The Bundjalung people, also spelt Bunjalung, Badjalang and Bandjalang, are

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait ...

who are the original custodians of the northern coastal area of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia, located approximately northeast of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

, an area that includes the

Bundjalung National Park The Bundjalung National Park is a national park located on the north coast of New South Wales, Australia, north-east of Sydney. It protects an area of coastal plain, heathland and solitary beaches between the towns of Iluka and Evans Head. ...

. Bundjalung people all share descent from ancestors who once spoke as their first, preferred language one or more of the dialects of the Lower-Richmond branch of the Yugambeh- Bundjalung language family. The Arakwal of Byron Bay count themselves as one of the Bundjalung peoples.

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 Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most culture ...

into four classes: (a) masculine (b) feminine (c)

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally, but others are exclusively arboreal. The habitats pose nu ...

and (d) neuter.

Country

According to

Norman Tindale Norman Barnett Tindale AO (12 October 1900 – 19 November 1993) was an Australian anthropologist, archaeologist, entomologist and ethnologist. Life Tindale was born in Perth, Western Australia in 1900. His family moved to Tokyo and lived ther ...

, Bundjalung tribal lands encompassed roughly , from the northern side of the Clarence River to the

Richmond River The Richmond River is a river situated in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. Course and features The river rises at the northern end of the Richmond Range, near its junction with the McPherson Range, on the Queensl ...

, including Ballina with their inland extension running to Tabulam and Baryugil. The coastal Widje

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, mea ...

ventured no further than Rappville.

Alternative names

According to

, various spellings and other names were used for the Bundjalung people: * ''Badjelang'' (''paidjal/badjal'' means "man") * ''Bandjalang, Bandjalong'' * ''Budulung'' * ''Buggul'' * ''Bundela, Bundel'' * ''Bunjellung'' * ''Paikalyung, Paikalyug'' * ''Watchee'' * ''Widje'' (clan or clans at Evans Head) * ''Woomargou''

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 The bullroarer, ''rhombus'', or ''turndun'', is an ancient ritual musical instrument and a device historically used for communicating over great distances. It consists of a piece of wood attached to a string, which when swung in a large circle ...

(''dhalguñgwn'') is whirled.

Musical instruments

The Bundjalung used a variety of instruments, including blowing on a

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as ...

leaf, creating a bird-like sound.

Clapsticks Clapsticks, also spelt clap sticks and also known as bilma, bimli, clappers, musicstick or just stick, are a traditional Australian Aboriginal instrument. They serve to maintain rhythm in voice chants, often as part of an Aboriginal ceremo ...

were used to establish a drumbeat rhythm on ceremonial dancing occasions. Emu callers (short

didgeridoo The didgeridoo (; also spelt didjeridu, among other variants) is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous Drone (music), drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgeridoo wa ...

s about 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 The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court of record which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indic ...

convened at

Evans Head Evans Head is a town in Richmond Valley Council of the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. At the 2016 census, Evans Head had a population of 2,843 people. It is 726 kilometres north of Sydney, and 11 kilometres east off the ...

, where a

native title Aboriginal title is a common law doctrine that the land rights of indigenous peoples to customary tenure persist after the assumption of sovereignty under settler colonialism. The requirements of proof for the recognition of aboriginal title, ...

determination was made over 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 Bora is an initiation ceremony of the Aboriginal people of Eastern Australia. The word "bora" also refers to the site on which the initiation is performed. At such a site, boys, having reached puberty, achieve the status of men. The initiation c ...

of great cultural significance near Coraki.

Notable people

* Troy Cassar-Daley, country singer, winner of

ARIA In music, an aria ( Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompa ...

and Deadly awards, among others *

Melissa Lucashenko Melissa Lucashenko is an Indigenous Australian writer of adult literary fiction and literary non-fiction, who has also written novels for teenagers. In 2013 at The Walkley Awards, she won the "Feature Writing Long (over 4000 words) Award" f ...

, author, winner of 2013 Walkley Award for non-fiction and 2019

Miles Franklin Award The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases". The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin (1879–1 ...

* Madeleine and

Miah Madden Miah Grace Madden is an Australian actress and presenter. Early life and education Miah Grace Madden is from Rose Bay, New South Wales, Rose Bay, a suburb east of Sydney. She is the daughter of Lee Madden, who was a Gadigal man with some Bund ...

, actresses, half-sisters with Bundjalung heritage through their father * Lambert McBride, activist for Aboriginal citizenship rights during the 1960s * Digby Moran, artist * Nikita Ridgeway, tattoo artist and graphic designer * Tamala Shelton, actress *

Rhoda Roberts Rhoda Ann Roberts (born 1959) is an Australian actress, director and arts executive. Born in Canterbury Hospital in Sydney in 1959, Bundjalung woman Roberts grew up and completed Year 10 in Lismore, then moved back to Sydney where she qual ...

, journalist, arts advisor and artistic director * Anthony Mundine, former boxer, rugby league star * Evelyn Araluen, poet, researcher, co-editor

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * citing ''Yamba Yesterday'', Howland and Lee, Yamba Centenary Committee. * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Bundjalung of Byron Bay Aboriginal Corporation
representing the Bundjalung and Arakwal people, land and waters
Bibliography of Bundjalung language and people resources
at the

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), established as the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (AIAS) in 1964, is an independent Australian Government statutory authority. It is a collecting, ...

"Australia's Sacred Sites Part 5 - Byron Bay"
ABC Radio's ''Spirit of Things'' (October 2002; Retrieved 21 May 2008

ABC Radio (December 2004) Retrieved 21 May 2008
"Badjalang"
AusAnthrop Australian Aboriginal tribal database. Retrieved 20 May 2008
Bunjalung of Byron Bay (Arakwal) Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA)
Retrieved 21 May 2008

Retrieved 21 May 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bundjalung People