The Bigambul people are an
Aboriginal Australia
The prehistory of Australia is the period between the first human habitation of the Australian continent and the colonisation of Australia in 1788, which marks the start of consistent written documentation of Australia. This period has been var ...
n people of the
Northern Tablelands
The Northern Tablelands, also known as the New England Tableland, is a plateau and a region of the Great Dividing Range in northern New South Wales, Australia. It includes the New England Range, the narrow highlands area of the New England reg ...
and
Border Rivers
Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...
regions 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 ...
and
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
.
Name
In the traditional language, the name of this group is derived from the Bigambul word ''biga'' or ''pika'' which translates in English to ''yes''. The Bigambul are bounded to the south–east by the
Ngarabal
The Ngarabal are an Aboriginal people of the area from Ashford, Tenterfield and Glen Innes in northern New South Wales, Australia.
Language
Ngarabal was still spoken in the area around Glen Innes, Stonehenge and Emmaville when John MacPherson pr ...
, the
Kamilaroi
The Gamilaraay, also known as Gomeroi, Kamilaroi, Kamillaroi and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people whose lands extend from New South Wales to southern Queensland. They form one of the four largest Indigenous nations in Aust ...
to the south, the
Kooma
The Kooma are a contemporary aggregation of Indigenous Australian peoples descending from tribes living in the border region of Queensland and New South Wales. They are descendants of the Koamu.
Country
Contemporary Kooma people state their forebe ...
to the west, the
Mandandanji
The Mandandanyi are an indigenous Australian people of Queensland.
Country
The Mandandanji owned of tribal territory, which took in the Maranoa and Balonne rivers north of St. George. Their western extension reached as far Bollon and Wallam ...
and
Kabi to the north, and the
Baruŋgam
The Baruŋgam are an Aboriginal Australian people of Southeast Queensland.
Language
The earliest wordlist of the Barunggam language was compiled by Harriott Barlow, from Warkon Station on the Balonne River, and which was published in 1873.
Cou ...
to the north–east.
Country
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 ...
ascribed to the Bigambul a traditional territory spreading over east of
Nindigully, on the
Weir
A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...
and
Moonie
The Unification Church of the United States is a religious movement in the United States of America. It began in the 1950s and 1960s when missionaries from Japan and South Korea were sent to the United States by the international Unification Ch ...
rivers, north to
Tara; at
Talwood; on the
Macintyre River from east of
Boomi to
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
; at
Yetman,
Boggabilla
Boggabilla is a small town in the far north of inland New South Wales, Australia in Moree Plains Shire. At the , the town had a population of 551, of which 63% identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent.
The name Boggabilla com ...
, and at
Middle Creek.
Alternate names
* ''Bigabul''
* ''Pikambul''
* ''Bigambal''
* ''Bigambel''
* ''Bee-gum-bul''
* ''Bigumble''
* ''Pikumbul,'Pikumpal, Pikambal''
* ''Pikum-bul, Pickum-bul, Pickimbul''
* ''Pickumble, Picumbul, Pikumbil''
* ''Begumble''
* ''Peekumble''
* ''Pickumbil''
* ''Picumbill''
* ''Preagalgh''
* ''Wigal-wollumbul''
* ''Wee-n' gul-la-m' bul''
Source:
Clans
The Bigambul have a
cultural
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tylor ...
connection with the northern Kamilaroi people and these people regularly participated in joint ceremonies at
Boobera Lagoon.
Language
The
states that the
Bigambul language was used by the Bigambul people, with
Gambuwal
The Kambuwal were an indigenous Australian people of the state of Queensland.
Country
Norman Tindale estimated that the Kambuwal's territory stretched over some . They straddled the border between Queensland and New South Wales, from south of Mi ...
and
Kwiambal (or Gujambal) known dialects.
However, it is more likely that the
Gamilaraay
The Gamilaraay, also known as Gomeroi, Kamilaroi, Kamillaroi and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people whose lands extend from New South Wales to southern Queensland. They form one of the four largest Indigenous nations in Aust ...
(or Yuwaaliyaay) language was used by those peoples living in southern Bigambul territory.
History of contact
The Bigambul people actively opposed European
colonisation
Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...
of their territory. From the early 1840s they mounted a 14–year
guerrilla campaign to expel the settlers. The Bigambul leadership understood the importance of economics in warfare and they specifically targeted horses and cattle rather than just the settlers themselves. The campaign was initially successful with 17 selections being abandoned in Macintyre region in 1843, of which only 13 were re-occupied when Europeans returned 3 years later. The economic war was so successful that it is recorded that one selection was making a loss of £150 per year until 1849. The tide of the campaign turned in 1848 when the Governor set aside £1000 to form the
Native Police
Australian native police units, consisting of Aboriginal troopers under the command (usually) of at least one white officer, existed in various forms in all Australian mainland colonies during the nineteenth and, in some cases, into the twentiet ...
and appointed
Frederick Walker to command them. Walker took the battle to the Bigambul, attacking them in their camps with his stated objective being their annihilation. By 1851 the economic war was effectively over, land values in the area doubled and the wages paid by settlers to employees were halved. Most of the work done on selections in the area was performed by Aborigines in return for food rations. By 1854 only 100 of the Bigambul people were left alive.
Native title
On 23 February 2001 the Bigambul people lodged a successful
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, t ...
claim over in South Western Queensland.
Notable Bigambul people
*
Chris Sandow
Chris Sandow (born 9 January 1989) is an Indigenous Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a goal-kicking or , he could also play as a .
Background
Sandow was born in Kingaroy, Queensland.
Sandow grew up in ...
a professional
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
footballer
Notes
Citations
Sources
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External links
Bibliography of Bigambul people and language resources at the
{{Authority control
Aboriginal peoples of New South Wales
Aboriginal peoples of Queensland