Gambu Ganuurru, or Cumbo Gunnerah in an older spelling, also known as the Red Chief, or Red Kangaroo was a

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 ...

(Gamilaraay) man who lived in the area that is now the town of

Gunnedah Gunnedah is a town in north-eastern New South Wales, Australia and is the seat of the Gunnedah Shire local government area. In the the town recorded a population of 9,726. Gunnedah is situated within the Liverpool Plains, a fertile agricultur ...

in north-west

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 ...

in the 18th century. He had a reputation as a warrior and leader of the Gunn-e-darr people.

Burial

Gambu Ganuurru died around 1845, and was buried in a manner befitting a Kamilaroi man of great importance; in a sitting position, backed by a tree carved with

totemic A totem (from oj, ᑑᑌᒼ, italics=no or ''doodem'') is a spirit being, sacred object, or symbol that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, lineage, or tribe, such as in the Anishinaabe clan system. While ''the wo ...

designs. The stories of his bravery, achievements and adventures were handed down through the generations and his burial place was treated with great respect. In 1887 the town's doctor arranged for the remains of Gambu Ganuurru to be dug up, and later sent them, along with a section of what was locally known as The Blackfellow's Tree'','' to the

Australian Museum The Australian Museum is a heritage-listed museum at 1 William Street, Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. It is the oldest museum in Australia,Design 5, 2016, p.1 and the fifth oldest natural history museum in the ...

. In the 1950s the museum was asked where his remains and the tree section were, but it could not find them.

Legacy

As custom demanded his silence, "Old Joe" Bungaree (born ca. 1817), a man considered to be the last full-blooded Aboriginal person of the Gunn-e-darr tribe, was unwilling to talk about his former leader. Just before he died he confided in his friend, John P Ewing, the local police sergeant. The sergeant's son Stan Ewing (1878–1938) recorded this information and passed it on to other historians. Gambu Ganuurru soon became recognised as a great Aboriginal leader, his story appearing in ''

The Sydney Mail ''The Sydney Mail'' was an Australian magazine published weekly in Sydney. It was the weekly edition of ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' newspaper and ran from 1860 to 1938. History ''The Sydney Mail'' was first published on 17 July 1860 by Joh ...

'' in 1891. Writer

Ion Idriess Ion Llewellyn Idriess (20 September 18896 June 1979) was a prolific and influential Australian author. He wrote more than 50 books over 43 years between 1927 and 1969 – an average of one book every 10 months, and twice published three books i ...

wrote '' The Red Chief'' first published in 1953, which became a best-seller of its day. The tag 'Red Chief' was coined by Idriess; it is not used in the source documents. In the 1960s, the Gunnedah Historical Society erected a sign to mark the burial site of "The Red Chief". This sign still stands on the footpath near the corner of Abbott and Little Conadilly Streets. In 1984, a sculpture, designed by Dennis Adams in consultation with local Aboriginal people and the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service was erected to mark the burial site. It was opened on National Aborigines' Day, 14 September, and officially dedicated by one of the oldest members of the local Aboriginal community, John Lalor. The bronze relief text reads:

:''Yilambu giwihr gayir Kambu Gunirah gir ginyi.
Ngihrngu mari ngihrma gayir Gaweh Canuhr.
Ngihrma binal wuraya, wahrunggul yiliyan
maringu Gunidahngu ginyi.
Yirahla ganu wunda dawandah nahbu gayir
gaweh Gawinbara Wuraya.'' :''In times past there was an Aboriginal man
called Cumbo Gunnerah
His people called him The Red Kangaroo.
He was a clever chief and a mighty fighter'' :''(this man from Gunnedah)
Later, the white people of this place
called him The Red Chief.''

Margaret Sharpe Margaret Clare Sharpe is a linguist of Australian Aboriginal languages, specializing in Yugambeh-Bundjalung languages, with particular regard to Yugambir, She has also done important salvage fieldwork on the Northern Territory Alawa language ...

, lecturer in Aboriginal Languages, wrote the Kamilaroi text.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ganuurru, Gambu Indigenous Australian people History of Australia before 1788 Australian Aboriginal culture