Enter the name of family members in the editing box. By Lauren Hubbard Published: Feb 27, 2023. The men invariably carried their tomahawks In their belts, and a piece of grass- tree gum, which latter seemed to be an indispensable part of their equipment This exudation of the pummirri had so many uses that no blackfellow could be without his supply ready at hand. or wattles as the blacks at Port Stephens called them, wer e very neatly fashioned and per- fectly balanced. 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. A canoe-shaped vessel of bark a couple of feet long, was half filled with water and placed near him. Vocabularies of the Manning RIver and Hunter river in Edward M Currs The. But men were callous, and life was cheap in those far off days, and tradition tells a yet weirder tale of a blood bounty at half a crown per head.. and direct savage attacks at the offender, beating him with their sticks until he was glad to fly m precipitate confusion, offering no retaliation or resistance No definite conception of an existence after death appeared to exist among the members of the tribe. University of Newcastle history professor Lyndall Ryan, who has spent almost a decade cataloguing colonial frontier massacres for an online map, found evidence of a massacre further up the Hunter Valley, but not near the Ravensworth homestead. Examination of Rodwell continuedit was not more than a minute after we came up to their camp, that the blacks threw their spears, and boomarings at us; they attacked us without any provocation on our part; after they threw their spears, four or five shots were fired from our party; I fired, and the deceased fired also I think at the man who wounded him ; the blacks still continued to throw their spears at us after they had wounded the deceased; Flynn pulled out the spear first, then discharged his fowling piece, and followed the prisoner; the deceased called out to me that he had been speared, and pointed to the black who had speared him; I afterwards took off Flynns shirt, and examined the wound ; the wound bled very little; I did not think it a dangerous one; the deceased did not complain of much pain; he walked the first day after he had received the wound, I should think 13 or 14 miles; on the next day he walked to the Courthouse at Williams River, which was about eight miles distance ; on the following morning he left the Courthouse to go to the General Hospital at Newcastle, but on the way I heard that he was taken ill, and conveyed by one of the drays of the Australian Agricultural Company to. They had a simple and quick method of their own, that used by their forefathers through centuries of time, one indeed common to savage peoples all over the world, the creating of a spark by the friction of two pieces of wood rubbed together. One escaped death there only to meet it a few hundred yards across the river, where he was caught by the pursuing foe. The keerang and other men who have remained in the camp then muster up all the women, and place them lying down round the fire, a little way outside the ring of bushes before referred to, the women of each tribe being kept in groups by themselves on the side next their own district, and are covered over with rugs and bushes. Monday, 10th June. He told those that were with him, to make the sign of peace with them which they did by waving the right hand over the head and then pointing to the ground. Can you list the top facts and stats about Wonnarua? Indeed the men would never discuss them at all. A. Cos men had sought shelter. 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. English thesaurus is mainly derived from The Integral Dictionary (TID). Clubs (cootarah) were also used, roughly fashioned from any suitable piece of timber. Glancing about I saw a strange aboriginal walking across a cleared space and approaching the camp. Always my requests to be informed what they contained or what they meant were met with blank refusals. On account of the novices hair being singed short, and the white paint on their bodies, the mothers are sometimes unable to recognise their own sons. Before doing so, however, I peered into it and saw only a piece of rock crystal. Fires were always kept burning about the camp. On the bank of the Kerripit almost in front of the homestead at Stobo lie the remains of these old-time shepherds. If he wants to micturate, the guardian leads him out to the fire, and he micturates in the ashes. Old Mr. Collier, the school teacher, asked the blacks to permit the school boys to see the ceremony. When all is ready, some of the old men who are assisting the women give a signal, and the gupardians and novices approach the kweealbang. The Wonnarua people's traditional lands are located in the Hunter Valley area of New South Wales. The Wonnarua also had trade and ceremonial links with the Kamilaroi people. The kangaroos that were to be taken back to the camp were usually thrust into the fire and half roasted. See if you can get into the grid Hall of Fame ! The illustration above, Broken Bay [Hawkesbury RIver]Jemmy. Company first established itself on the shores of the harbor. Their movements are made as noiselessly as possible, so that the women may not hear them coming. P.S. When the last spark of the fire had been extinguished and the last wreath of smoke had eddied into nothingness, the women were uncovered and the Port Stephens blacks, accompanied by the poombits, ran up the nearby trees like so many monkeys and began breaking small branches off the limbs. The blacks were often sent out to get bark, as they were excellent at the job. The boys then went through a strange and most symbolic ceremony. These men were employed as shepherds and whenever they got a chance practised almost unbelievable cruelties on the blacks, but stealing the black women was the most serious in the eyes of the aborigines. It was the biggest collection of blacks ever seen in the district. A newly releasedindependent heritage review commissioned by the NSW Department of Planning as part of its assessment for the mine extension determined the Ravensworth Estate was "likely to meet the threshold for state heritage significance for its historical heritage value". As everything relating to these ceremonies is kept very secret it is only hearsay. When they would emerge from the ordeal eventually, they would be haggard, thin and worn. Each singer seemed to be trying to outdo his neighbor in vociferation. It wrought great havoc, the mortality being exceedingly heavy. My father had been admitted as an honorary blood-brother of the tribe and was regarded by them with a sort of veneration. 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". Just as the t in tinko was turned into d in dingo so the t in Tugag became d, and the nasality of the final g being dropped the word became Dungag and Dungog. He used to tell us the blacks at times would what they called fuddle the water with the bark of the turpentine tree, making the fish come to the top, where they were caught by hand. The Blacks of Dungog, Port Stephens and Gresford. That night a white stone is given to each neophyte by some of the old men; it is put into a small bag, and is fastened to the boys girdle. In 1999 the Wonnarua Nation Aboriginal Corporation acquired the site of the former St Clair Mission where their forebears lived. 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 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. Marriages were arranged by the parents and kindred, and a wife was chosen from a neighboring tribe; for instance a man living at Gresford obtained a wife from the Hunter River. They immediately pack up all their movables, and start away some distance to another locality which has been previously decided upon by the headmen of the several tribes, and there they erect a new camp, being assisted in this work by some of the old men who have been directed to remain with them. water with eager eyes, would watch until the shoal came within striking distance. - As before stated, the novices are taken to the goon- ambang (excrement place), where they remain till the women and children have departed from the other circle, which would occupy half an hour, or perhaps longer. 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. All rights reserved. The Gloucester Advocate (NSW : 1905 - 1954) Tuesday 6 November 1923 p 1. 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. They were not over-particular about the thoroughness with which the delicacy was cooked. If it chanced the long white worms commonly found in bush animals, these would be swallowed with with rare gusto as the greatest delicacy of all. Australian Race 1887, pp350-359. Most English definitions are provided by WordNet . Everything was sleeping. For the latest information, searchABC Emergency, For the latestweather warnings in the Northern Territory, search onABC Emergency. These two massacres are said to have taken about two hundred lives and the natives were still being pursued towards the Upper Arundel from where they could escape into The Falls Country. Coola-benn, Native Chief of Ashe Island, Hunters RIver. A large public circle was carved into the flat ground. Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 26: 320-340. You'll want to decide what generation you want to start with. Baime also created Kawal (Ka-wal), to watch over the Wonnarua people. Sometimes, when a man was wracked with an internal spasm, he would have his wife pere-ally for him, an operation carried out in the following manner. They were always so covered while the fire dancing was on. They never smiled nor did they ever applaud. There are indications that yams (Dioscorea transversa) were eaten elsewhere on the coast (Scott l929:4l) and Backhouse (1843:399) noted that in the Raymond Terrace area, in the more fertile spots by the sides of brooks, there was a species of Yam, the root of which was eaten by the Aborigines. The keerang then march right through the line of men and boys, some going through at one place and some at another, the line opening to let them pass. As I have said before, life was a joke, and the more laughter they could crowd into it the merrier passed the days. So long as it wa s well warmed in the fire they would eat it with avidity. 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. The Aboriginal to-day pretends to know nothing but if full trust can be established it will be found that he does know. What struck him was the wonderful time they kept, and their singing at the end of every performance. This extended family group inhabited the country north of present day Gresford. Bring to life your familys history by exploring the lives of those that came before you. The women at the camp, on hearing this, assemble at the kackaroo, and begin to sing and beat their rugs, and some of them dance. Each square carries a letter. 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. Baime awoke and created everything, the mountains, plains, rivers and every living thing. Eather, and a description of the last combined Bora ceremony on the family property in 1852. The two men now separate, one going round one side, and one round the other, and again meet at the entrance of the goonambang, where they stand and dance, shaking their boughs and boomerangs for a brief period. With their children they were patient, affectionate and marvellously forbearing. an interpreter. The men stood behind beating boomerangs. Figure 12: The men and novices silently surround the women at the Kweealbang. In 1882, Maitland schoolteacher John Fraser wrote what he thought was an authoritative work on the Aborigines of NSW and used the word Gringai when referring to a group of Aborigines in the Dungog area but made no connection between that group and the Aborigines who lived in or around Sydney. The journey towards the kweealbang (fire place) is now resumed, all hands starting away from the water-hole in single file; and on going a short distance they are again met by the Keerang, who salute them in the same manner as before, and then return to the kweealbang, alnd report that the novices will shortly arrive. A. Co. had established an out cattle station at Upper Ganghut a heifer run, in charge of [which were a few of] their assigned servants. Another group, the Wanaruah Local Aboriginal Land Council, declined to be interviewed, but it wasunderstoodthe group believed evidence of a massacre on the site was inconclusive. . When the Wonnarua see the wedge tailed eagle, they know Kawal is looking over them, protecting them. Thus their visitor was put at his ease, and in a most tactful manner. The old men stretched themselves out on the ground and howled dreadfully. and the only cessation was when all burst into screams of laughter. The main camp of the natives who were present at the ceremonies was pitched in an open forest, on some gently sloping ground a few chains easterly from the left bank of a small watercourse, a tributary of the Allyn River, within Portion No. The Kabook and Watoo people of the Gringai clan of the Worimi Nation (The Cook family) have lived continually in the Barrington for over 189 years recorded by the first white settlers 1826, until the present Cook Family Descendants from the Kabook and Watoo people speak the Kattang (or Gathang) language and it has been recorded that they are the last of the true custodians and Clan within the boundaries of the Allyn and Williams river up stream to Gummi Falls on the Manning River known as Kummi Kummi (Place of many Crystal stones), Barrington Tops (Beann Beann), Rawdon Vale, Barrington, Gloucester up to the Manning river down to Cresford the Karuah River and the Bulliac Tugrabakh Bora Ground area, some 13km from Gloucester. The women twisted this fibre to the required thickness and length by rolling it on the front part of the thigh with the hands. (R`u'mnyp@=F`PftG; f0+v~qcBd;I{vs>;[ \LX[ 'uEq?~T-I3OQZEpY3q=SBNX_> $Cwo,L"V1*E 9FC%dS.J$y^,xg"z Cf`#?\%)K9*L=JE. Their creation spirit is Baiami, also known as Koin, the creator of all things and the Keeper of the Valley. Eleven blacks were killed and the child recovered. Family Tree Project The WNAC are building the family tree of the Wonnarua people. As a boy I got a great fright when working on the flat at Irwins, a lot of natives in war paint and carrying their arms came suddenly on me. They then throw down the boughs, and go away back to their comrades, who have remained at the place where they painted themselves, and all of them now approach the goonambang, lightly tapping their boomerangs together as they walk along, and on arriving at the ring they form a circle round it. Long Tommys [wife] picked up a fire stick and flattened Flash Tommy out. Afterwards the gift, whatever it was, never seemed to have any particular owner, for it would be free for all the tribe. A complete guide to the Duttons, from 1883 to Yellowstone. While the men procured meat from the chase, it was the particular function of the [women] to provide what represented the vegetables of the dally dietetic regimen. But a Wonnarua Indigenous group believes the project will cause the destruction of centuries of Aboriginal history. 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. By working the cords the wood was made to revolve rapidly, giving out the noise that gladdened their young hearts. 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. 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