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

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...

who are the original custodians of a region from around Grafton in northern coastal

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

to Beaudesert in south-east

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. The region is located approximately northeast of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and south of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

that now 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. ...

. In the north, Bundjalung Nation shares a border with Yuggera Nation and Barrunggam Nation; to the east the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, who in 1642 wa ...

(Pacific Ocean); to the south

Gumbaynggirr The Gumbaynggirr people, also rendered Kumbainggar, Gumbangeri and other variant spellings, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Mid North Coast of New South Wales. Gumbathagang was a probable clan or sub-group. The traditional lands of th ...

(also known as Kumbainggar) Nation; and to the west it borders Ngarabal Nation. The languages of the Bundjalung people are dialects of the Lower-Richmond branch of the Yugambeh-

Bundjalung language Bundjalung may refer to: * Bundjalung people The Bundjalung people, also spelled Bunjalung, Badjalang and Bandjalang, are Aboriginal Australians who are the original custodians of a region from around Grafton, New South Wales, Grafton in north ...

family. The names of the 15 tribal groups comprising the Bundjalung Nation are Arakwal, Banbai, Birbai, Galiabal, Gidabal, Gumbainggeri, Jigara, Jugambal, Jugumbir (Yugembeh), Jungai, Minjungbal, Ngacu, Ngamba, NyangbalBallina City CouncilNational Parks and Wildlife Service and Widjabal/Wiyabal.

History

Before European colonisation, the Bundjalung Nation encompassed some of the richest hunting and fishing grounds anywhere on the Australian continent. According to the oral traditions of the Bundjalung People, the area was first settled by the Three Brothers and their descendants. To the best of knowledge the people of the Bundjalung Nation, who inhabit the far-north coast of New South Wales and the coast of south-east Queensland, they are the only

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

people whose

Dreamtime The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal religion and mythology, Australian Aboriginal mythology. It was originally u ...

stories talk about arriving in Australia from elsewhere. Their ancestors came from the land "at the centre of the world" after a massive catastrophe destroyed it. There are also Indigenous mobs in the Perth region that hold a spiritual belief they are descendants of "star people", or people from stars and the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...

. People of the Bundjalung Nation have lived on and visited Goanna Headland for at least 12,000 years. The Aboriginal tribes were not united before the 18th century, and comprised more than 20 main groups, known collectively as the "Bundjalung Nation". Certain deities and religious practices were specific to certain localities. Goanna Headland is also significant as the site where the ancestors of the Bundjalung people arrived by sea and populated the surrounding country. This event is related through the legend of "The Three Brothers (Bundjalung Nation)".

European arrival

On 15 May 1770, the coast in the vicinity of

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 th ...

was first mapped and described by Lieutenant

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

on the Royal Navy

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts of which the fore mast, mainmast, and any additional masts are Square rig, rigged square, and only the aftmost mast (mizzen in three-maste ...

, during the

first voyage of James Cook The first voyage of James Cook was a combined Royal Navy and Royal Society expedition to the south Pacific Ocean aboard HMS Endeavour, HMS ''Endeavour'', from 1768 to 1771. The aims were to observe the 1769 transit of Venus from Tahiti and to ...

to what became known as

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and Australia. Cook did not land but, the next day, he saw and named

Cape Byron Cape Byron is the easternmost point of the mainland of Australia, located in New South Wales. It is about east of the town of Byron Bay, New South Wales and projects into the Pacific Ocean at 28.6335° S, 153.6383° E. A lighthouse is situated t ...

and

Mount Warning Mount Warning ( Bundjalung: ''Wollumbin''), a mountain in the Tweed Range in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia, was formed from a volcanic plug of the now-gone Tweed Volcano. The mountain is located west-south-west of ...

, known to the Bundjalung Nation as Wollumbin. He named Mount Warning as a result of encountering nearby offshore reefs. Cook did not see the entrance to the

Richmond River The Richmond River is a river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may ...

, but noted the presence of about 20 Bundjalung Nation people on what is now Seven Mile Beach, just to the south of Broken Head. Sir

Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English Natural history, naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. Banks made his name on the European and American voyages of scientific exploration, 1766 natural-history ...

also noted the people and remarked that they completely ignored the presence of HMS ''Endeavour''. That might indicate that ''Endeavour'' was not the first ship that they had seen (Richmond River Historical Society , 1997). On 20 August 1828, Captain

Henry John Rous Admiral Henry John Rous (23 January 1795 – 19 June 1877) was an officer of the British Royal Navy, who served during the Napoleonic Wars, and was later a Member of Parliament and a leading figure in horse racing. Biography Family background a ...

, on the

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

'' HMS Rainbow'', dropped anchor at Byron Bay. His mission was to discover a navigable river and safe anchorage site. On 26 August 1828, Rous discovered the entrance to the

(the longest navigable river on the coast of New South Wales) and explored upstream, as far as Tuckean Swamp, with two lieutenants in a pinnace. Rous subsequently named the river Richmond after his brother's best friend,

Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond, (''né'' Lennox; 3 August 179121 October 1860), styled the Earl of March from 1806–19, was a Scottish peer, soldier and prominent Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician. Upon the death of ...

European Settlement

The beginning of European settlement into the Richmond River area was the result of early explorations of the region by red cedar cutters and farmers, who arrived around 1842, after hearing stories from "stray natives" of the great wudgie-wudgie (red cedar) in the Richmond river area to the north of the Clarence river.
Red cedar getters, as obsessed by 'red gold' as those who later suffered 'gold fever', brooked no interference in their quest for the magnificent old trees. To legally cut red cedar, loggers were required to obtain a cedar cutter's license from Grafton (and later

Casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

), issued by Commissioner Oliver Fry for the North Creek and Emigrant Creek scrubs in 1851, and costing £6. The license did not provide ownership to land, but did allow the cedar-getter to build a hut and cut cedar on unsettled land. Word rapidly spread about the wonderful red cedar timber which made small fortunes for the men of the Richmond River.

Timeline

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 social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...

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 (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The hab ...

and (d) neuter.

Country

Norman Tindale Norman Barnett Tindale AO (12 October 1900 – 19 November 1993) was an Australian anthropologist, archaeologist, entomologist and ethnologist. He is best remembered for his work mapping the various tribal groupings of Aboriginal Australians ...

estimated the Bundjalung People lived over an area approximately , from north of the Clarence River to the

including the site of Ballina and inland to

Tabulam Tabulam is a rural village in the far north-east of New South Wales, Australia, 800 kilometres from the state capital, Sydney. Tabulam is located on the Bruxner Highway (Highway 44) between Tenterfield and Casino and on the Clarence River. Ac ...

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, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...

ventured no further than Rappville. The area underwent significant change with sea level rise 18,000 to 7,500 years ago which completely displaced inhabitants of previous coastal areas and resulted in dramatic changes in distributions of peoples.

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 more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often Mallee (habit), mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalyp ...

leaf, creating a bird-like sound.

Clapsticks Clapsticks, also spelt clap sticks and also known as , , 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 ceremony. They ar ...

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 didgerido ...

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 The emu (; ''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is a species of flightless bird endemism, endemic to Australia, where it is the Tallest extant birds, tallest native bird. It is the only extant taxon, extant member of the genus ''Dromaius'' and the ...

. 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 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 indictable (mo ...

convened at

, 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 to that land by another colonising state. The requirements of proof for the recognition of ab ...

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 ...

of great cultural significance near Coraki.

Notable people

* Sharlene Allsopp, author and poet, winner of the Ford Memorial Prize in 2021 *

Evelyn Araluen Evelyn Araluen is an Australian poet and literary editor. She won the 2022 Stella Prize with her first book, '' Dropbear''. Early life Araluen is an Aboriginal Australian of the Bundjalung people, born on Dharug land. Career Araluen's po ...

, poet *

Jon Bell Jonathan Bell (born 26 August 1997) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Major League Soccer club Seattle Sounders FC. Born in the United States, he represents the Jamaica national team. Club career New England Revolutio ...

, Australian filmmaker, writer/director of 2024 horror film ''The Moogai'' *

Bob Bellear Robert William "Bob" Bellear (17 June 1944 – 15 March 2005) was an Australian social activist, lawyer and judge who was the first Aboriginal Australian judge. He served as a judge of the District Court of New South Wales from 1996 until his d ...

, judge of the

District Court of New South Wales The District Court of New South Wales is the intermediate court in the judicial hierarchy of the Australian state of New South Wales. It is a trial court and has an appellate jurisdiction. In addition, the Judges of the Court preside over a rang ...

, the first Indigenous person to be appointed to any court in Australia *

Troy Cassar-Daley Troy Cassar-Daley (born 18 May 1969) is an Australian country music songwriter and entertainer. Cassar-Daley has released thirteen studio albums, two live albums and five compilation albums over 30 years, including the platinum-selling '' The ...

, country singer, winner of

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

and Deadly awards, among others *

Melissa Lucashenko Melissa Lucashenko is an Indigenous Australians, Indigenous Australian writer of adult literary fiction and literary non-fiction, who has also written young adult fiction, novels for teenagers. In 2013 at the Walkley Awards, she won the "Featu ...

, 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 (law), will of Miles Franklin ...

* Madeleine and

Miah Madden Miah Grace Madden is an Australian actress and presenter. She began her career as a child actress in the film ''The Sapphires (film), The Sapphires'' (2012) and the ABC Television (Australian TV network), ABC Television series ''The Gods of Whea ...

, actresses, half-sisters with Bundjalung heritage through their father * Lambert McBride, activist for Aboriginal citizenship rights during the 1960s * Digby Moran, artist *

Anthony Mundine Anthony Steven Mundine (born 21 May 1975) is an Australian former professional boxer and rugby league footballer. In boxing he competed from 2000 to 2021, and held the World Boxing Association (WBA) super-middleweight title twice between 2003 a ...

, former boxer, rugby league star *

Djon Mundine Djon Mundine (born 1951) is an Aboriginal Australian artist, curator, activist and writer. He is a member of the Bundjalung people of northern New South Wales. He is known for having conceived the 1988 work ''Aboriginal Memorial'', on display ...

, artist *

Warren Mundine Nyunggai Warren Stephen Mundine (born 11 August 1956) is an Australian businessman, political strategist, advocate for Indigenous affairs, and former politician. Starting his political career in 1995, Mundine became the first Indigenous person ...

, businessman, former politician *

Mark Olive Mark Olive (born 1962), also known as the Black Olive, is an Aboriginal Australian chef. Olive was born in Wollongong in 1962 and is a Bundjalung man. Olive had a cooking segment on the ABC's ''Message Stick'' TV seriesMessage SticMark Olive & ...

, Aboriginal Australian chef *

Nikita Ridgeway Nikita Ridgeway (born 1986) is a Bundjalung/ Biripi graphic designer from Australia, who was awarded the a BBC 100 Women Award in 2015 in recognition of her entrepreneurial work and advocacy for Aboriginal graphic design. Biography Ridgeway wa ...

, tattoo artist and graphic designer *

Rhoda Roberts Rhoda Ann Roberts (born 1960) is an Australian theatre and arts director, arts executive, television presenter, and actor. She was head of Indigenous programming at the Sydney Opera House from 2012 until 2021, among many other roles. She is a ...

, journalist, arts advisor and artistic director;

Wiyabal The Wiyabal (also Widjabal, possibly from confusion of the letter in the older spelling ''Wijabal'') are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of New South Wales. They may be a clan of the Bundjalung people. Country Norman Tindale assign ...

clan *

Clive Andrew Williams Clive Andrew Williams (1915–1980) was an Aboriginal Australian political activist. Early life As a child he was one of the very few aboriginal people to be accepted into Casino Intermediate High School. Political activism. During the 1960 ...

, aboriginal cultural activist.

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 *: the 2007 Githabul Federal Court Native Title Determination which was lodged by Trevor Close a commercial lawyer now living in Perth cut the Bundjalung Nation apart.

Bundjalung and Anangu identity autonomy

Bundjalung of Byron Bay (Arakwal) Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA)

Langford, Ruby Ginibi. (1994). ''My Bundjalung People'', University of Queensland Press, Queensland.

The Bundjalung Mapping Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bundjalung People