The Walbunja, also spelt Walbanga, Walbunga and Wulbunja, are an
Aboriginal Australian
Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands.
Humans first migrated to Australia 50,000 to 65,000 year ...
people of
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 ...
, part of the
Yuin
The Yuin nation, also spelt Djuwin, is a group of Aboriginal Australians, Australian Aboriginal peoples from the South Coast (New South Wales), South Coast of New South Wales. All Yuin people share ancestors who spoke, as their first language, ...
nation.
Language
The
Walbunja language may be a dialect of
Dhurga.
Country
The Walbunja people are a subgroup of the
Yuin
The Yuin nation, also spelt Djuwin, is a group of Aboriginal Australians, Australian Aboriginal peoples from the South Coast (New South Wales), South Coast of New South Wales. All Yuin people share ancestors who spoke, as their first language, ...
nation.
Walbunja Country covers a region from Cape Dromedary northwards to the vicinity of
Ulladulla
Ulladulla () is a coastal town in New South Wales, Australia in the City of Shoalhaven local government area. It is on the Princes Highway about south of Sydney, halfway between Batemans Bay to the south and Nowra to the north. Ulladulla has cl ...
. Their inland extension is as far as the
Shoalhaven River
The Shoalhaven River is a perennial stream, perennial river that rises from the Southern Tablelands and flows into an open mature wind wave, wave dominated estuary#Lagoon-type or bar-built, barrier estuary near Nowra on the South Coast, New Sou ...
.
Braidwood,
Araluen and
Moruya
Moruya ( ) is a town located on the South Coast (New South Wales), far south coast of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the Moruya River. The Princes Highway runs through the town that is about south of Sydney and from Canberra. At the , ...
all lie on what is Walbunja land. The
Wandandian
The Wandandian are an Aboriginal Australian people of the South Coast of New South Wales with connections to the Yuin and Tharawal nations.
Country
The Wandandian lands extended over an estimated from Ulladulla to the Shoalhaven River and No ...
peoples lay on their northern boundary, and to their south are the
Djiringanj and
Thaua.
Alternative names
Alternative spellings include Walbanga,
Walbunga,
and Wulbunja.
According to
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 ...
, alternative names included:
* ''Thurga'' (''tirga'', is the Walbunja word for "no")
* ''Thoorga''
* ''Bugellimanji'' (A Walbunja
horde
Horde may refer to:
History
* Orda (organization), a historic sociopolitical and military structure in steppe nomad cultures such as the Turks and Mongols
** Golden Horde, a Turkic-Mongol state established in the 1240s
** Wings of the Golden Hor ...
)
* ''Bargalia''
* ''Moruya tribe''
Walbunja Rangers
The Walbunja Rangers Programme was established by the Batemans Bay
Local Aboriginal Land Council
The NSW Aboriginal Land Council (NSWALC) is the peak representative body of Aboriginal Australians in New South Wales. It has the mandate, under the ''Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983'' (NSW), to develop land rights among Aboriginal people in New ...
in response to the
Black Summer fires in 2019–20 . The group comprises 10–15 young
Indigenous rangers who undertake
cultural burning,
pest eradication, and monitoring species monitoring on Country. In March 2024 the group won the Marie Byles Award for the most inspiring community action initiative in the NSW Environment Awards, a group of awards given by the
Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales.
[
]
Notable people
* In 2023, Aunty Maryanne Nye, a member of the Walbunja community, was given the Paul Harris Fellow Award (a Rotary Club
Rotary International is one of the largest Service club, service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, go ...
award) for her work at the Boomerang Meeting Place in Mogo, New South Wales.
References
Citations
Sources
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Aboriginal peoples of New South Wales