The tribe had no special leader or chief during my memory of them, the older. The Wonnarua, Wanaruah people have occupied the Upper Hunter for at least 30,000 years, with traditional knowledge holding that occupation extends back to the early stages of the Dreaming. The Valley was always there. At Port Stephens there were two varieties in general use. The form of the grave was oval, and its depth when finished short of four feet. As they were fairly plentiful in the bush they were often on the menu. This activity was to keep them from being aware that their boys were being taken stealthily from the kackaroo to the goonambang. The language spoken around Newcastle and Lake Macquarie called by the aborigines Awaaba was much the same, and the whole language was named Kurring-gai by some, and Awaabakal by others. They approach the camp in the same manner, carrying, bushes and imitating the native dog, like the previous mob, and the novices are brought out to see them in the same way. Throughout the Gringai country [there] were many [aboriginal cemeteries]. These were sacred to the owner. The recorded history of the Wonnarua begins in the early nineteenth century when the Europeans settled. [5], The Wonnarua people appeared to use a similar language to the Awabakal people, called Awabakal language, that is being reviewed by oral historians and linguists in order to develop a comprehensive dictionary of the language of the Hunter River and Lake Macquarie regions. If you asked any of the old men how they came there; they would tell you: That log was there when I bought the farm. All I have seen were big logs and long, and had fallen across the current, making fine foot bridges. Two fled south, one of whom (an elderly man) was overtaken early in the pursuit; the other a man named Green traversed the wild mountain[s] .. of the Upper Gloucester, Monkerai, Wangat and Chichester Rivers, resting only to fly again from the sounds of his relentless dusky pursuers. The principal piece would be about two feet In length and about half-an-inch In diameter, from the front of which would be removed a narrow strip of the outer shell exposing the hardened pith. 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. 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. hVmo:iNK$ ]z!C;IL}s,9,.EbxX08,vp1 X3?,XcB1#]S;4=>|e~wqbI? We must remember that the majority of these men were convicts and assigned as servants to the settlers or squatters, as they were more generally termed, Some of these assigned men were undoubtedly of a very depraved nature, . Attention: This site does not support the current version of your web browser. It was there in the Dreaming, though mountains, trees, animals and people were not yet formed. Family trees often span a few generations or even several generations. 1. 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 tubers varied in thickness from an inch to an Inch-and-a-half, and were a few inches in length. In a hollow fork I discovered one of these mystery bags. There were formerly several marked trees, around the goonambang, but they have all been burnt down and destroyed by bushfires. Messrs. Donelan and Jenkin set off to ride across to Williams River to see if any of the mounted police were there to assist in scouring the country. There were also other hieroglyphics. | He escaped the last spear at Cold Water Brush in sight of Underbank and safety. What this Initiatory preparation was I never learned, for the boys maintained a strict silence on the subject. . A census taken by Dr. McKinlay in the early [1830s] showed that there were about 250 blacks in the valley of the Williams. There was one over the river near the beginning of Fosterton Road. It was amazing the speed at which these seemingly cumbersome craft could be driven through the water by their owners, their lightness and shallow draught having a good deal to do with this. All the articles of the deceased were buried with him, and every[one] contributed something to the collection. 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. This website may contain names, images and voices of deceased Aboriginal and TorresStrait Islanderpeoples. The waters of the bay teemed with fish of every description, easily taken at all times. A relic of those wild old days was Broken-backed Tommy. Tommy had survived the morning of the flight when Bagdells party drove him and his panicstricken comrades over the cliff on Mount Mackenzie, and he narrowly escaped death again when years afterwards, the erstwhile fugitive Green recognised and attacked him in the old Kitchen at Underbank. By using our services, you agree to our use of cookies. It is popularly known as the Baiame Cave and is part of a series of rock shelters on an area of 80 hectares. 02 6571 1199, email Monday, 10th June. Get XML access to fix the meaning of your metadata. Dungog Chronicle : Durham and Gloucester Advertiser (NSW : 1894 - 1954) Tuesday 2 May 1922 p 3 CONFLICTS WITH THE NATIVES. One man, Green, escaped to Underbank after a flight of over 25 miles; the last spear was thrown almost in sight of Underbank House. Here the two tribes met and fought. Some time ago I despatched two of the Mounted Police to put in force a warrant issued by Mr G. Rowley, J.P, against three black fellows who assaulted and beat a man in charge of sheep who endeavoured to protect his masters property ; but these sable thieves being apprised of the troopers approach collected to the number of thirty or forty, and having amongst them at least a dozen muskets and plenty of ammunition, which the settlers most improperly [supplied them], they resisted and the soldiers were fain to retreat, which they did with much difficulty, not until several shots were exchanged, the troopers cartridge box wrenched from his person, and his arm wounded with a tomahawk. The Gringai had a great dread of thunder and believed it to be the demonstration of the anger of some supernatural being rebuking them for some impropriety. Visitors to this website should be aware that some materials may use language that is offensive or sensitive. Various articles by Gordon Bennett, chiefly in the Dungog Chronicle (GB). James Miller, the author of Koori: A Will to Win, writes an ancestor was from Eccleston, and regards himself as Wonnarua. - 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. The Earliest Inhabitants - Aboriginal Tribes of the District. An implement greatly In use was the tomahawk. << /Length 5 0 R /Filter /FlateDecode >> It was marvellous how swiftly the blacks could climb by means of these tiny notches literally swarming up the smooth tall trunk. To signify the religious importance, the initiates were given rock crystals warmed in an open fire and told that these were the excrement of the great spirit Goign (hence the meaning of goonambangthe place of excrement). It is possible that this was the party of twenty six soldiers under Captain Reynolds mentioned by Gordon Bennett and probably one of the grim expeditions of extermination mentioned but not described by him. The up-country blacks took no part In this part of the ceremony, one of them informing me that the branch breaking was never done in his part of the district at the poombit making. After a great deal of fuss the men announced that they would make an- other attempt to find the poomblts, and to the accompaniment of clashing spears and hoarse shoutings, dashed out into the screen of bushes again. When these two men get close to the goonambang they gently hit the boomerangs which they carry in their hands against those in their belts, and the hosts answer, huk! They were in groups here and there in a little valley. Genealogical Society of Utah (now FamilySearch) ca. That night they camp in sight of the mens quarters, and each succeeding night they come a little closer, until at last they get right into the single mens camp. The company has spent more than$15 million formulating plans for the project, which includemoving the homestead to a nearby farm, or the town of Broke, 35km away. There was a bora ring on the property of the late Justin Bruyn, on Sugarloaf, and was situated on what was known as Bora ridge. Naturally they avoided as much as possible the necessity of going through this process. The native name for the Williams was Durabang; the Paterson River, Yimmang. Its history could impactthe future of mining in the valley. 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. of the same class ran off together they were punished by death if captured.A man was not permitted to speak to his wifes mother and could only do so through a third party. 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. The next morning the women proceed again to the kweealbang and light a fire. During the early part of each day, the men go out hunting, and bring home the results of the chase, consisting of kangaroos, iguanas, birds, and other game, as well as wild honey. The clean, white bark was then split into string, and crocheted into dilly bags and such. The strangling net was then unwound, and if the victim was not already dead he would be a ghost inside twenty-four hours. Figure 8: A sketch of a bora ground near Gloucester, showing the position of the two rings 18 chains or 362 metres apart. All the things were placed at the dead mans head, and the grave was then filled in. 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. Those who escaped the bullet were killed by falling over the cliffs and being smashed on the rocks below thus, was the whole tribe of blacks with one or two exceptions which inhabited this part of the district exterminated. Th e nullah nullah was another weapon in the same category as the wattle, but of different shape. 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. To make squares disappear and save space for other squares you have to assemble English words (left, right, up, down) from the falling squares. Muh! (Now!) It was made of a flat piece of wood, a few inches in length, in which two holes were bored. 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wonnarua family tree