Kangaroo Valley - aspects of Australian Indigenous cultural heritage
Shoalhaven: | Aunty Julie Freeman | Berry's Frankenstein & Arawarra | Cullunghutti - Sacred Mountain | Death ... Arawarra, Berry & Shelley | First Nations research | Gooloo Creek, Conjola | Kangaroo Valley | Mickey of Ulladulla | Mount Gigenbullen | Byamee's Hands, Shoalhaven River | Ulladulla Mission | Words | Yams |
| Aborigines / Indigenous / First Nations archive |
Contents
- Introduction
- Chronology & bibliography
- Dreaming stories
- pre European settlement
- post-Invasion
- Acknowledgements
----------------
1. Introduction
The following compilation of material was brought about through the writer's awareness of the work of Reconciliation Allies Kangaroo Valley (RAKV), a community group formed in 2021 comprising mostly Kangaroo Valley residents. It, along with the nearby Shoalhaven Walking Together Alliance, comprise a group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian's further motivated by the negative response to the Voice referendum of 2023 to raise awareness of First Nations cultural heritage and associated issues. One aspect of this endeavour, and of which the writer is especially interested, is specific historic information available regarding such cultural heritage matters. As a result, the following chronology aims to provide a resource for those interested in this element of the history of Australia concerning the Aboriginal peoples of the Kangaroo Valley area of New South Wales, Australia. Such information is available from the following sources:
- Oral traditions of the local Indigenous population.
- Post-Invasion records by non-Indigenous Australians of their encounters with Indigenous Australians and their cultural heritage.
- Records of visitors to Australia.
Material from all three groups is included in the items below. Some are mere references, with links if available, whilst others are extracts of original sources. Text, images and multimedia are included. The writer welcomes additional material, and a contact link is provided below.
----------------
2. Chronology & bibliography
The following chronology contains references and historical extracts pertaining to Kangaroo Valley based Indigenous (Aboriginal / First Nations) cultural heritage material and issues. Material both pre-Invasion (i.e. prior to the coastal exploration of Captain Cook in 1770 and subsequent arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Harbour in 1788) and post-Invasion are included.
Dreaming stories
Dreaming stories are an important record of cultural activities, the education process, and encounters with the natural world. The majority are timeless, some are location specific, others are event specific and some can be dates. The sky also features, as do mythical creatures and spiritual beliefs. For examples of local and regional dreaming stories refer Organ (1990, 1993, 1994) below.
* Wulthegang - On three occasions between 1899-1902 Archibald Campbell was given snippets of information about the mysterious creature called ‘Wulthegang’ who inhabited the Cambewarra Mountain. His informant was Buthring, a Shoalhaven native from Coolangatta, who was very reluctant to reveal details of this mysterious being. The first account was recorded on 18 October 1899, in reply to Campbell’s question regarding the native name of Cambewarra Mountain.
Cambewarra Mountain - The native name for this he said, was not the above, but "Gumbeengang". And here he volunteered in intense earnestness, to launch forth in superstitious legend - He said the mountain was so named on account of a "little hairy man" who lived in a cave situated near the top of the range. The "little man" had lived there from time immemorial, lived there still, and would do for all time. He did not eat bread or any such things, as ordinary blackfellows, and white fellows did, but ate bush possums, which existed in the locality for his use. He (Buthring) had never seen the little man, or his cave, but his father had, and all the old blackfellows, passed away, knew everything about him. The cave was carved all over by the little man, who passed his time doing such carving which was the original pattern that used to be worked on the inside of the best made possum rugs manufactured by the blacks in years gone by - that was to say, within the early days of settlement by Europeans in the district. He said all old residents would remember the patterns that the blacks used to trace on the inside of the possum rugs, many years ago, which patterns he gave with authoritative earnestness as having been designed by the "little man” and obtained from him. And he was quite emphatic about the said cave and little man being on the mountain top still.
[On 14 February 1900, Archibald Campbell was given further information re Wulthegang by Buthring:
The Little Man of the Cambewarra Mountain (he told me about before) he says is about the height of a table, and his colour "quarter-caste” - blacker than a white man, & whiter than a half-caste.
[The final version of the Wallanthagang story was given to Campbell on 18 May 1902, again by Buthring:
"Wulthegang" is the name of a small mysterious Aborigine residing in a cave on the highest point of Cambewarra Mountain range - the sandstone capped summit southwestward of Mr Graham’s residence, on the Berry - Kangaroo Valley Road. Wulthegang is only about two feet high, but is so abnormally strong that he could throw any number of men about as he pleased and kill them at will, as he always did when such came in his way. He has several small "Jins" - about his own height, and they have piccaninnies, but neither Jins nor the latter are ever seen - nor Wulthegang himself. He always disappears into his cave when approached. But if he did not do so all would be killed by him that came in his way. He has been in the cave from time immemorial, and will remain there for all future time.
In olden times the Aborigines say there were another lot of small wild Blacks about forty or fifty miles up the Shoalhaven River country above Nowra. They were called Jangbeegang". They were about the same stature as Wulthegang and his Jins. Unlike him and his family they were mere wild Blacks - not mysterious beings.
Buthring gives the same name "Jangbeegang" to the Cambewarra Mountain over which the Nowra - Kangaroo Valley [road] passes. The Aboriginal name for the high sand-stone cap of the mountain in which Wulthegang resided was "Boorrul". He carved pictures on the face of the rocks, quite expertly, and his carvings were there to be seen by any person visiting the place. These particulars are additional to what Buthring related to me some time ago, on this mysterious subject. He becomes excited when speaking about it, and it would seem to me that he has a dread of giving the name of the "little man". He wanted to know if I had an intention to "catch him", & warned me that he could kill him (Buthring) & myself & many more.
* Two Women and A Dog - According to P. Turbet (1989, pp.124-5) This anecdote, recorded by Mathews in the Illawarra, is obviously a remnant of a longer story. It tells of the formation of some prominent rocks in the hills between Kangaroo Valley and the sea:
Two women were out in the bush gathering burrawang seeds and putting them into net bags - kurama. During the day they met a dog who was carrying a mullet, murra-murra. They asked him where he had caught it and as he answered, the women, their bags of burrawang seeds and their yamsticks (gaualang) were turned to stone.
* Kangaroo Valley Mountain Devil, 16 December 1897, Illawarra Mercury. Extract from the Sydney Mail of an article by E.D. Hobson re the passing of the Illawarra Aboriginal people:
.... One of the most interesting aboriginal legends I have heard was, however, told to me by Mr Brown. It is specially interesting from its immediate suggestion of one of the most striking of the Biblical stories.
There is a track over the Kangaroo Valley Mountain, south of Albion Park, and along this route a tribe was travelling. A young gin, who was given to loitering, was particularly warned not to do so here, or the particular evil spirit of the locality would seize her. Perhaps she felt that hankering which some of her sex are alleged to feel for "a bit of the devil."
Anyway, she did loiter, the local demon seized her, and, having wreaked his will upon her, turned her into stone. Unlike Lot's unhappy spouse, she was petrified as she lay, and she must have been a strapping young woman, for her freestone remains are about 12ft long. Like a famous Venus, the effigy had lost its arms, and the head also had been broken off - otherwise a somewhat "impressionist" statue of a woman.
* The Nut Gatherers. The following story in verse was originally published by Andrew Mackenzie (1874, p.257). The scene is Bendthualaly, located between Parry’s Meadows and the Kangaroo Ground.
From the mountain the nutters fruit-laden come back,
with a fish twixt their teeth;
meet the dog on the track.
"Now whence come you, Warragul, tell us we pray?"
"From the river below I have come all the way.
"A mullet to take to Kangargraon thought,
"Murra-murra thus far on my journey have brought."
Enough? through the frame of his hearers there steals
Subtle poison the blood, flesh, and bone that congeals.
Wild, speechless, and rigid, in vain to reply,
By voice or by sign, either maga may try.
Every fibre benumbed, a last effort to make
The spell that is freezing all motion to break,
For dance of defiance, they raise the left arm,
Outstretched, the leg stiffens, too strong is the charm.
They stagger; the purawang poised on each head,
Falls split to the ground as the bearer falls dead.
At Bendthualaly they lie side by side,
With uplifted arm, as they fell down and died.
To this day may be seen, with their nuts round them strewn
The Purungalailoula all turned to stone.
[According to Mackenzie, ‘Kangargraon’ is the native name for Kangaroo Ground]
----------------------
pre European settlement
* The Illawarra Aborigines consisted of a number of family groups who occupied the coastal strip from Bulli and Stanwell Park in the north, to Shoalhaven and Kangaroo Valley in the south. They were mostly coastal dwellers - though they also used the resources of the mountain areas to the west of the escarpment - and lived on a diet of fish (sea, freshwater, and shell) supplemented by local flora and fauna (Organ 1990, Sefton 1983,1988).
* There was regular communication between the Aborigines of Bong Bong, Kangaroo Valley, Kiama, and the Shoalhaven according to historical accounts.
* The language spoken in Kangaroo Valley was that subsequently (1890s+) referred to by European anthropologists and linguists as Dharawal (Eades 1976). It was derivative of the ancient Proto-Australian language (Illert 2013).
* Kangaroo Valley was a place of healing and renewal for local Aboriginal people.
* Kangaroo Valley was a place where women came to have their babies. Birthing caves have been found in the Upper Kangaroo River area around Broger’s End.
* Numerous archaeological sites are located in and around Kangaroo Valley. These can include grinding grooves, burial sites, cave and overhang occupation sites, ceremonial grounds and artefacts such as flints, axe heads, cutting tool, and fishing paraphernalia. The majority of organic materials associated with Indigenous culture over the ages have deteriorated due to natural processes. For this reason there is very little material evidence of the occupation of the area by local people over the 130,000+ years of occupation of Australia which has so far been identified by scientific methods.
----------------------
* post-Invasion
1770 - 1788
The Endeavour expedition under Lt. James Cook sailed by the Shoalhaven area in April 1770 and made observations on the local people. Following the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Harbour in January 1788, free settlers and convicts travelled south the the Shoalhaven from at least 1796. There is no specific reference to their presence in Kangaroo Valley until 1812. During the intervening period the local people would have been very much aware of the Europeans, through encounters as they travelled up and down the coast to attend ceremonies such as corroborees, and through news and stories which were exchanged as part of the normal communication channels within Indigenous society.
1812
* In 1812 surveyor George William Evans and his party, guided by an Aboriginal man named Bundle, journeyed from Jervis Bay to the Shoalhaven River. They also climbed Cambewarra Mountain where Evans remarked upon the magnificence of the view in what would become known as Kangaroo Valley. (Kangaroo Valley Community Website)
1816-17
* Captain Robert Brooks is granted land at the Illawarra and likely brings cattle in Kangaroo Valley during 1817 (Cousins 1948).
1818
* In 1818, Dr Charles Throsby sought a route into the valley from the north, travelling from Liverpool with Aboriginal guides Broughton and Trimalong (also known as ‘Young Bundle’, son of ‘Old Bundle’) over the Meryla Pass and climbing out over Budgong Gap. Another man, Timbery, guided Throsby to the Illawarra; Broughton and Trimalong also guided him further south to Jervis Bay (Waddell 2024).
* March - April 1818: Charles Throsby and a party, including the Aborigines Bundle and Broughton, travel overland from Liverpool to Jervis Bay. Throsby records a ‘Journal of a Tour of Discovery to Jervis Bay, 3 March to 13 April, 1818’ {Archives Office of New South Wales, Colonial Secretary Correspondence, 9/2743, pp.1-77, Reel 6034}.
Bantanoon [Bundanoon] 29th March [1818]. At daylight fine weather, wind northward. Set out before breakfast to look at the creek towards its source, found it formed by very inconsiderable streams and think it does not extend any great distance, the water falling to the right, it is probable that by keeping more to the eastwards, the pass we came down may be avoided. At 9 set out, crossed the creek. 1/2 past 9 ascending, at 10 descending a poor stony hill. A very high barrier of mountainous rocks all round. 1/2 past 10, on the top of a hill, barren land. At 11 o’clock rounding the point of a high rocky hill to the left, high perpendicular rocks to the right. 1/2 past 11 poor forest, rounding the points of range. At 12 barren scrub, going down to a deep gully ahead, high rocks and broken point of range country on the other side. 1/2 past 12 on the top of a steep hill. From the number of loose rocks, I thought it prudent to unload the horse, and carry’d everything down, which occupied our time until 2. 1/2 past 2 down the hill on a beautiful piece of meadow, by the side of a considerable stream of water running to the right (this stream runs from the Kangaroo Ground where Captain Brooks has cattle about 3 miles distant). At 3 along the river. 1/2 past 3 halted in the meadow (land and grass very good) by the side of a stream to prepare a crossing place and secure provisions, the weather being very cloudy and likely to rain. At 5 rain which continued until 12 o’clock. An old Native with a wife and eight children came to us at this place, tells me this river rises out of a piece of forest grounds close at the back of the Five Islands Mountain which ground I sent Joseph Wild to examine about 12 months since. He informs me he met the old Man and Family there and that the land from whence this river takes its sources is a very large piece of excellent forest and that the sources of it and those of Macquarie River at Five Islands is only separated by the range of the Macquarie Mountains.
* 30 March 1818 - Charles Throsby is at Parronrah (Kangaroo Valley).
1819
* November 1819 - Surveyor Meehan mentions Broughton and his gin "from Kangaroo Ground" in his Field Book, after having travelled from Jervis Bay to Moss Vale in October (Bayley 1953). This is the first recorded mention of the location named Kangaroo Ground.
1820
* Captain Brooks mentions his "late journey to Kangaroo Ground" and is the first European to take cattle there (Bayley 1953). He is said to have occupied over thirty square miles of land at that time.
1821
* 21 February 1821 - Captain Brooks granted 700 acres at the Kangaroo Ground.
1822
* Charles Throsby of Moss Vale, in a letter to Alexander Berry of Coolangatta (Organ 1993) states the following: Perhaps I may take it into my head to visit you, I think I can get to the place where Brooks has his cattle [Kangaroo Valley] the first day, and be with you on the second, early, but in all probability I shall see you before you set off.
* Seth Hawker trial for the murder of an Aboriginal woman mentions Kangaroo Ground (Organ 1990).
1823
* 31 October 1823 - Cornelius O'Brien obtains a Ticket of Occupation for ten square miles of hilly country called the Kangaroo Ground for use of his herd as a grazing run.
1826
* Census of Kangaroo Valley indicates 79 Aboriginal residents in five separate encampments.
1827
* 3 May 1827 - List of Illawarra Aboriginal Chiefs. Letter containing details of Aborigines at Illawarra, including tribal and chief names, and census details. A total of 105 Aborigines are recorded {Archives Office of New South Wales, Colonial Secretary Correspondence, 4/2045, Letter 27/4459}.
Chief's name: Timmulang / What tribe - Kangaroo Ground / Number of Men (5) Women (9) Children (1).
* 2 July 1827 - Census of Illawarra Aborigines{Archives Office of New South Wales, Colonial Secretary Correspondence, 4/2025} Extract from a summary of blankets issued to Aborigines at Illawarra, as per order of the Government Gazette of 31 March.
Abstract showing the number of Aborigines who have been recommended by the Magistrates of the several Districts in which they reside, to receive Blankets and Slops, distinguishing the several Tribes, and the number of Men, Women and Children belonging to each Tribe respectively, as requested by the Col Sec Circular dated 31st March 1827 No 19.
Number of blankets issued: Kangaroo Ground / Men (5) Women (9) Children (1) Total (15).
1828
* 12 May 1828: Return of Aborigines of the Sutton Forest district {Archives Office of New South Wales, Colonial Secretary Correspondence, 4/2045, Letter 28/4074}.
Sutton Forest 12th May 1828 - Return of the Black Natives in this neighbourhood shewing the particulars required in the Colonial Secretary's Letter of 29th April 1828.
Name of Tribe - Sutton Forest Tribe
Usual place of resort - Sutton Forest, Kangaroo Ground
No. of Men (4) Women (9) Children (5)
Blankets recommended to be given: Six
Other articles recommended: Three suits of slops. Red serge shirts instead of Cotton, Parramatta frocks in lieu.
Name of Tribe - Budjong Tribe
Usual place of resort - Sutton Forest, Kangaroo Ground, and the Banks of the Shoalhaven river in the County of Camden, and opposite side.
Blankets recommended to be given: Eight
Other articles recommended: Six suits of slops, as above.
This Tribe, although one of the most docile and peaceable possible have never had any Slops given to them. The principal person among them is Thomas Errombee an elderly man of the most quiet inoffensive disposition, and greatly respected by his countrymen. I beg to recommend that a plate should be presented to him inscribed "Errombee Chief of the Budjong Tribe." Jas. Atkinson J.P.
1830s
* In the course of a conversation (during September 1898) with Mr John Fraser J.P. of Bushgrove, Tullimbar, this gentleman related to me:
King Tullimbar
Since the early days of settlement in the Macquarie Valley (now having the town of Albion Park as a centre) an Aboriginal named "Tullimbar" or "Tullumbar" was the recognized King of the Aboriginal tribe of the locality. He was a powerfully built, athletic man, who was looked to with awe, as well as respect, by his tribesmen, who in the early days of the "Thirties" and "Forties" numbered several hundred. The tribe however had their main centre and "Kingdom" in "Tullimbar", now known as "Tongarra". This locality, or the upper portion of the Macquarie Valley, was named Tullimbar, or Tullumbar, by the Aborigines. The creek running from the main stream through the farm known as Tongarra and another part of the homestead was known as Tongarra by the Aborigines. The name Tullimbar was carried as it were from its rightful location to where it is now so designated by a Mr Davis, who opened a store in the sixties - his reason, or excuse, for the misnaming the place, was that he was opening the store for "Tullimbar people", meaning those residing in the upper Macquarie region.
King Tullimbar used to relate two thrilling incidents in the course of his life. In one instance, while he was a young man, he was on a visit to Kangaroo Valley, where another young man of the tribe manifested jealousy of him on account of a charming "jin" to whom both of them were paying attention. In the course of his return journey alone over the mountain range by the route subsequently designated "The Butter Track", Tullimbar camped out by the way on the Illawarra descent. He suspected that his sable rival might fall on him stealthily from the Kangaroo Valley for the purpose of murdering him by the way, so that he might then have a clear way with the charming "jin".
By the way of stratagem Tullimbar, after lighting a fire, and making use of it for whatever cooking purposes required, retired under cover to a near but safe distance, instead of lying beside the fire throughout the night as was the Aboriginal custom. Before doing so, however, he got a portion of tree-fern trunk about the length of a man, and rolled his possum cloak around it to appear in the dim fire light something like a person asleep. This was with a view to deceive and decoy his rival should he dog his steps in the night for the purpose of murder. In the course of the dead hours of night Tullimbar’s supposition was realized, by noticing the Kangaroo Valley man approaching in a crouching attitude, and murderously attacking the fern trunk which he speared through and then tomahawked. As he was in the act of doing so Tullimbar sprang upon him and speared him through the upper part of the body, and having him entirely at his mercy, he then eked his vengeance on him in one way and another without actually killing him. One gruesome process adopted by him was to place the man’s hands on a stone, and pound away at them with another stone until he had converted them to jelly - and to use his own oft repeated words about the matter, he "beat him all night".
"I beat him all night" was his own favourite way of expressing his part in the tragedy. He let the man go next morning, and the latter actually made his way back to Kangaroo Valley in his wounded and bruised condition, but died shortly afterwards from the effects of Tullimbar's retribution in the mountain range in the dark hours of the night. The other instance referred to occurred on Johnstone’s Meadows, Macquarie River. On a certain day, and in broad daylight, as Tullimbar was in the act of stooping down on his knees to drink water from a creek or pool in the thick bush, he noticed the shadow of another blackfellow, who was making a rush on him from behind, with a tomahawk or bludgeon, evidently intending to murder him. Tullimbar sprang to his feet before his assailant accomplished his deadly purpose. A fierce encounter ensued but speedily ended in the death of the attacking party by Tullimbar. Tullimbar killed him on the spot and often he told the deadly tale to the residents of the locality in the course of his subsequent lifetime.
In connection with this notice of Tullimbar, it may be related that the favourite camping place of the "Blacks" during the early settlement of the Macquarie settlement by Europeans were on the bank of the river, near what subsequently became the position of the Main Road, the slope of the hill west of the "Churches" of modern days, and on the site of Mr John Marer’s property, and on the north of the river so named by that gentleman "Bushgrove". In the course of ploughing the land in different places, some implements of the Aborigines.....
1836
* 20 June 1836 - Sale of Land, Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney.
82. CAMDEN, 960, Nine hundred and sixty acres, more or less, parish unnamed, at the Kangaroo Ground, commencing near Brook's stockyard; bounded on the north by the Kangaroo River; on the west by the section line next east of Brook's stockyard; and on the south and east by section lines. Applied for by James Osborne. Price 5s. per acre.
* September - October 1836: Reverend James Backhouse, a Quaker minister, and his companion George Washington Walker, visit Illawarra, Shoalhaven, and Bong Bong. They encounter a group of local Aborigines at Kangaroo Valley, Backhouse noting that they were on their way to a corroboree in Sydney, to exchange songs. It is partially described as follows:
...... several of them speak tolerable English. They were attired either in skin garments, fastened over one shoulder and under the other, or in blankets, or articles of European clothing; one having on a pair of trousers, another a shirt, a third a jacket, and so on. Few of them had any covering for their heads, and none had shoes.'All of them had undergone the ceremony of having one front-tooth knocked out, on being admitted to the privileges of manhood; and they had the cartilages of their noses perforated and bones, the thickness of a quill, and about four inches long, through them. They wore fillets of network about their heads, and beads, formed of short pieces of reed, about their necks.'Among their possessions was a musket, exchanged for work undertaken. (Kangaroo Valley Community Website)
The original account is as follows:
[3 October 1836], We again proceeded on our journey, having two Blacks, Lewis and Sam, as guides, Tommy having left Shoalhaven, without notice. We were so amply provided with food for two days, by our kind host, that the services of one of these men was required, to carry it on his head, in a sack.
...At the foot of the Camberwarra mountains, we met half-a-dozen Blacks, dressed in blankets, and in the old clothes of Europeans. One of these sons of the forests had an expressive countenance, and remarkably fine features; he spoke English tolerably, and said that he went occasionally, as a seaman, on board a vessel belonging to A. Berry. These people were accoutred with hunting and fishing spears, and weapons of war, some of which are here represented. Figure 1, is a heavy, wooden, offensive weapon; Fig.2, a throwing stick, or womera, used for projecting spears; the after extremities of which, are placed against the hook, behind the combatant, as represented at page 380: Fig.3, a single-barbed spear, used in war; Fig.4, a death-spear, barbed with a row of pieces of glass. Fig.5, a shield, of wood, having a handle in the centre, under which is a piece of soft, tea-tree bark, to defend the knuckles. This shield was whitened, and marked with red lines: sometimes they are blackened with blood and soot, under the idea of rendering them proof against injury: and on this black surface, the figure of a hand is occasionally depicted, by means of a white powder, thrown on before the black is dry, or the whole is dotted with white. At Moreton Bay, the shields were oblong, and made of light wood, of the Gigantic Nettle. Figs. 6 and 8, are clubs of heavy wood. Fig.7, a Boomring, Boomering, Barragan, or Kyler, described at page 319. Fig.9, a four-pronged fishing-spear, described at page 288.
[The party now travels on to the Kangaroo Ground, present day Kangaroo Valley]
In passing through some of the more open forest, on the Kangaroo River, and contiguous plain, Buttercups, Violets, and geraniums, resembling those of English fields, but not identical with them, reminded us pleasantly of our native land, while Red-tailed Black Cockatoos, numerous Aborigines, and many plants of truly Australian features, proved that we were still at the antipodes of the land of our birth.
The men residing on the Kangaroo Ground, had no Bible. The only religious treatise in their possession, was a Prayer Book; but they were not destitute of compassion for the afflicted. A poor, aged, black woman, who had lost the use of her legs, and was living near their hut, under a slight shelter, formed of a few sheets of bark, was chiefly supported by milk and scraps of food, which they gave her.
[4 October 1836], We found our old guide on the Kangaroo ground, where he had been engaged in a fight, had got his head severely broken, and had then made peace with his antagonist.Three tribes of Blacks were assembled here last night: one belonging to the neighbourhood, and the others to Shoalhaven and Bong Bong. There were forty men in one of these tribes. They were going to the Cowpastures, to learn a new song, that had been invented by some of their country people there! For an object of this kind they often travel great distances. Several of them speak tolerable English. They were attired either in skin garments, fastened over one shoulder and under the other, or blankets, or in articles of European clothing; one having on a pair of trousers, another a shirt, a third a jacket, and so on. Few of them had any covering for their heads, and none had shoes.
All the men had undergone the ceremony of having one front-tooth knocked out, on being admitted to the privileges of manhood; and they had the cartilages of their noses perforated, and bones, the thickness of a quill, and about four inches long, through them. They wore fillets of network around their heads, and beads, formed of short pieces of reed, round their necks.They prop up large sheets of bark with sticks, for shelters to sleep under, having fired in front. They are very peaceable, when kindly treated. We felt no fear when sleeping in a rude hut, without a fastening to the door, which blew open several times in the night, though about 200 of them were
only a few yards distant.
In the morning eight of them, in addition to the three we had engaged, choose to accompany us on our journey. Our party did not commence their march untill after a considerable time had been spent in conversation between our sable companions, and their countrymen. To this delay we were obliged to submit patiently. They carried with them, their arms, and a musket, which one of them
had received as a present from a settler, for whom he had done some service....
One of the Natives ascended a Cabbage Palm, and with a hatchet, cut off its head, which he soon stripped of leaves, to afford us the opportunity of tasting the heart. Not having that of the Seaforthia to compare it with, at the time, I could not decide that it was superior, though it is generally reputed to be so. The Natives informed us that they were not aware that the hearts of these Palms were wholesome, till White people came among them; they now form a considerable item of their food, in this part of the country. The Blacks were greatly afraid of being poisoned, by eating articles to which they have not been accustomed. Though sometimes pressed with hunger, they seem not to have tried several vegetable productions, likely to afford sustenance; and those of V.D.Land will not eat any kind of fish, but shell-fish, probably from fear of being poisoned by them....
Some Pheasants and a Kangaroo were espied in the bush by the Natives, who were very cheerful companions. They were amply supplied with food, on arriving at the noble mansion of Charles Throsby, at Throsby Park, near Bong Bong, where we also were received with great hospitality.
......
{Re-telling of part of Quaker account by Frank O'Brien, 10 August 1961, Illawarra Mercury, Pioneers' Views Varied on Aborigines.}
[September 1836] Later in the same month, while at Dapto, they engaged an aborigine named Tommy, of the Kangaroo Ground (Valley), as their guide to Bong Bong (Moss Vale - Bowral). He pictured Tommy with the following words:
"He was of middle stature, rather broad-shouldered, and had a depressed nose, through the cartilage of which he wore a bone. His eyes were drawn obliquely toward their inner angle, probably from the same cause which occasioned an elevated ridge downward from one of them."
At this point in the description, Tommy loses some of his dignity, particularly in view of the foregoing, which had given the impression that he was a toughened, battle-scarred warrior capable of standing up to the rigors of the bush.
"When he came to us," Backhouse said, "he was dressed in a suit of ragged European clothing."
The two Quakers did what they thought best for Tommy and "... as a part of his wages, he was fitted out with a striped shirt, a pair of canvas trousers and a grey woollen jacket." On their way to Kiama, the party met up with another lot of aborigines and this time the writer had the opportunity to let us know how they appeared in their uncivilised tribal state. There were females with this group and the Quaker's eyes were drawn briefly to their crowning glory, their hair. The females had their
hair ornamented with kangaroos' teeth .....," he wrote. The natives, in turn, had shown interest in the white men - that is interest enough to ask Tommy, the guide, who they were. "All the men had the cartilage of the nose perforated and through the perforation they will sometimes stick the stem of a tobacco-pipe, when they have no other convenient
place for carrying it."
The writer went on to tell how he and his friend met Alexander Berry, the Shoalhaven pioneer, and recorded that Berry told them the blacks believed porpoises were the ancient chiefs of the tribe transmuted after death. Having spent some little time with Berry, the Quakers and their party pressed on, baking their way to Kangaroo Valley. Here they saw three tribes of blacks assembled - "one belonging to the neighborhood and the others to Shoal Haven and Bong Bong."
There were 40 men in one of the tribes, Backhouse noted, and added that some of them spoke "tolerable" English. The tribes were going to "the Cow-Pastures" - presumably Camden - to learn a new song that had been invented by some of their countrymen there. "For an object of this kind they often travel great distances," the Quaker wrote. He observed that all of the had undergone the ceremony of having one from tooth knocked out on being admitted to the privileges of manhood. They had the cartilages of their noses perforated and bones the thickness of a quill and about four inches long through them. For further ornamentation - or badges of rank - the aborigines wore "fillets of network" around their heads, and beads formed of short pieces of reed around their necks. As protection against the elements, the natives propped up large sheets of bark with sticks for shelters while sleeping and had fires blazing in front of them. "They were very peaceable when kindly treated ...," Backhouse added.
.....
George Washington Walker account:
[Monday, 3 October 1836] ... A great many Aborigines from various districts, Bong Bong, Kangaroo ground, were assembled about this place [Bong Bong], it was said, to proceed to the Cowpastures to learn a new song that had recently been invented by the Blacks of those parts. Many of these people were fine, athletic men, and bearing marks of a more than common share of intellect, was it but rightly cultivated and expanded. We saw our former guide who had left us abruptly, to deliver a message with which he had been entrusted before he met with us, by a person residing at the Kangaroo ground, which we were willing to regard as sufficient apology for his defection, and we agreed that on his accompanying us to Bong Bong the following day, he should receive his 2/6 [two shillings and sixpence] which we had promised him on his arrival with us at the place. He had been fighting since his return and had reed, two violent cuts on the head - the cause of this quarrel with one of his tribe was respecting a woman....
* 15 November 1836: Return of Aboriginal Natives at Bong Bong. This return also includes Aborigines from Shoalhaven and Kangaroo Ground {Archives Office of New South Wales, Colonial Secretary Correspondence, 4/2302.1}
English and Native names / Tribe / Wives / Age / Place of resort
Jenkins and Coonggoody / Kangaroo Ground tribe / 24 / Kangaroo Ground
Harry Yanungla / Kangaroo Ground tribe / 15 / Kangaroo Ground
Jackie Bulworra / Kangaroo ground tribe / 18 / Kangaroo Ground
Charley Tyndal / Broughton Creek tribe / 21 / 1 wife / Kangaroo Ground
Dick Bathong / Broughton Creek tribe / 22 / Kangaroo Ground
Paddy Curromol / Broughton Creek tribe / 15 / Kangaroo Ground
Jackie Nundijong / Broughton Creek tribe / 25 / 1 wife / Kangaroo Ground
Jemmy Midjock / Broughton Creek tribe / 17 / Kangaroo Ground
Jemmy Qurnjalong / Broughton Creek tribe / 16 / Kangaroo Ground
Jackie Tigly Mialy / Broughton Creek tribe / 16 / Kangaroo Ground
Tom Yalma / Broughton Creek tribe / 27 / 1 wife / Kangaroo Ground
Harry Wirrah / Broughton Creek tribe / 40 / 2 wives / 1 female child / Kangaroo Ground
Captain Brook Yaggine / Broughton Creek tribe / 55 / 1 wife / 1 male child / 2 female children / Kangaroo Ground
Daniel Kundigundy / Broughton Creek tribe / 22 / Kangaroo Ground
* Captain Brooks (circa 1836), Frank McCaffrey Notes, University of Wollongong Archives.
Captain Brooks, the old Black King who spoke of having been present at the landing in Botany Bay of Captain Cook, and also in Sydney when Captain Phillip landed, also in Kiama when Bass landed under the old figtree to explore the Blow Hole (It was a tradition amongst the old black fellows that in the long ago a Black Fellow was cast down the Blow Hole Kiama for a crime and a big wave cast him up again. The tribe never visited the place.)
The Aboriginal King named Captain Brooks - native name unknown - obtained his name from the
sawyers who knew that he piloted Captain Richard Brooks’ cattle from Lake Illawarra to Kangaroo Ground in 1821. The old Black King according to the old sawyers had tasted human flesh in various forms. He was in 1850 a very old man, totally blind, having to be led from place to place by the tribe. On July 4th 1857 he was left alone in the camp near the Lagoon, Kiama, when a westerly wind blew the embers from the fire into where he was lying and his charred remains were observed there by the tribe on its return from its hunting expedition.
1837
* Captain Robert Marsh Westmacott, former Aid-de-camp to Governor Richard Bourke, took up residence at Bulli in northern Illawarra between 1837-47. He was an amateur artist and at one stage produced the following watercolour drawing:
 |
| R.M. Westmacott, View in the Kangaroo Valley showing the manner the natives climb the trees for oppossums and bandicoots, circa 1837-47, Collection: National Library of Australia. |
It shows Aborigines of the Kangaroo Valley climbing a tree to hunt native animals. Fellow article George French Angas also recorded a similar scene from the Dapto area in August 1845, with Aborigines scaling slender cabbage palms.
* 8 May 1837 - Return of Aboriginal Natives taken at Wollongong on 8th May 1837
Name / Age / No of wives / Place of resort
Toolbay / 30 / 1 / Kangaroo Ground
1839
* Marulan [Cattle thieves], Sydney Monitor, 11 November 1839.
It is rumoured in this quarter, that about the Ploughed Grounds, and in the neighbourhood of the vicinity, near Sutton Forest, there are persons residing, who are so fortunate at times to pick up stray horses and draught bullocks - that said horses and oxen are conveyed towards Sydney via Illawarra by a track of road (formerly used by individuals going to and from the Cedar ground on the Illawarra Mountains) leading from Bong Bong to the Kangaroo Ground at Illawarra aforesaid; and there is a tract of unlocated land near Paddy's River, on the old line of road, at present occupied by unlicensed squatters, who steal calves and conceal them.
1840
* Australasian Chronicle, Sydney, 22 August 1840.
Original Poetry.
THE CHIEF "FRYINGPAN" AGAIN.
The chief is enraged with his tribe for hunting the opossum while he was absent in pursuit of the kangaroo; his royal wrath is the more enkindled, inasmuch as he returned from the chase without one kangaroo fat enough for the butcher's shop; and, whenever he falls in with the vassals of his territory in corrobora asssembled, he bursts forth into impassioned speeches, as loud and incoherent as a drunken man in a public-house.
Know ye not, sons of Koomla* that I am your chief?
As sable+ as midnight - uncurbed as the deep!
I'm your master at boomerang, spear, and canoe,
I am foremost in chasing the wild kangaroo.
Behold me then, vassals dark, foaming in wrath;
I am choking with rage - I'm almost out of breath
At your daring presumption, while I was away
After game, at the kangaroo grounds, t' other day.
Yes! have ye not daringly hunted for food,
For your poor piccaninies, through my royal wood?
You have traversed my mountains, have fished my lagoons,
To procure meat and drink for your low-bred gossoons.
Hear my voice, sons of Koomla, nor breathe while I speak,
Impressed be my words in your hearts long and deep;
I'm the natural guardian of Wollongong's youth -
And you'd feed your young fry in my absence, forsooth.
To the cries of your offspring mean, craving relief,
You have hearkened, and slighted the pride of your chief;
You've sought for your children the daintiest food,
Though ye knew I would keep it for children of blood.
Neither wallaby, emu, opossum, nor fish,
Was reputed for beggars too dainty a dish.
Oh! "Disgrace!" oh! "Dishonour!!" "Impertinence" too!!!
I'm surpised you don't treat them to fat kangaroo.
Ye are wheedled and puzzled, confounded as mules,
Ye have given the lie to your chiefs, stupid fools;
Go undo what you've done, else the fire of my brow
Will be kindled against you, I'll kick up a row.
Let immediate reaction take place, out of hand,
Come, besiege the old Gonieu at my dread command;
What! hesitate! stammer!! explain!!! disobey!!!!
Oh, thou ghost of thy father! I envy thy day.
Haste, thy spirit infuse in the veins of thy son;
Thy Fryingpan's checked in his pride, he's undone:
My glory is tarnished - it remains for the grave,
To commingle my bones with the dust of the slave.
* Koomla is a prominent and noble mountain in the Illawarra range.
+ Of their sable colour the blacks of Illawarra are as proud as ever were the Yorkites of Knickerbocker; they bless their stars that, born black and beautiful, they are free from all tinge of the half-caste orange hue.
1841
* A census of 1841 indicates that there were two free men and five convicts living in Kangaroo Valley but, in reality, including sawyers hidden away in the forests, there were between ten and twenty whites, not to mention the Aborigines. (Kangaroo Valley Community Website)
1846
* [September 1846] In 1846 Charles McCaffrey became the manager of the Osborne cattle station at Kangaroo Valley (Kangaroo Ground). The task of moving his family and belongings from Marshall Mount to Kangaroo Valley, via Gerringong, Berry (Broughton Creek) and Barrengary, were described in reminiscences published by his son around 1930 (The McCaffrey Family of Illawarra, Kiama):
...The next halt was at Broughton Creek, where arrangements were made to leave most of the contents of the dray, and start early next morning for Barrengary by means of the pack mules and horses, which place was reached during the next day.
My father said such a cavalcade was never seen in the Valley before, as about fifty of the black people, men, women, boys and girls joined in, ready to help in doing anything and everything, owing to the fact that a small convoy of the Lake Illawarra tribe had come to the range to introduce my father to their relations. Another convoy came over the range with my mother [in October], I do not wish my readers to think these black people intruded themselves beyond their kindly acts. Not at all. They were well within their rights by doing what they did - it was in the best of spirit - and all would then return to their respective camps. At that time there were five camps in the Kangaroo Ground, each camp in a separate gully.
...My father’s greatest dangers were the wild zebras or buffalo-bulls that infested the ranges .... The blacks would not touch any old bull’s flesh, as they were convinced there was an evil spirit in him. When an encounter with a wilde bull ended, the dogs got an hour’s rest and a good feed of raw flesh. My father once relieved a blackfellow who had climbed a tree to avoid a bull. As the bull had kept him there for hours it can be imagined what a relief the sight of the dogs was to him. The bull was ended in the usual way, and for that the black was grateful.
My father said he had killed twenty of those bulls, and the male calves went to the black people. No devil in them - too young.
* A settlement noted five Indigenous encampments in Kangaroo Valley, each in a separate gully.
1851
* Aborigines of the Berrima District - survey by the Reverend W.B. Clarke.
Aboriginal name / English name / Age / Place of resort / Comments
Phillip / 28 / Kangaroo Ground / Well behaved. Very proud of his personal appearance. I have often seen Phillip go to the nearest creek to wash his teeth and stand admiring his reflection in the water. Married.
1852
* Tommy Nogerra, Black Tracker, in Francis McCaffrey: The McCaffrey Family of Illawarra, Kiama,c1930. This small booklet records an incident illustrating the skills of a black tracker at Kiama during the 1850s:
....Shortly after 1852, my father [Charles McCaffrey] was a dairyman on his own account, as he had brought six young cows and six young heifers from the Kangaroo Ground [to Jerrara], together with two mares, one a beautiful black animal, sired by Mr Osborne’s imported horse. There was only one secure paddock in the neighbourhood, he got her into it by paying a stiff price. Shortly afterwards the mare was missing. As luck had it, next day Tommy Noggera, a clever black tracker called at our place and the fact was told to him. After a meal, he set off, previously carefully examining the paddock. He was very angry and indignant as he had broken the mare in for my father. Some days later, the mare was brought back, Tommy being as proud as proud could be.
1880
* Lindsay Black Boy paid 10/- per week by Alick Osborne for ringing and barking trees.
1885
* ‘Protection of the Aborigines - Annual Report of the Board’, NSW Legislative Council Journal, (Session 1885-6), Sydney, 1887, vol 40, pt 1, pp335-8. Ration Distribution & Expenses 1885:
Kangaroo Valley - 2 adults - rations, clothing and stationary - cost £13 16s 10d.
1886
* ‘Aborigines - Report of the Board for 1886’, NSW Legislative Council Journal, (Session 1887),
Sydney, 1888, vol 42, pt 2, pp749-... - Aboriginal Protectorate created in Kangaroo Valley - near Trimble's Creek at Barrengary, and on Chittick's farm on the south bank of the Kangaroo River.
* Nugent's Store day-book records occasional entries for local Aborigines, including Lindsey Bunda and Clara Bunda. I also includes a detailed: Aboriginal Protectorate - Rations supplied to Clara and two children - (weekly) 48 lbs of flour, 12 lbs of sugar, 1 1/2 lbs of tea - cost 13/2d and 2/5 pence.
1887
* Christmas rations from Nugent's Store for protectorate supplemented with currents, plums and suet for a weekly total of 16/8d.
* Aborigines Protection Board - report on expenditure at Illawarra and South Coast Aboriginal reserves, Archives Office of New South Wales, Colonial Secretary Correspondence 2/8349 (Reel 2847):
Tabulated Expenditure / 1887 - 8 / Entry No. / Kangaroo Valley 35.
1888
* 5 June 1888 - Death of Mrs. Lindsay, the last Kangaroo Valley Aboriginal to be recorded in Nugent's day-book (Griffith 1978).
1889
* Report on Aboriginal settlement established at Jamberoo (W.A. Bayley, Shoalhaven, pp.122-3):
In Kangaroo Valley in 1889 a small aboriginal settlement was established by Hughie Anderson of Aboriginal descent under the supervision of J. Campbell and G. Tate, but by the end of 1890. Anderson claimed his mission was starved out of the valley. Nevertheless at the camp two miles out of the village he persuaded many Aborigines to foresake drunkeness and live in a civilized manner. The Osbornes provided constant employment for the Aborigines.
1890
* Closure of the Anderson's settlement. Archives Office of New South Wales, Colonial Secretary Correspondence Index - Entries re Illawarra and South Coast Aborigines (Subject plus Letter No.):
Removal of reservation 370 acres Kangaroo Valley 4119.
1891
* The New South Wales census records 11 Aborigines living at Kangaroo Valley - Sims family (3) and Johnston family (8).
1899
* Buthring could not recall any native name for Kangaroo Valley. He was aware it was first called by Europeans Kangaroo Ground.
1900
* Gullummubala - Mountain, between Berry & Kangaroo Valley, noted by Buthong, Shoalhaven, 1900.
1901
* 19 February 1901: Letter from John MacLean of Nowra to John Brown of Brownsville, regarding Aboriginal caves and rock art in the Shoalhaven district {Shoalhaven Museum, item 5027a}.
Nowra, February 19th 1901
Dear Sir,
Acknowledging yours of yesterday respecting the markings and carvings on the rocks in parts of this district, I beg to state that I looked at these in 1879 and wrote a short account of what I saw in the "Sydney Mail", I think, and some other weekly. A clergyman, whose name I forget, then residing at Manly took up the subject, and described like markings as occurring in caves in the sandstone at that place, and elsewhere in the Hawkesbury shales and sandstones where weatherings had afforded like caves. The most noticeable of these markings or stains occur in an egg-shaped cave, about six feet in diameter, in the sandstone cliff on the right bank of Nowra Creek, between Jervis Bay and St Anne Streets. These are apparently the obverse of the human hand represented by a colour, distinct from that of the rest of the rock, tracing the outline as well as the general figure of the open hand in various upward directions. My city correspondent and myself, viewing like markings in different locations, were agreed in the supposition that these stains were made by the hand of an aboriginal, being wet or greasy, and having ashes from the cave or camp fire adhering, clapped it fairly on to the moist and moldy surface of the rock, the alkali of the ashes readily effecting a stain upon the alluminous acids abundant on all these sandstones especially where caves occur, and thus producing a deep and indelible image of the hand.
The other marks looked at by me at the same time, occur upon a naked sandstone rock plateau at the apex of "Brown's Mountain", a range 1750 feet altitude in the Parish of Cambewarra, and an outlying buttress of the peak called "Good Dog". The actual spot is partly on portions Nos. 298 & 299 Parish of Cambewarra, and forms a mossy oasis, shrub-encircled and sheltered a spot as might well have formed the place of conclave and counsel between the tribes of the low lands and those in Kangaroo Valley, separated by this strong physical barrier. There the markings were apparently designed to represent fishes, and Kangaroo, or his more diminutive prototype, the wallaby. When I expressed some disappointment as to the alleged distinctness and variety of these to my guide, who had previously described them to me, he declared the markings had suffered much since persons had kicked off the moss. The attrition of weather had done much to efface outlines hammered into the granular surface by a crude hand and a crude appliance.
Perhaps I might suggest caution in entering caves if I related to you my experience upon entering the orifice of "The Devil's Cave" as it is locally called. to view "The Devil's Hands". The day was Sunday, at the hour when church bells invite the devout to public worship. The severity of the Presbyterian "Sabbath" held still incipient sway over my intentions as to any form of amusement. So when I sallied forth it was somewhat inward protest; but any curiosity was paramount. reaching the cave opening by a bit of climbing, I thrust my head and shoulders into the markings, pretty well filling the orifice, and striking a match to light my candle. Thereupon from within, unseen and unchallenged, I received a stunning blow on the head which sent me dazed and sprawling down the incline, my hat spinning after me. My sabbath misgivings were now mixed up with the possibility of a "practical" joke sugar-coated with a fable of the "Devil's Cave". When I turned inquiringly to my companion, a few yards in rear, who pointed to a large rock wallaby retreating along the cliffs. My intrusion upon its slumber had caused it to spring at the streak of opening, over my head, and aiming a bit low had attained its purpose most effectively. I was told that further around in the like rocks, over the left bank of Nowra Creek, there are similar stains. But these I have not visited.
Assuring you of my best wishes for the success of your investigations, and regretting that I can furnish so little assistance.
Yours faithfully, John MacLean
P.S. Pray excuse this form of "writing" which I assume will be more inviting and less difficult to decipher than my hand writing would be.
John Brown Esq., "Brownsville", Dapto
1902
* Djerriyaroo - Mountain range Berry - Kangaroo Valley Road, noted bu Buthong, Shoalhaven, 1902.
1948
* Arthur Cousins, The Garden of New South Wales: A History of Illawarra & Shoalhaven, Producers Co-operative Distributors Society, Sydney, 1948; Illawarra Historical Society, Wollongong, 1994, 306p,
1953
* W.A. Bayley, Kangaroo Valley, Kangaroo Valley Historical Committee, 1953 / Kangaroo Valley Historical Society 1966. Extracts:
Parronrah
Parronrah was the name by which the natives called the Kangaroo Valley when white men first went there [Charles Throsby, 30 March 1818]. Research in the Mitchell Library and elsewhere has failed to reveal the meaning of that Aboriginal word.
....It was in the verdant undergrowth growing so politically in the fertile soil thus laid down [in Kangaroo Valley] that the kangaroos from which the valley took its name abounded in vast numbers until the arrival of the white men, to form much of the food of the Aborigines who moved through the valley as time went by.
Native Tribes
In the dawn of Australian exploration the Kangaroo Ground was, as one early writer termed it, wrote Reuben King, the "Blackman’s Paradise."
"There was ample shelter in the many caves, and under the overhanging rocks around the great sandstone walls, Kangaroos, wallabies, opossums and native bears were plentiful, whilst the Kangaroo River and its tributaries abounded with fish and eels, and along the river banks lived real colonies of goannas.
"The tribe occupying the Kangaroo Ground is said to have numbered between two and three hundred. It was customary among the tribes in different parts of the country to visit each other, as at ‘Kingsman’ - the meeting place - south of Milton a tribe from the tablelands would meet one or other of the coastal tribes, and after fraternising for a few days, would return to its own hunting grounds.
"The story persists in Kangaroo Valley," writes J.L.Nugent, "that the name Kangaroo Ground was given because the aborigines had used the valley as a game reserve.
"There were two tribes in the valley after white men came. One was called the Berrima tribe and was camped in Trimble’s bush, where a stone still exists marked by the sharpening of the axes and spears.
"The tribe was later moved to the Barrengarry side of the river, the wife of the chief being buried near the camping ground by the bridge.
"The chief of the other tribe which was camped at the foot of Chittick’s farm at the river was called ‘King Fisherman Johnny’ and wore a brass plate around his neck with his name on it. His wife was called ‘Terara Bundy’. Huts were built by the Government for that tribe at their camp from which a road ran through Osborne’s and Barnier’s properties to the main road. The blacks later moved to the Shoalhaven River.
"They made a living by making brooms and hats from cabbage tree leaves, selling them to storekeepers in the district. They also sold fish and honey. They caught the fish by damming the river and trapping the fish in the pools thus made. Around the rivers and creeks in the valley it is often possible to pick up a blackfellow’s axe head or hammer to this day.
"On top of Cambewarra Mountain at a place called Red Rocks near Brown’s Mountain there still remain many evidences of the life of the aborigines. Drawings and places where they sharpened their weapons are still to be seen.
Aboriginal Folk Lore
It has been recorded that a tribe would trek a long distance to hear the "wail" or new song of another tribe. On one occasion in the thirties of the nineteenth century forty picked male blacks, each with one tooth knocked out, are said to have set off in military fashion from the Kangaroo Ground for the Cowpastures near Camden to hear a new song or wail which had been composed by the tribe at that centre. Though it may have been a paradise for aborigines, it has never been doubted that the earliest white men to visit the v alley found it a paradise for kangaroos which were seen grazing quietly in great numbers on the luscious meadows by the streams and rivers.
1976
* D.K. Eades, The Dharawal and Dhurga Languages o f the New South Wales South Coast, Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Australian National University, Canberra, 1976.
1978
* John Griffith, A History of Kangaroo Valley, Kangaroo Valley Historical Society, 1978; 2nd edition 1980; 3rd edition 1986, 104p.
1990
* A Documentary History of the Illawarra and South Coast Aborigines 1770-1850; including a Chronological Bibliography 1770-1990, Aboriginal Education Unit, Wollongong University, December 1990, 646p. [Book]
1993
* A Documentary History of the Illawarra and South Coast Aborigines 1770-1900; including a Chronological Bibliography 1770-1990, Report for the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Canberra, 1 December 1993, 364p. [Report]
1994
* Australian Aboriginal Dreaming Stories: A Chronological Bibliography of Published Works 1789-1991, Aboriginal History, 18(2), December 1994, 123-44. [Journal article]
2013
* Chris Illert, A mathematical approach to recovering the original Australian Aboriginal language, Ph.D., School of Languages and
Linguistics, University of Western Sydney, 2013, 277p. [Thesis]
2014
* C.W. Peck's Australian Legends: Aboriginal Dreaming stories of eastern Australia, Australian Folklore, 29, 2014, 53-69. [Journal article]
2022
* 6 December 2022 - Member of the RAKV, made the following presentation to the Shoalhaven City Council Aboriginal Advisory Committee:
Ms Sarah Waddell, Ms Jillian Naidu and Ms Chris Pryor attended the meeting on behalf of Reconciliation Allies Kangaroo Valley. The group consists of approximately 50 community members.
Ms Sarah Waddell made a presentation to the Aboriginal Advisory Committee on behalf of the Reconciliation Allies Kangaroo Valley group regarding the proposed community consultation concerning Cultural Signage.
The group is seeking consultation on cultural signage from local Indigenous communities and organisations, Elders, and interested individuals. The purpose of the consultation will be to receive inputs regarding support for cultural signage in Kangaroo Valley to recognise custodianship by Indigenous peoples and continuing connection to Country. This is a community-based initiative supported by Shoalhaven City Council through the Aboriginal Advisory Committee.
Mr Jason Groves suggested that this initiative be promoted through the Aboriginal Lands Council meetings to reach the broader Aboriginal community. He noted that there was significant historical stone trading through the Kangaroo Valley area, of which there is written knowledge which carries the history timeline that could be considered, after this has been seen by the Aboriginal community. He also invited the members of the Reconciliation Allies attend the Family Fun Day for the Aboriginal community at Bomaderry Creek on Saturday, 10 December for the Black Cockatoo Project.
Action: Michael Paine - Manager - Community Connections made a commitment that Council staff will work with Reconciliation Allies Kangaroo Valley:
1. To ensure that the Invitation from Reconciliation Allies will be forwarded to all members of the Aboriginal Advisory Committee; and
2. Through Allen Bloxsome and Jared Brown in Community Connections connect with other organisations within the Shoalhaven LGA.
2022
* Sarah Waddell, How did the valley get its name?, Kangaroo Valley Voice, 1 July 2022. On behalf of Reconciliation Allies Kangaroo Valley.
2023
* Sarah Waddell, Meeting a change maker, The Kangaroo Valley Voice, 1 July 2022. On behalf of Reconciliation Allies Kangaroo Valley.
2024
* Sarah Waddell, How are we to acknowledge prior custodianship of Kangaroo Valley?, The Kangaroo Valley Voice, 1 July 2024.
2025
Reconciliation Action Plan [webpage], Kangaroo Valley Historical Society, accessed 9 February 2025.
----------------
3. Acknowledgements
I would like to acknowledge the Reconciliation Allies Kangaroo Valley group for this inspiration and support in compiling this resource. I would especially like to thank Sarah Waddell, a member of that group, for her enthusiastic promotion of local Indigenous cultural heritage issues.
----------------
Shoalhaven: | Aunty Julie Freeman | Berry's Frankenstein & Arawarra | Cullunghutti - Sacred Mountain | Death ... Arawarra, Berry & Shelley | First Nations research | Gooloo Creek, Conjola | Kangaroo Valley | Mickey of Ulladulla | Mount Gigenbullen | Byamee's Hands, Shoalhaven River | Ulladulla Mission | Words | Yams |
| Aborigines / Indigenous / First Nations archive |
Last updated: 20 February 2025
Michael Organ, Australia
Contact: hokusai22@outlook.com
Comments
Post a Comment