The Djiru, otherwise spelt Jirru, Are an

Aboriginal Australian people Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

whose traditional lands are along the coasts of

Northern Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its tropical northern part has been ...

, mainly the area around Mission Beach.

Language

Djiru is a dialect of the

Dyirbal language Dyirbal (also ''Djirubal'') is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken in northeast Queensland by the Dyirbal people. In 2016, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that there were 8 speakers of the language. It is a member of the sm ...

Country

The Djiru, a rain-forest people, occupy a large part of the coastal area now called Cassowary Coast.

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 ther ...

estimate their lands as covering some around

Clump Point Mission Beach is a coastal town and locality in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Mission Beach had a population of 815 people. Geography Mission Beach is bounded on the east by the Coral Sea. Clu ...

and as far north as Murdering Point. Their southern extension runs to the mouth of the

Tully River The Tully River is a river located in Far North Queensland, Far North Queensland, Australia. Course and features The Tully River rises in the Cardwell Range, part of the Great Dividing Range on the northern boundary of the Kirrama State Fores ...

Social organisation

Two names noted down in a list of Queensland tribes compiled by

William Parry-Okeden William Edward Parry-Okeden (13 May 1841 – 30 August 1926) was a public servant, Police Commissioner and Protector of Aborigines (1895-1903), as well as a horseman, in Queensland, Australia. He stood tall. Early life William Edward Par ...

arguably refer, not to distinct tribes, but to Djiru hordes:- * ''Boolboora'' * ''Warryboora''

History

The first dispute with settlers occurred in 1872 when the survivors of the

ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

"Maria" that was

shipwreck A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...

ed near Johnstone River on the

coast The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

. Sub-Inspector Robert Johnstone led a search party to look for survivors and to punish the Mamu who had abused them. Commanding

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 twentie ...

troopers, he systematically shot any Djiru encountered in his long beach trek and burnt their dwellings. The

Hull River Aboriginal Settlement Hull River Aboriginal Settlement, sometimes incorrectly referred to as Hull River Aboriginal Mission, was an Aboriginal reserve established in 1914, located at the present location of Mission Beach in the Hull River National Park, Queensland, A ...

, an

Aboriginal reserve An Aboriginal reserve, also called simply reserve, was a government-sanctioned settlement for Aboriginal Australians, created under various state and federal legislation. Along with missions and other institutions, they were used from the 19th c ...

, was built on Djiru land at Mission Beach in 1914, with Aboriginal people brought from surrounding areas to live there for their "protection" or disciplinary reasons, under the ''

Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897 The ''Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897'', long name ''A Bill to make Provision for the better Protection and Care of the Aboriginal and Half-caste Inhabitants of the Colony, and to make more effectual Provision ...

''. The settlement was destroyed by a huge cyclone in 1918, with surviving residents being transferred to the new reserve on

Great Palm Island Great Palm Island, usually known as Palm Island, is the largest island in the Palm Islands group off Northern Queensland, Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal community, the legacy of an Aboriginal reserve, the Palm Island Aboriginal Sett ...

Last members

The last speakers of the language were Joe Jamboree (Joe Tambourine?) and Pompey Clumppoint, the latter from Clump Point opposite

Dunk Island Dunk Island, known as ''Coonanglebah'' in the Warrgamay and Dyirbal languages, is an island within the locality of Dunk in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It lies off the Australian east coast, opposite the town of Missio ...

. Pompey had been incarcerated on Palm Island for an incident of cannibalism in 1920. According to him the best-tasting human flesh was Chinese, followed by Aboriginal and, last, the otherwise tough and bitter flesh of Englishmen.

Alternative names

* ''Djirubagala, Dyirubagala'' * ''Dyiru'' * ''Gerrah'' * ''Gillah'' * ''Iimba'' Source:

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * {{authority control Aboriginal peoples of Queensland Far North Queensland