There was one over the river near the beginning of Fosterton Road. 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 congestion, the Insanitary conditions that obtained, and an entire lack of appreciation of the necessity for isolation caused the disease to spread with disturbing rapidity. In the Wonnarua dreamtime the Hunter Valley was created by the great spirit, Baime (Byamee). The men beleaguered in the hut were driven to dire straits, and as a last resource mixed arsenic in dampers and placed them where the natives had easy access to them. Then they would begin on their own account. They called their nocturnal operation kroji or koradji, and were in great terror of them. 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". 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 recorded history of the Wonnarua begins in the early nineteenth century when the Europeans settled. 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. The Wonnarua Language & Culture Archive is owned and managed by the Wonnarua Nation Aboriginal Corporation (WNAC), and it has been created for educational purposes. The PCWP has askedfederal Environment Minister Sussan Ley to use Aboriginal heritage laws to protect the countryside around Ravensworth from further mining. up in the smoke, the men raise a guttural shout, and the women wave their arms up and down. Fish, as a general term, was muckeroo. Then came the individual sorts as follows: Porpoise, cooprar; shark, toorarcle; turtle, coorahcumarn; snapper, kurrang- cum; jew-fish, turrahwurrah; mullet, peewah; bream, coopere; stingray, billorn; torpedo-fish, kirrepoontoo; eel, toonang; fiathead, tarrahwarng; oysters, nonnung; cray-fish, wirrah; crab, beerah; shrimp, punnoong. Any use of the language materials, and historical records, should be done in consultation with the WNAC. Included in the WNAC agreements are health, education, employment and welfare benefits to flow from mining rights grants to Centennial Coal, Ashton Mine, and from Newcastle Coal. However, it did not tally with what I had seen elsewhere, or had been told by natives whose confidence I had won. The first recipient never troubled about being deprived of possession, and enjoyed more the uses to which It was put by his friends. Derby is a King and speaks English well. These fire-brands, renewed as often as necessary. The [shelters were] merely a few sheets of bark placed against a convenient log, or bushes roughly planted alongside some huge forest giant. Choose the design that fits your site. Robert Syron, The Kabook and Watoo People of the Gringai Barrington River Gloucester, NSW https://goo.gl/MfqAYm (SYR). Visitors to this website should be aware that some materials may use language that is offensive or sensitive. These men were not allowed possession of fire arms. long, having at the narrow end another piece of hardwood, about. The spot where the fire had seen being now cool, the embers and ashes were levelled and boughs were brought and disposed of in the middle of the circle. The Australian Museum respects and acknowledges the Gadigalpeople as the FirstPeoples and Traditional Custodians of the land andwaterways on which theMuseumstands. . The Wonnarua people's traditional lands are located in the Hunter Valley area of New South Wales. The bushes which had previously been laid round the fire are now thrown upon it. Charms were worn round the neck and consisted of shells, seeds, pieces of quartz, etc. The ironbark (teekurah), was mostly favored for making them. They [the Gringai] are afraid of Coen, an evil spirit of the woods, which they say crammer (steals) them when they are nangry (asleep). These are excerpts from publicly available documents, mostly from the 1800s and early 1900s relating to the Gringai, giving an indication of their customs and way of life. In some other tribes there are series of sub-branches identified distinctively with their animal or bird totem, these groups being subject to rigid rules as re-gards inter-marriage, food taboos, and other things. Responsibility . There was, I knew, another and more pregnant reason that no one would disclose. In a hollow fork I discovered one of these mystery bags. Some of the game caught during the day is cooked for the novices, the bones and sinews being taken out of it, and the pieces cut small, so that they may not be able to distinguish what animals flesh is being given to them. At Port Stephens, where the tribe numbered in the vicinity of a hundred persons, men, women and children, two totems did duty for the community. Gordon Bennett (reprinted 1964) p6-7. The business of fishing was per- haps the most important of all to the natives. 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. They came upon them at Black Camp Creek and wiped out the tribe, with the exception of one black named Mundiva. The corpse was neatly encased in a sheet of bark (paper-bark) stripped from the giant tl-tree (Melaleuca) and bound with vines from the scrub. When the prongs were properly fashioned and barbed, the head would be fitted to the shaft with fibre cord and gum from the grass tree. I set out, accompanied by Messrs. Donelan, Stacy and Jenkin to Lawlers, and found Delaney very weak from loss of blood, having been speared in both arms completely through one the spear having touched his side. As in fact they did at Wattenbakh, on the Barrington River, where they killed seven of the shepherds. Long Tommys [wife] picked up a fire stick and flattened Flash Tommy out. The blacks had an uneering instinct for spot- ting a tree that harbored a possum. It is today difficult to ascertain what actually happened at the climax of the ceremony, but the spiritual experience was to be impregnated in the memories of these young boys until their final return to the spirit world. Ironically, it is directly above Baime cave where Europeans first viewed the Upper Hunter, led from Sydney by a tracker from the Wonnarua tribe. This smaller section was held in place by a binding of fibre and grass-tree gum. 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. hbbd``b`$AC $ IuK`R"sDlqXLW@z%3.` /1 She was Indeed a wonderfully lucky fisher. Old Mr. Collier, the school teacher, asked the blacks to permit the school boys to see the ceremony. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Collection. The black warriors lay down and died all around. The bull-roarers are then given into the hands of the novices, who touch their bodies with them. Lettris When going to the creek for water they were careful to look in some other direction. About this fire, and in lines radiating from the centre like spokes of a wheel, were a number of naked blacks, their heads bowed to the earth. The tributary mentioned is Dog Trap Creek. The word Guringai/Gringai has no connection to the Aborigines of northern Sydney. They then march on quickly, and on arriving at the kweealbang they disband, the men and novices belonging to each tribe taking up their position on the side which is in the direction of their country. Most of the older hands in Dungog can remember the old aboriginal cemetery near Mr William Abbots home at Violet Hill and at the rear of the Rectory. Then the mothers go back to their own quarters, and the novices are taken by their guardians a short distance away, where they make a camp. Further Notes on the Worimi By W. J. Scott identifies the mob at the North Shore of Port Stephens as Gringai, in an area Miller clearly identifies as Worrimi. What was the nature of this preliminary induction I was never able to learn, But their period of probation must have been a trying one indeed. Take em feathers out. When the offending plume was removed Billy was immediately placated and was ready to start. I think 1838 would be nearer the mark. or wattles as the blacks at Port Stephens called them, wer e very neatly fashioned and per- fectly balanced. There were a few aboriginals about in those times. They were fond, too, of pets, for the place was always alive with parrots, bears, opossums, squirrels, kangaroo rats and bandicoots that had been caught in the bush and tamed to the domesticity of camplife. Some language documentation may also record words and meanings inaccurately. There was a big fire and round it were seated the [women] who were beating possum skins stretched tight across their knees. The headmen now ask the women to come up close, and the mother of each boy sits on the ground just outside the ring, near her son; his sisters and relatives are a little farther off, and the other women and children outside of the last named. 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 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. In travelling from place to place a fire-stick was always carried, the brand being whirled and twisted so that it would not go out. The rough, outside bark, the exterior of the canoe, would be care fully trimmed away with the blade of a tomahawk until the surface was smooth and clean. This being done, the whole force of the assembled tribes came up, running, shouting, and striking their shields with their clubs, and using a roarer which produced the most fearful and unnatural sounds. The Melanesian cultural area is the nearest neighbour of Australian and the museum holds a significant collection of cultural material from Melanesian nations. Birds and fish, however, were cooked by being plastered with mud and placed amid hot coals or in a hole packed with heated stones. 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. The A. Many of those who remained in contact with European settlement died of disease. At the keelaybang a camp is formed by erecting a long, continuous gunyah or mia-mia in the following manner. At Port Stephens there were two varieties in general use. 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. The Wonnarua Nation Aboriginal Corporation (WNAC) was established in 1999 and represents the Wonnarua people, the traditional land owners of the Hunter Valley of New South Wales (NSW). 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. If a wanton slayer of the [womens] sacred bird were detected in his crime, the women would give way to outbursts of furious passion. Their creation spirit is Baiami, also known as Koin, the creator of all things and the Keeper of the Valley. 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. FamilySearch Terms of Use (Updated 2021-09-27), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Wonnarua people's traditional lands are located in the Hunter Valley area of New South Wales. The spirit of Kawal is embodied in the wedge tailed eagle, found throughout the Hunter Valley. The English word games are: 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". No doubt the Idea was that the fire would dry up the teeming heavens, and the artificial gusts from their mouths blow the storms away At Port Stephens it was the custom, when some of the boys had reached that stage of adolescence that their admission to the full privileges and prerogatives of the adult men of the tribe was deemed advisable by the older wiseacres, to segregate them for preparation for the ceremonies. The blacks had a story of it being a young [woman] running away from her husband to another black fellow, when by some magic she was turned into a stone like Lots wife. The Reverend L. E. Threlkeld was sworn interpreter between the Court and the prisoner at the bar. sunrise, one of the headmen pretends to see a large brown squirrel [possum] going into a hole in a tree growing near the camp, and asks one of the men to catch it. Dont interfere with them ! The novices are told that the noise they hear is the voice of Goign, who would come and eat them if he got the chance. Find out more, an offensive content(racist, pornographic, injurious, etc. 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, . Here the mothers and sisters of the novices assemble every day for the purpose of singing and dancing, and on these occasions the mothers carry the yamsticks, ornamented with bunches of leaves tied on their ends, already referred to. 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 the novices have got about 50 or 100 yards from the kackaroo, two men who were in readiness, one on each side of the ring, commence loudly sounding their bull-roarers. Thank you for reading. According to the Eather Family, the Bora ceremony was not held on the Meerea property but at another nearby location. They went into the water-hole one after the other, and came out in the same way. 1844, my father, John Scott, being employed in a secretarial capacity at Carrington by the Australian Agricultural Company. 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. The mothers are painted on the chest and arms, and are invested with their personal adornments. The Grengai tribe were possessed of a wonderful marriage law, which prevented relations from marrying, and this law extends to Queensland. 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. Before Baime there was nothing, everything was sleeping. Their pronunciation was confusing to the early white settlers, hence many words were corrupted. On riding about I noticed a large gum-tree deeply carved with hieroglyphics, which I was informed was a record for future generations that a bumbat had been celebrated. 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. The Blacks of Dungog, Port Stephens and Gresford. This would be chip- ped and shaved with extreme care until the desired curve had been ob- tained, when the finishing touches would be put on it with scrapers made of shells or glass. The old men stretched themselves out on the ground and howled dreadfully. 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. The branch of the tribe inhabiting the Cape Hawke district and those located along the Barrington River valley early evinced decided hostility towards the incom- ing settlers, with whom the Cape Hawke [Forster] natives came into open conflict at Waterloo [just north of Bunyah] on the Upper Wallamba resulting in a bloodless victory for the natives. All the things were placed at the dead mans head, and the grave was then filled in. The men seem to have been attacked singly and in open daylight. It may have had some- thing to do with the mystery bags that formed part of the equipment of the adults. Their creation spirit is Baiami, also known as Koin, is the creator of all things and the Keeper of the Valley. Fame Cove was taboo after the sun had fallen, and no native would linger in that vicinity when the shadows began to lengthen. Capt. (By WIRRAPIT). I have mentioned that the blacks were ver y accurate in the use of the spear, being able to hurl this weapon for remarkably long distances. On the eventful morning I went to the place indicated, where I found about two hundred of the tribesmen differently, but tastefully, painted in red, white, and yellow, and armed to the teeth. By Lauren Hubbard Published: Feb 27, 2023. Until the Great Sky Spirit Baiame opened his eyes'. . [8], A range of alternate names for the Wonnarua people are Wanaruah, Wanaruwa, Wonnuaruah, Wannerawa, Wonarura, and Wonnahare. This left a white, flax- like fibre, very tough and strong. To the blacks the name became an anathema; knew them no more (sic). The Wonnarua. It was really a land of plenty. Come and explore what our researchers, curators and education programs have to offer. Open Microsoft Word, click then insert menu and then choose SmartArt graphics. 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. For more information go to http://www.dec.nsw.gov.au/footer/copyright. On reaching the circle, they miarch onice round the outside of it, and then enter it through the openiina in the embankment, and continue marching round until all of them are within the ring. These logs were generally supposed to have been left by floods, but I never felt satisfied, for they were mostly about the same distance apart. Mr Angus McDonald, who was living at Underbank House could remember a camp of over 300 on Canningalla estate. 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. 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