Jerrinja is the name of an

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

people from the

South Coast South Coast is a name often given to coastal areas to the south of a geographical region or major metropolitan area. Geographical Australia *South Coast (New South Wales), the coast of New South Wales, Australia, south of Sydney * South Coast (Q ...

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. Their traditional lands cover from Crooked River in the north to Clyde River in the south, from the coast ( Roseby Park) in the east to the mountains in the west (

Braidwood, New South Wales Braidwood is a town in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, in Queanbeyan–Palerang Regional Council. It is located on the Kings Highway linking Canberra with Batemans Bay. It is approximately 200 kilometres south west o ...

). It includes the areas of

Shoalhaven The City of Shoalhaven is a local government area in the south-eastern coastal region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is about south of Sydney. The Princes Highway passes through the area, and the South Coast railway line traverses ...

which include

Jervis Bay Jervis Bay () is a oceanic bay and village on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, said to possess the whitest sand in the world. A area of land around the southern headland of the bay is a territory of the Commonwealth of Austral ...

, Culburra Beach, Orient Point,

Greenwell Point Greenwell Point is a town in the Shoalhaven region of New South Wales, Australia. It is about 13 km east of Nowra Nowra is a city in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south-southwest of the state capit ...

and Shoalhaven Heads.

History

Contemporary Jerrinja descend from those peoples who gathered or were gathered into the Roseby Park

Aboriginal Reserve An Aboriginal reserve, also called simply reserve, was a government-sanctioned settlement for Aboriginal Australians, created under various state and federal legislation. Along with missions and other institutions, they were used from the 19th ce ...

around the early 1900s. In 1983, following on from the provisions of the recent NSW ''

Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 The ''Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983'' (NSW) is an Act of the Parliament of New South Wales which was enacted to return land to Aboriginal peoples through a process of lodging claims for certain Crown lands and the establishment of Aboriginal ...

'', ownership of the Roseby Park was transferred to the Jerrinja Local

Aboriginal Land Council Land councils, also known as Aboriginal land councils, or land and sea councils, are Australian community organisations, generally organised by region, that are commonly formed to represent the Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australians ...

. Many Jerrinja people have been strongly involved in the Aboriginal Land Rights struggles for more than fifty years. The former NSW Aboriginal "

mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

" Roseby Park at Orient Point was renamed Jerrinja Aboriginal Community and is located within the central-east of their country. Jerrinja are a coastal "salt-water" peoples who have maintained a strong connection with their country. Some of the culturally significant places within their country include Mount Coolangatta (Cullunghutti), Lake Wollumboola and

Beecroft Peninsula Beecroft Peninsula is the northern headland of Jervis Bay, on Australia's east coast. On the western and southern sides of the peninsula steep sandstone cliffs rise out of the ocean, up to 91 metres at its southernmost point, Point Perpendicular. W ...

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * Aboriginal peoples of New South Wales South Coast (New South Wales) {{IndigenousAustralia-stub