The Gunditjmara or Gunditjamara, also known as Dhauwurd Wurrung, are an
Aboriginal Australian
Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the T ...
people of southwestern
Victoria. They are the
traditional owners of the areas now encompassing
Warrnambool,
Port Fairy,
Woolsthorpe and
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
. Their land includes much of the
Budj Bim heritage areas. The Kerrup Jmara (Kerrupjmara, Kerrup-Jmara) are a clan of the Gunditjmara, whose traditional lands are around
Lake Condah. The Koroitgundidj (Koroit gundidj) are another clan group, whose lands are around
Tower Hill
Tower Hill is the area surrounding the Tower of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is infamous for the public execution of high status prisoners from the late 14th to the mid 18th century. The execution site on the higher gro ...
.
The
Djargurd Wurrung,
Girai wurrung, and
Gadubanud
The Gadubanud (Katubanut), also known as the Pallidurgbarran, Yarro waetch or Cape Otway tribe ( Tindale), are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of Victoria. Their territory encompasses the rainforest plateau and rugged coastline of ...
are also
Aboriginal Victorian groups who all spoke languages in the dialect continuum known as the
Dhauwurd Wurrung language
Dhauwurd Wurrung is a term used for a group of languages spoken by various groups of the Gunditjmara people of the Western District of Victoria, Australia. Keerray Woorroong (also spelt Girai Wurrung and variants) is regarded by some as a sep ...
("Gunditjmara language").
Name
Gunditjmara is formed from two morphemes: ''Gunditj'', a suffix denoting belonging to a particular group or locality, and the noun ''mara'', meaning "man".
Language
The
Dhauwurd wurrung language
Dhauwurd Wurrung is a term used for a group of languages spoken by various groups of the Gunditjmara people of the Western District of Victoria, Australia. Keerray Woorroong (also spelt Girai Wurrung and variants) is regarded by some as a sep ...
is a term used for a group of languages spoken by various groups of the Gunditjmara people. Different linguists have identified different groupings of
lects and languages (see the main article for details), and the whole group is also sometimes referred to as the Gunditjmara language or the Warrnambool language. Some of the major languages or dialects often grouped under these names were:
*Keerray Woorroong (Girai Wurrung, Kirrae wuurong, Kiriwurrung, etc.) is regarded by the
Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages as a separate language;
it is of the
Girai wurrung people.
*Gadubanud (Katubanut), also Yarro waetch, was spoken by a group known as the
Gadubanud
The Gadubanud (Katubanut), also known as the Pallidurgbarran, Yarro waetch or Cape Otway tribe ( Tindale), are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of Victoria. Their territory encompasses the rainforest plateau and rugged coastline of ...
, of the
Cape Otway
Cape Otway is a cape and a bounded locality of the Colac Otway Shire in southern Victoria, Australia on the Great Ocean Road; much of the area is enclosed in the Great Otway National Park.
History
Cape Otway was originally inhabited by the G ...
area;
Barry Blake regards this as a dialect of the Warrnambool language, but Krishna-Pillay does not.
*Djargurd Wurrong (Warn tallin, Warn thalayn,)
was the language of the
Djargurd Wurrong people.
Country
The Gunditjmara tribal territories extends over an estimated . The western boundaries are around
Cape Bridgewater and
Lake Condah. Northwards they reach
Caramut and
Hamilton. Their eastern boundaries lay around the
Hopkins River. Their neighbours to the west are the
Buandig
The Bungandidj people are an Aboriginal Australian people from the Mount Gambier region in south-eastern South Australia, and also in western Victoria. Their language is the Bungandidj language. Bungandidj was historically frequently rendered a ...
people, to the north the
Jardwadjali and
Djab wurrung
The Djab Wurrung, also spelt Djabwurrung, Tjapwurrung, Tjap Wurrung, or Djapwarrung, people are Aboriginal Australians whose country is the volcanic plains of central Victoria from the Mount William Range of Gariwerd in the west to the Pyrene ...
peoples, and in the east the
Girai wurrung people. Early settlers remarked on the richness of the game to be found from the Eumerella Creek down to the coast.
Culture
The way of life of the Aboriginal people of
Western Victoria
Western Victoria is a wine grape growing zone in the southwestern part of the state of Victoria in Australia. It extends approximately from the South Australia border to Ballarat and from Horsham to the coast. It includes the defined wine reg ...
differed from other
Aboriginal Victorians
Aboriginal Victorians, the Aboriginal Australians of Victoria, Australia, occupied the land for tens of thousands of years prior to European settlement. Aboriginal people have lived a semi-nomadic existence of fishing, hunting and gathering, a ...
in several respects. Because of the colder climate, they made, wore, and used as
blanket
A blanket is a swath of soft cloth large enough either to cover or to enfold most of the user's body and thick enough to keep the body warm by trapping radiant body heat that otherwise would be lost through convection.
Etymology
The ter ...
s, rugs of
possum
Possum may refer to:
Animals
* Phalangeriformes, or possums, any of a number of arboreal marsupial species native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi
** Common brushtail possum (''Trichosurus vulpecula''), a common possum in Australian urban a ...
and
kangaroo
Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern ...
.
Possum-skin cloaks, used by Gunditjmara and other peoples of the south-east, were made sewn with string, and worn for warmth, used
to carry babies on their backs, as drums in
ceremony and as a burial cloak. They are still made today as part of revitalisation of culture and as an instrument for healing.
[
They also built huts from wood and local ]basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% of a ...
(known as bluestone
Bluestone is a cultural or commercial name for a number of dimension or building stone varieties, including:
* basalt in Victoria, Australia, and in New Zealand
* dolerites in Tasmania, Australia; and in Britain (including Stonehenge)
* felds ...
), with roofs made of turf and branches. Stone tool
A stone tool is, in the most general sense, any tool made either partially or entirely out of stone. Although stone tool-dependent societies and cultures still exist today, most stone tools are associated with prehistoric (particularly Stone Ag ...
s were used for cutting, and are held in collections across Victoria today. The women used digging sticks, also known as yam sticks, for digging yams, goannas, ants and other foods out of the ground, as well as for defence, for settling disputes and for punishment purposes as part of customary law
A legal custom is the established pattern of behavior that can be objectively verified within a particular social setting. A claim can be carried out in defense of "what has always been done and accepted by law".
Customary law (also, consuetudina ...
.[
]
Dreaming
The Gunditjmara believe that the landscape's features mark out the traces of a creator, Budj Bim (meaning "High Head"), who emerged in the form of the volcano previously called Mount Eccles. In a spate of eruption, the lava flows, constituting his blood and teeth, spilled over the landscape, fashioning its wetlands. "High Head" still refers to the crater's brow, which can be accessed only by Gunditjmara men wearing special emu-feather footwear.
Opposite, beyond the coastline, the island they call Deen Maar/Dhinmar held special value for its burial associations. A cave there, known as ''Tarn wirrung'' ("road of the spirits"), is thought of as the mouth of a passage linking the mainland and the island.
In Gunditjmara funeral rites, bodies are enfolded in grass bundles and interred with their heads pointing to the island, with an apotropaic
Apotropaic magic (from Greek "to ward off") or protective magic is a type of magic intended to turn away harm or evil influences, as in deflecting misfortune or averting the evil eye. Apotropaic observances may also be practiced out of superst ...
firebrand of native cherry wood. If grass was thereafter found outside the mouth of Tarn wirrung, it was regarded as evidence that the good spirit ''Puit puit chepetch'' had conveyed the corpse via the subterranean passage to the island, while guiding its spirit to the realm of the clouds. If the burial coincided with the appearance of a meteor, this was read as proof that the being in transit to the heavens had been furnished with fire. If grass was found at the cave when no one had been buried, then it was thought it showed someone had been murdered, and the cave could not be approached until the grass had been dispersed.
Social organisation
The Gunditjmara were divided into 59 clans, each with its headmen (''wungit''), a role passed on by hereditary transmission. They spoke distinct dialects, not all of them mutually intelligible, with the three main hordes located around Lake Condah, Port Fairy and Woolsthorpe respectively. The Gunditjmara groups are divided into two moieties, respectively the ''grugidj'' (sulphur-crested cockatoo
The sulphur-crested cockatoo (''Cacatua galerita'') is a relatively large white cockatoo found in wooded habitats in Australia, New Guinea, and some of the islands of Indonesia. They can be locally very numerous, leading to them sometimes being ...
or Long-billed corella
The long-billed corella or slender-billed corella (''Cacatua tenuirostris'') is a cockatoo native to Australia, which is similar in appearance to the little corella. This species is mostly white, with a reddish-pink face and forehead, and has a ...
) and the ''gabadj'' ( Red-tailed black cockatoo, the latter once thriving in buloke woodlands, now mainly cleared.
According to Alfred William Howitt
Alfred William Howitt , (17 April 1830 – 7 March 1908), also known by author abbreviation A.W. Howitt, was an Australian anthropologist, explorer and naturalist. He was known for leading the Victorian Relief Expedition, which set out to e ...
, they had four sections, which however did not affect marriage rules:
* ''kerup'' (water)
* ''boom'' (mountain)
* ''direk'' (swamp)
* ''gilger'' (river)
However these terms refer to 4 of the 58 clans.
Descent was matrilineal
Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which each person is identified with their matriline – their mother's lineage – and which can involve the inheritance ...
.
Clans
The following is a list of the Gunditjmara clans (''conedeet''), taken from that in Ian D. Clark's work.
Economy
The Gunditjmara are traditionally river and lake people, with Framlingham Forest
Framlingham is a rural township located by the Hopkins River in the Western District, Victoria, Western District of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, about north-east of the coastal city of Warrnambool, Victoria, Warrnambool. In the 20 ...
, Lake Condah and the surrounding river systems being of great importance to them economically and spiritually. Numerous distinct structures, extending over of the landscape, are employed for the purpose of farming short-finned eel
The short-finned eel (''Anguilla australis''), also known as the shortfin eel, is one of the 15 species of eel in the family Anguillidae. It is native to the lakes, dams and coastal rivers of south-eastern Australia, New Zealand, and much of ...
s, the staple of the Gunditjmara diet. These include stone races; canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface fl ...
s; traps; stone wall
Stone walls are a kind of masonry construction that has been used for thousands of years. The first stone walls were constructed by farmers and primitive people by piling loose field stones into a dry stone wall. Later, mortar and plaster ...
s; stone house sites and stone cairns. Some of the groundwork is older than the Egyptian pyramids
The Egyptian pyramids are ancient masonry structures located in Egypt. Sources cite at least 118 identified "Egyptian" pyramids. Approximately 80 pyramids were built within the Kingdom of Kush, now located in the modern country of Sudan. ...
. A controversy exists concerning the extent to which these features are the results of natural environmental processes or cultural modifications of the landscape by Indigenous people. Peter Coutts and others argued, in a work entitled ''Aboriginal Engineers of the Western District, Victoria,'' that numerous features show the handiwork of Aboriginal landscaping for economic purposes. This thesis was challenged as a mythical "romancing of the landscape" by Anne Clarke, one that confused natural processes with socially crafted infrastructure. However, fresh archaeological work by Heather Builth
Heather may refer to:
Plants
*The heather family, or Ericaceae, particularly:
**Common heather or ling, ''Calluna''
**Various species of the genus ''Cassiope''
**Various species of the genus ''Erica (plant), Erica''
Name
* Heather (given name) ...
led to her contending that they had a sophisticated system of aquaculture
Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lotus ...
and eel farming. They built stone dams to hold the water in these swampy volcanic areas, especially the area comprising the lava flow
Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or un ...
of the ''Budj Bim
Budj Bim, also known as Mount Eccles, is a dormant volcano near Macarthur in southwestern Victoria, Australia. It lies within the geologically-defined area known as the Newer Volcanics Province, which is the youngest volcanic area in Australi ...
'' volcano, creating ponds and wetland
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...
s in which they harvested short-finned eels (''kuyang'' or more commonly ''kooyang'').
The Budj Bim National Heritage Landscape, which includes both the Tyrendarra Area and the Mt Eccles – Lake Condah Area, comprising Budj Bim National Park (formerly Mt Eccles National Park), Stones State Faunal Reserve, Muldoons Aboriginal Land, Allambie Aboriginal Land and Condah Mission) was added to the National Heritage List
The Australian National Heritage List or National Heritage List (NHL) is a heritage register, a list of national heritage places deemed to be of outstanding heritage significance to Australia, established in 2003. The list includes natural and ...
on 20 July 2004, under the ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cult ...
''.
Several designated areas comprising the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
in 2019.
In the wake of the burning of some 7,000 hectares of bushland around Lake Condah and in the Budj Bim National Park, further channel structures came to light.
They also created channels linking these wetlands. These channels contained weirs with large woven baskets made by women to cull mature eels. Professor Peter Kershaw, noted palynologist at Monash University
Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university h ...
, as cited by Bruce Pascoe in his best-selling work '' Dark Emu'', found evidence of a sudden change in vegetation consistent with an artificial ponding system, and initial radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon.
The method was de ...
of the soil samples suggests the ponds were created up to 8,000 years ago.
The eels were prepared by smoking
Smoking is a practice in which a substance is burned and the resulting smoke is typically breathed in to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, which have bee ...
them with burning leaves from Australian blackwood. The coastal clans, like other tribes on the south-west coast, according to an early settler, Thomas Browne, had a rich fish diet, which included whale (''cunderbul'') flesh,
History
In a study published in February 2020, new evidence produced by using a form of radiometric dating
Radiometric dating, radioactive dating or radioisotope dating is a technique which is used to date materials such as rocks or carbon, in which trace radioactive impurities were selectively incorporated when they were formed. The method compares t ...
known as argon-argon dating, showed that both Budj Bim
Budj Bim, also known as Mount Eccles, is a dormant volcano near Macarthur in southwestern Victoria, Australia. It lies within the geologically-defined area known as the Newer Volcanics Province, which is the youngest volcanic area in Australi ...
and Tower Hill
Tower Hill is the area surrounding the Tower of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is infamous for the public execution of high status prisoners from the late 14th to the mid 18th century. The execution site on the higher gro ...
volcanoes erupted at least 34,000 years ago. Specifically, Budj Bim was dated at within 3,100 years either side of 36,900 years BP, and Tower Hill was dated at within 3,800 years either side of 36,800 years BP. Significantly, this is a "minimum age constraint for human presence in Victoria", and also could be interpreted as evidence for the Gunditjmara oral histories
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people wh ...
which tell of volcanic eruptions being some of the oldest oral tradition
Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985 ...
s in existence. An axe found underneath volcanic ash
Volcanic ash consists of fragments of rock, mineral crystals, and volcanic glass, created during volcanic eruptions and measuring less than 2 mm (0.079 inches) in diameter. The term volcanic ash is also often loosely used to refer ...
in 1947 was also proof that humans inhabited the region before the eruption of Tower Hill.
The beginnings of contact with ''ngamadjidj
Dhauwurd Wurrung is a term used for a group of languages spoken by various groups of the Gunditjmara people of the Western District (Victoria), Western District of Victoria, Australia. Keerray Woorroong (also spelt Girai Wurrung and variants) i ...
'' (white people) date as far back as 1810, when whalers and sealers began to use Portland as a base area for their operations. Contact exposed the local people to epidemics from new diseases born by whites but otherwise was seasonal, and allowed time for demographic recovery.
Eumerella Wars
The major turn in relations occurred with the arrival of, and settlement of their lands by, the Henty Brothers from 1834 onwards. Though much silence surrounded the massacres that took place, and, despite Boldrerwood's explicit testimony, some early historians dismissed the idea of a guerilla war.
The Gunditjmara people fought fiercely for their lands during what became known as the Eumerella Wars
The Eumeralla Wars were the violent encounters over the possession of land between British colonists and Gunditjmara Aboriginal people in what is now called the Western District area of south west Victoria.
The wars are named after the region a ...
, which lasted for decades. Women would fight as well, using their digging sticks which had a dual purpose as a weapon, for defence, for settling disputes and for meting out punishments as part of customary law
A legal custom is the established pattern of behavior that can be objectively verified within a particular social setting. A claim can be carried out in defense of "what has always been done and accepted by law".
Customary law (also, consuetudina ...
.
Ian D. Clark has identified 28 massacre sites most of the colonialist slaughters taking place during the Eumerella War, so named when the phrase was used as a chapter heading in the memoirs of the novelist Rolf Boldrewood who squatted 50,000 acres near Port Fairy a decade after the main killings.
Sometime in 1833–1834, though the incident has been dated later, to around, 1839, whalers, perhaps 'tonguers,' are thought to have clashed with the Kilcarer Gundidj on the beach at Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
at a site that later became known as Convincing Ground
A convincing ground was the name or journalistic euphemism for a place where sports were contested, having limited currency in the nineteenth century, predominantly in Australia and New Zealand.
It has been used to describe a boxing arena in Austr ...
in an incident now known as the Convincing Ground massacre. Various versions exist. The site earned its name either because whalers hashed out their disputes there, because some transaction took place between the indigenous people and whalers, or because disputes arose, either of whale flesh or of the use of native women. If the dispute was over the carcass of a beached whale, the whites may have wished to flense it while the natives may have insisted that it was theirs, as dictated by their ancient customs.
Estimates of the number of people killed in the dispute is unknown, varying from only a few to 30, 60 and as high as 200. All but two of the Kilcarer gundidj clan, Pollikeunnuc and Yarereryarerer, were said to have died. Robinson surmised many had been killed from encounters with 30 members of several different Dhauwurd wurrung clans. A minority view argued by Michael Connors, emerging in the context of Australia's recent History wars
The history wars is a term used in Australia to describe the public debate about the interpretation of the history of the European colonisation of Australia and the development of contemporary Australian society, particularly with regard to th ...
argues the figure of 200 dead misinterprets an 1841 report by the Portland Police Magistrate James Blair to Governor Latrobe referring to up to 200 Aboriginals amassing at Convincing Ground, and claims that modern research has fabricated the massacre. His arguments have been analysed, with a negative verdict by Ian D. Clark.
George Augustus Robinson, the official Protector of Aborigines
The role of Protector of Aborigines was first established in South Australia in 1836.
The role became established in other parts of Australia pursuant to a recommendation contained in the ''Report of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Abori ...
, in travelling in this western area in 1841, reported that settlers in the districts spoke of 'dropping the Aborigines as coolly as if speaking of dropping birds.' The loss of numbers, and headsmen meant clans were forced to unite under other clans and their chieftains. Thus the ''wungit'' of the Yiyar clan Boorn Boorn assumed leadership of the Cart gunditj, the Kilgar gunditj and Eurite gunditj when their leadership was eliminated.
Rev Benjamin Hurst (missionary to the Port Phillip tribe) noted in a Weslayen Mission meeting in 1841 that in the Portland bay area "it was usual for some to go out in parties on the Sabbath with guns, for the ostensible purpose of kangarooing, but, in reality to hunt and kill these miserable beings — the bones and the bodies of the slaughtered blacks had been found — but because the evidence of the native was not admissible in a court, the white murderers had escaped with impunity, and were still pursuing their career of crime and blood".
Resisting dispossession, the Gunditjmara concentrated in the Stony Rises from which they waged guerilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run t ...
against the pastoralists usurping their lands, raiding their flocks and herds. Some protection was also afforded by the native protectorate set up at Mount Rouse, which the tribes used as a basis for their operations. A particular point of ire were settlements that took over sacred sites associated with Mount Napier, Lake Condah and Port Fairy.
Due to the ongoing battles in the 1840s, the Gunditjmara became well known as "The fighting Gunditjmara".
Mission life
From the mid- late 19th century attempts were made to have them move into the Framlingham Aboriginal Station, a mission outside Warrnambool. This was unacceptable, it was located moreover on Girai wurrung land. 827 hectares were set aside for them at Lake Condah, and two decades later, in 1885, this reserve was expanded by a further 692 hectares. The tribe congregated here, until an act was passed to deny right of residence to any " half-caste", resulting in the dispersal of many Gunditjmara kinsfolk, and the loss of their collective traditions, with the Condah mission numbers dropping drastically from 117 to 20.
The land was reclaimed in 1951 by the government and allocated to returnee soldiers.
In 2005 the area began to be bulldozed for groundwork for an eight-lot subdivision. The dispute was settled when the area was set aside as a reservation, in an agreement forged in February 2007.
Native title
In 1987, the Victorian Labor government under John Cain John Cain may refer to:
*John Cain (34th Premier of Victoria) (1882–1957), Australian politician
*John Cain (41st Premier of Victoria) (1931–2019), Australian politician, son of the above
*John Cain (lawyer), Victorian Government Solicitor (200 ...
attempted to grant some of the Framlingham State Forest to the trust as inalienable title. However, the legislation was blocked by the Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a l ...
opposition in the Victorian Legislative Council
The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative C ...
. The federal Labor government under Bob Hawke intervened, passing the ''Aboriginal Land (Lake Condah and Framlingham Forest) Act 1987
Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to:
*Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology
* Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area
*One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...
'', which gave of the Framlingham Forest to the Framlingham Trust. Although the title is essentially inalienable, in that it can only be transferred to another Indigenous land trust, the Framlingham Trust has rights to prevent mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...
on the land, unlike trusts or communities holding 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 under settler colonialism. The requirements of proof for the recognition of aboriginal title, t ...
.
The Lake Condah Mission lands were also returned to the Gunditjmara on 1 January 1987, when the former reserve was vested to the Kerrup Jmara Elders Corporation. The transfer included "full management, control and enjoyment by the Kerrup-Jmara Elders Aboriginal Corporation of the land granted to it".
In 1993, the Peek Whurrong members of the Gunditjmara purchased the Deen Maar under the auspices of ATSIC
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) (1990–2005) was the Australian Government body through which Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders were formally involved in the processes of government affecting ...
for the Framlingham Aboriginal Trust, with the intention that it become an Indigenous Protected Area
An Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) is a class of protected area used in Australia; each is formed by voluntary agreement with Indigenous Australians, and declared by Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander representative organisation ...
(IPA), it was granted this status in 1999. Becoming the first IPA in Victoria.
The Lake Condah Mob launched their Native Title Claim in August 1996.
On 30 March 2007, the Federal Court of Australia
The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court of record 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 indic ...
under Justice Anthony North determined on recognising the Gunditjmara People's non-exclusive native title rights and interests over of vacant Crown land, national parks, reserves, rivers, creeks and sea in the Portland region of Victoria's western district. between Dunkeld
Dunkeld (, sco, Dunkell, from gd, Dùn Chailleann, "fort of the Caledonians") is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The location of a historic cathedral, it lies on the north bank of the River Tay, opposite Birnam. Dunkeld lies close to ...
and Yambuk on Victoria's south-west coast were set aside to include the eastern Marr.
On 27 July 2011, together with the Eastern Maar people, the Gunditjmara People were recognised to be the native title-holders of the 4,000 hectares of Crown including Lady Julia Percy Island, known to them as ''Deen Maar''.
Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation
The Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation (GMTOAC) is a Registered Native Title Body Corporate (RNTBC) under the Commonwealth ''Native Title Act 1993
The ''Native Title Act 1993'' (Cth) is a law passed by the Australian Parliament, the purpose of which is "to provide a national system for the recognition and protection of native title and for its co-existence with the national land managem ...
'', and a Registered Aboriginal Party
A Registered Aboriginal Party (RAP) is a recognised representative body of an Aboriginal Australian people per the '' Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006'' (Vic.), whose function is to protect and manage the Aboriginal cultural heritage in the state ...
under the Victorian '' Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006''. The TOAC owns culturally significant properties across Western Victoria
Western Victoria is a wine grape growing zone in the southwestern part of the state of Victoria in Australia. It extends approximately from the South Australia border to Ballarat and from Horsham to the coast. It includes the defined wine reg ...
on behalf of the Gunditjmara community.
Notable people
* Geoff Clark, the first and only elected Aboriginal
Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to:
*Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology
* Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area
*One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...
chairman of ATSIC
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) (1990–2005) was the Australian Government body through which Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders were formally involved in the processes of government affecting ...
* Vicki Couzens, Vice Chancellor
A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system.
In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor i ...
's Indigenous Research Fellow at RMIT and senior knowledge custodian[
* Johnny Cuzens, member of the First XI Aboriginal Cricket Team
* Alfred Egan, the first indigenous player for Carlton and North Melbourne football clubs
* Isaiah Firebrace, singer who won the eighth season of The X Factor Australia and represented Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017
* Richard Frankland, playwright and musician
* ]Misty Jenkins
Dr. Misty R. Jenkins is an Australian scientist known for her research into lymphocytes and cancer treatment.
Jenkins leads an Immunology Laboratory at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research where she researches brain cancer and ...
, cancer researcher, Laboratory Head of Immunology at the Walter and Elizabeth Hall Institute of Medical Research at Melbourne University, first Indigenous Australian to attend Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...
and universities
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...
as a postdoctoral research fellow
* Chris Johnson, Brisbane Lions AFL player
* Nathan Lovett-Murray, Essendon AFL player
* Andrew Lovett, Essendon and St Kilda AFL player
* Ted Lovett
Ted Lovett (born 15 February 1941) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Fitzroy in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Lovett played two games for Fitzroy in the 1963 VFL season, on a permit. He finished the year back at No ...
, who was awarded Order of Australia Medal for services to the Indigenous community in south-west Victoria
* Wally Lovett, Richmond and Collingwood AFL player
* Norm McDonald, AFL player
* Archie Roach
Archibald William Roach (8 January 1956 – 30 July 2022) was an Australian singer, songwriter and Aboriginal activist. Often referred to as "Uncle Archie", Roach was a Gunditjmara and Bundjalung elder who campaigned for the rights of Abori ...
, musician, 2020 Victorian of the Year, winner of multiple Deadly Awards, ARIA Awards and other awards
* Lionel Rose , first Indigenous Australian of the Year, the first Indigenous World Champion Boxer, the first Indigenous person awarded a Gold Record for Music, first Indigenous recipient of an MBE
* Reg Saunders, first Aboriginal
Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to:
*Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology
* Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area
*One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...
commissioned officer
An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service.
Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent conte ...
in the Australian Army
The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...
* Lidia Thorpe, a Gunai/Gunditjmara woman, first Aboriginal woman elected to the Parliament of Victoria
The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria that follows a Westminster System, Westminster-derived parliamentary system. It consists of the Monarchy in Australia, King, repres ...
, first Aboriginal Victorian federal MP (Australian Greens
The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, are a confederation of Green state and territory political parties in Australia. As of the 2022 federal election, the Greens are the third largest political party in Australia by vote and ...
)
Alternative names
* ''Dhauhurtwurru'' (an ethnonnym from the name for the language)
* ''Gournditch-mara'' ( Gunditj= name of Lake Condah mara
Mara or MARA may refer to:
Animals
* Mara (mammal), a species of the cavy family
*Mara the Lioness, in the movie ''Born Free''
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Mara (''Doctor Who''), an evil being in two ''Doctor Who'' serials
*Mara, ...
= ma:r= man), ''Gurnditschmara''
* ''Kirurndit''
* ''Ku:nditjmara''
* ''Kuurn-kopan-noot'' (language name)
* ''Ngutuk'' (This was an exonym, meaning 'thou', used by a neighbouring tribe)
* ''Nil-can-cone-deets''
* ''Port Fairy tribe.'' (Used of the horde along that region's coast, which spoke a dialect called Peekwhuurong).
* ''Spring Creek tribe'' (This referred the Woolsthorpe Mopor horde)
* ''Tourahonong''
* ''Villiers tribe''
* ''Weeritch-Weeritch''
Sources: ,
Some words
* ''kunang'' (shit)
* ''malang'' (wife)
* ''merrejig''('good'; also used as a greeting)
* ''ngirang'' (mother)
* ''Ngutjung yangi-yangi ngutjung'' (good, very good).
* ''paratj''(girl)
* ''pipayi/bebì'' (father)
* ''pundiya'' (to live)
* ''tarayl'' (virgin)
* ''thatha'' (to drink)
* ''thin wurn-ngayi'' (This is our place)
* ''thung'' (smoke)
* ''tjiparak'' (clown)
* ''walat'' (frost, ice)
* ''windha'' (where?)
* ''yul-yul'' (wild man)
* ''yuwa'' (to sleep)
See also
* Budj Bim heritage areas
Notes
Citations
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*See also attached documents: National Heritage List ''Location and Boundary Map'', and ''Government Gazette'', 20 July 2004.
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{{Authority control
Aboriginal peoples of Victoria (Australia)
History of Victoria (Australia)
Western District (Victoria)