended to be used for the purpose was first shaped in the rough and then put In the sea water for a lengthy period until the sap had gone and the tissue toughened. The poisoning of Aboriginal people was known as the Harmony because in this way peace was supposed to be achieved. Throughout the Gringai country [there] were many [aboriginal cemeteries]. The prisoner being ordered to stand remanded, Mr. Nichols rose to state a circumstance regarding the unfortu- nate man which had come under his personal observation. grease. The fight then began. On arriving at the circle they walked once round it, and then entered it through the opening in its wall, the women at the same time going out of it by stepping over the embankment at the other end, where they remained as spectators. provided seeds suitable for grinding and baking into seed cakes (McBryde 1976:65), as may the kind of oat-grass seen by Cunningham (Joumal 7/5/1823 ) in the upper Goulburn Valley. Only in recent years has this historical fiction been properly analysed and now the Aboriginal Heritage Office a joint initiative of and funded by Manly, Warringah, Pittwater, North Sydney, Lane Cove, Willoughby, Ku-ring-gai and Ryde councils . Fires were always kept burning about the camp. The Tribal group I belong to are known as the Gringai Clan and are a part of the Wonnarua people in general. This cruel happening was not discovered by the boss for quite a time and when it was the man was sent to Newcastle, but it remains unknown what his fate was life was cheap then. Kneeling in the middle of his canoe, the mariner would dip deeply on one side and then half turn and dip on the other side. As soon as the bull-roarers commenced to sound, the men of the new mob entered the goonambang, and walked round, and then started towards the kackaroo in a meandering line, in single file carrying their boomerangs and other weapons with them. I often heard my father speak of the blacks fish traps but it was years after his death that I read Mary Gilmores book, and so I could not ask the questions I wanted to. On his return into the dock, the reverend interpreter stated, that the constable in charge of the prisoner had just been using him with unnecessary roughness ; upon which the constable (John Proctor) was interrogated from the bench, and he stated that the prisoner made an effort to free himself entirely from his clothes. So long as it wa s well warmed in the fire they would eat it with avidity. The Australian Museum respects and acknowledges the Gadigalpeople as the FirstPeoples and Traditional Custodians of the land andwaterways on which theMuseumstands. It was an oval- shaped piece of hardwood some two feet wide having a hand-grip on the back made of a length of vine affixed In holes made for the purpose. 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. Flash Tommy was almost killed and lay insensible for several days. Within the cleared space, and on one side of it was a crude wooden effigy, colored vividly with some red pigment, having a cross-piece for arms, and a striking head-dress of grass and bark similar to the pattern used by the blacks when stalking kangaroos. A beautiful clear, cold day. Turning my horse I rode quietly around the hill and up its side opposite from the camp. The women belonging. The Australian Museum now has links with Australian South Sea Islanders - ASSI (Port Jackson) - and decades of close links with Vanuatu, signified especially since its 1981 repatriation of the large now-famous Efate Island slit drum given in recognition of 1980 Independence. This mighty unknown was not in any way associated with such natural phenomena as thunder or light- ning, nor did he seem to have any particular dwelling place. Nothing would be said to the women about these proceedings until the time arrived for making a start for the place of meeting. On the 30th last I discov- ered in the bush opposite iny residence, three head of Mr Myles cattle speared. pare the lines. A complete guide to the Duttons, from 1883 to Yellowstone. The clean, white bark was then split into string, and crocheted into dilly bags and such. Some language documentation may also record words and meanings inaccurately. The latter, on receiving this token of their concurrence, then selects a suitable plan in some part of his own territory where game is sufficiently plentiful to afford food for his visitors, and there he commences to prepare the ground. In some parts of the tract of country to which the ceremonies herein described apply, one of the front incisor teeth was formerly extracted during the time the novices were away at the keelaybang, but as this custom is not now enforced anywhere From conversations which I have had with very old black fellows, there appear to be some grounds for supposing that the custom was not universally carried out in the districts referred to. Then they advance a few paces, and stamp one foot on the ground, and the hosts answer heh! This website may contain names, images and voices of deceased Aboriginal and TorresStrait Islanderpeoples. We actively repatriate material from our collections to Indigenous cultural centres and keeping places, and collaborate directly with communities to return significant cultural objects and ancestral remains to their places of origin. As the neophytes are held. The Wonnarua people are the traditional land owners of the Maitland area and their lands extend throughout the Hunter Valley. For most people, when they see a family tree chart, all they see are interesting pieces of history to help them learn about where someone came from. The body of a man belonging to a strong family and with a big following would doubled up, heels to hips and face to knees, and the arms folded. Attention: This site does not support the current version of your web browser. The Earliest Inhabitants - Aboriginal Tribes of the District. In regard to elopements, if a man and woman, Figure 7: Map of The Hunter Valley Kooris - reproduced from James Millers A Will to Win. While the covering is being placed over the women, a man runs away to the goolambang and tells the men there that everything is ready. When these leaves get dry, it will be considered about time to bring the boys back to the Kweealbang. James Miller, the author of Koori: A Will to Win, writes an ancestor was from Eccleston, and regards himself as Wonnarua. established a heifer station at Bakers Creek, twelve miles north-east of Gloucester, now known as Upper Ghangat. Having gone round in this manner two or three times, the men and women come out, and the white mob keep closing in nearer and nearer the fire - the guardians and novices being in the centre. Almost every evening one of the tribes present gets up a corroboree for the amusement of the others. The settlers of Port Stephens, reinforced by the small body of time expired soldiers, retained by the A.A. Coy, proceeded direct to the scene.. . The same noise and blowing was repeated upon lowering the remains into the arms of his brother, who received them, and carefully placed it in what lie considered the most comfortable position, being most careful not a particle of earth should touch the body. Before doing so, however, I peered into it and saw only a piece of rock crystal. William Manton, of Karuah, informed us that Kattang with a different twang was spoken at Dungog. No one worried about a Coronial inquiry in those days. A small collection from a cultural giant, discover the objects from China held in the Australian Museum's World Cultural Collection. The Wonnarua had some idea of a Great Spirit, but what the idea was my informant does not know. The A. All along, one side of this top rail, reaching from it to the ground, bark and bushes are. This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced. When the men are approaching each tree they throw pieces of stick at it, and dance round it on the clear space referred to, rubbing their hands upon the tree and telling the boys to take particular notice of the marks upon it. This was all their bodily protection against the elements, and their fullest concession to the conventions im- posed by the white people about. For instance, a party of us were preparing to go fishing in Fame Cove under the guidance of Billy Steward, a man who had once been steward on a boat. The Wonnarua people, otherwise written Wanarruwa, are a group of Aboriginal Australian people united by strong ties of kinship, and who survived in family groups or clans scattered along the inland area of what is now known as the Upper Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia. The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842) Tue 12 Aug 1834 Page 2 SUPREME CRIMINAL COURT. Daily Performances at the Main Camp.- Every day the men go out hunting,, and meet each other in the evening an hour or so before sundown at the goonambang. If it is intended to erect the camp only a little way off, the pole is short; but if the new camp is some distance away, the pole is long. 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