The Kooma are a contemporary aggregation of
Indigenous Australian
Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
peoples descending from tribes living in the border region of
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
and
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 ...
. They are descendants of the
Koamu
The Koamu (Guwamu) were an indigenous Australian people of the state of Queensland.
Language
The Koamu language, often classified as a dialect of Bidjara, appeared to be quite similar to that spoken by the Ualarai, and some early ethnographers ...
.
Country
Contemporary Kooma people state their forebears lived upstream from, and to the east of, the
Kunja, along parts of
Nebine Creek and the
Culgoa River. They call this area ''yumba'', literally "camp" but now bearing the broader sense of "home", and the
Murra murra station is of particular importance to them. Other tribes in this area, which more broadly encompasses the area beyond the middle reaches of the Nebine to take in the
Warrego,
Paroo,
Bulloo and
Wilson
Wilson may refer to:
People
* Wilson (name)
** List of people with given name Wilson
** List of people with surname Wilson
* Wilson (footballer, 1927–1998), Brazilian manager and defender
* Wilson (footballer, born 1984), full name Wilson Ro ...
rivers, were the
Bitjara,
Kalili,
Wangkumara
The Wanggumara, also spelt Wangkumara, Wongkumara, Wangkumarra, and other variants, are an Aboriginal people of the state of Queensland, Australia.
Language
Old Wankumara, spoken along the Bulloo River with the Kalali people, was a 'Karna–M ...
Kunggari
The Gunggari, or Kunggari, are an Aboriginal Australian people of southern Queensland. They are to be distinguished from the Kuungkari.
Country
The traditional tribal lands of the Gunggari stretched over some , taking in the Upper Nebine and M ...
and
Muruwari
The Muruwari, also spelt Murawari, Murawarri, Murrawarri and other variants, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of New South Wales and the southwestern area of Queensland.
Language
A monograph on and a dictionary of Muruwari have ...
.
A special remote sitting of 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 ...
on Kooma country, at the Shire Hall in
Bollon
Bollon is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Balonne, Queensland, Australia. In the , Bollon had a population of 221 people.
Geography
Bollon is in South West Queensland, west of the state capital, Brisbane. Bollon is situated on th ...
, south-west Queensland, marked the successful resolution of the Kooma people's claim for native title with a consent determination hearing.
The Kooma People's determination spans an area approximately 2,950 square kilometres in the
south-west region of Queensland, and falls within the Maranoa, Balonne, Murweh and Paroo local
government regions. This country includes the Bendee Downs and Murra Murra pastoral
properties; and also includes other areas around Bollon. Bordering the town to of Wyandra at the north-west,
spanning south to the Culgoa River, and east-west from Wideegoara Creek to Belingra.
The area is of strong cultural, spiritual and historical significance for the Kooma People, and has been the
focus of the Kooma People’s struggle for native title recognition.
People
According to one Kooma tradition, there was one group among them, taller and of lighter skin, who appeared to have an Asiatic appearance. According to folk traditions, in the 1880s a German scientist was fascinated by a group of Kooma who were hairless, and wished to collect from them skin samples for examination. The clan refused, and yet a Kooma corpse was later reported to have been shipped back to Berlin.
Mythology
The
dreamtime in Kooma lore was called ''Matya Mundu''. One tale relates how the rainbow serpent as it slithered along the Warrego River, dug out waterholes and populated them with
yellow-belly,
catfish
Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...
, and cod.
Notes
Citations
Sources
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Aboriginal peoples of Queensland