Minjambuta
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The Minjambuta, also known as the ''Mogullumbidj'', were an
Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...
tribe of northern Victoria.


Language

R. H. Mathews described their language as close to
Dhudhuroa The Dhudhuroa people (or Duduroa) are an Indigenous Australian people of North-eastern Victoria, in the state of Victoria, Australia. About 2,000 descendants exist in Australia in the early 21st century. Name The endonym Dhudhuroa has been analys ...
, indeed as a dialect of that tongue. Though this conflicts with other reports, the identification is now considered almost certain.


Country

The Minjambuta's tribal lands spread through some over the upper reaches of the
Buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * True buffalo or Bubalina, a subtribe of wild cattle, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York, a city in the n ...
,
King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
,
Ovens file:Double oven.jpg, upA double oven file:Four à céramique - Japan Auréa - 2011-0403- P1070446.JPG, A ceramic oven An oven is a tool that is used to expose materials to a hot environment. Ovens contain a hollow chamber and provide a means o ...
, and Broken rivers east of
Violet Town Violet Town is a town in northeastern Victoria, Australia. The town is in the Shire of Strathbogie local government area, northeast of the state capital, Melbourne on the Hume Highway. At the , Violet Town had a population of 936. The town i ...
. They extended southwards to the Dividing Range. These boundaries and their extension were established by
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 ...
on the basis of inferences: he deduced their area by exclusion after the adjacent tribal areas were determined and the gap not covered was then assigned to the Minjambuta. The
Dhudhuroa The Dhudhuroa people (or Duduroa) are an Indigenous Australian people of North-eastern Victoria, in the state of Victoria, Australia. About 2,000 descendants exist in Australia in the early 21st century. Name The endonym Dhudhuroa has been analys ...
boundary lay to the northeast, the
Jaitmathang The Jaitmatang, also spelled Yaithmathang, are an Indigenous Australian people of the State of Victoria. Name Jaitmatang/Yaithmathang, according to the early ethnographer Alfred William Howitt, may have derived from ''Ya-yau'' their word for "yes ...
to their east.


Social life

Very little is known of this tribe, and what little knowledge has been transmitted comes from the records preserved by the early ethnographer R. H. Mathews in 1904. The Minjambuta social organisation appears to share more similarities with those of the tribes to their south, and their Wonggoa initiation is thought to be alluded by Mathews when he included the following material without specifying the Minjambuta, but, contextually, according to Tindale, it would apply to them:
Of the Mitta Mitta and
Ovens River The Ovens River, a perennial river of the north-east Murray catchment, part of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the Alpine and Hume regions of the Australian state of Victoria. Location and features Formed by the confluence of the Ea ...
s the following is a brief outline of the procedures as told to me by an old native: At the first appearance of puberty, the girl is taken out of the camp by some old women, and her body is anointed all over with opossum fat and ground charcoal. The fresh skin of a ring-tail opossum is procured and cut into very narrow strips. These strands, with the fur remaining upon them, are then twisted until they become small, rounded strings, resembling cords. The arms of the girl, both above and below the elbow, are then bandaged with a few coils of this string.She is then lifted into the fork of a sapling or tree, from six to eight feet above the ground. A fire is lighted at the butt of the tree, on the windward side of it, and a number of green boughs laid upon it. Presently, a dense smoke is produced, which ascends up around the girl, the quantity of fume being regulated so that it will not suffocate her. This lasts for some hours, when the novice is removed to a camp close at hand, where she and her companions remain for the night. The same ceremonial is repeated for a day or two longer, or until the old women are satisfied that their object has been attained. A waist-belt is now given to the girl, to which is attached a small apron, ''dyabeng'', which hangs down in front. She is now qualified to become a wife.
Minjambuta territory took in
Mount Buffalo Mount Buffalo is a mountain plateau of the Australian Alps and is within the Mount Buffalo National Park in Victoria, Australia. It is located approximately northeast of Melbourne. It is noted for its dramatic scenery. The summit of the h ...
(''Dordordonga'') which was a key centre of the
Bogong moth The bogong moth (''Agrotis infusa'') is a temperate species of Nocturnal, night-flying moth, notable for its biannual long-distance seasonal Lepidoptera migration, migrations towards and from the Australian Alps, similar to the diurnal monarch ...
's
aestivation Aestivation ( (summer); also spelled estivation in American English) is a state of animal dormancy, similar to hibernation, although taking place in the summer rather than the winter. Aestivation is characterized by inactivity and a lowered m ...
, and together with many other regional tribes, particularly the
Djilamatang The Djilamatang were thought to be a distinct Indigenous Australian people of the state of Victoria, Australia. This has recently been questioned by Ian Clark. Language The ethnonym is formed from the word for man, ''djere''. Norman Tindale maint ...
, the Walgalu and the Jaitmathang, they would travel up to these areas rich in this sweet food source, and, while harvesting their share, conduct inter-tribal ceremonies which were timed to coincide with this season of abundance


History

In establishing the Buffalo area as a heifer station, the pastoralist George Faithfull made no secret of the fact he had his convict workers shoot the indigenous landowners, at least 60 being killed in retribution for the killing of four stockmen and the loss of some livestock. One of his employees later put the figure at close to 300. The first to reach the Buffalo high plain, by mid-century, were James and John Manfield, who saw evidence of prior indigenous occupation but no aboriginals. Two stockmen, Jim Brown and Jack Wells, employed by the
squatter Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not Land ownership and tenure, own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estima ...
George Gray at Cobungra near Mt Hotham also visited the Bogong High Plains in search of fresh pastures in 1851. Within the decade, stock were being regularly driven into these former tribal lands to graze there.


Alternative names

* ''Mr Buffalo tribe'' * ''Minyambuta'' * ''Mogolloombuk'' * ''Mogullumbidj'' * ''Mogullumbitch'' * ''Mokalumbeet''


Notes


Citations


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * {{Victorian Aborigines Extinct Aboriginal peoples of Victoria (state)