History
An Aboriginal presence in the Djangadi lands has been attested archaeologically to go back at least 4,000 years, according to the analysis of the materials excavated at the Clybucca midden, a site which the modern-day descendants of the Djangadi and Gumbaynggirr claim territory. In the Clybucca area are ancient camp sites with shell beds in the form of mounds which are up to 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) high. Middens are attested in the Macleay Valley, together with remnants of a fish trap in the Limeburners Creek Nature Reserve and, just slightly north of Crescent Head, at Richardsons Crossing, there is a bora ring.
White intrusion on the Djangadi lands first took off as mostly ex-convict cedar cutters, based at a camp at Euroka Creek established by Captain A. C. Innes in 1827, began exploring the rich resources of the area in the late 1820s. The first European settler in the Kempsey district was named Enoch William Rudder, in 1835, who had purchased a land grant of 802 acres (325 ha) from its first owner, Samuel Onions. Within a decade the timber cutters had virtually harvested every stand of this highly prized red gold timber in clearances that made the land increasingly attractive to pastoralists, who by 1847, after the Crown Lands Occupation Act of 1836 permitted squatting, had established 31 stations along the Macleay river from Kempsey inland to Kunderang Brook. This coincided with one of the most violent and sustained examples of warfare in the Macleay gorges, during which it is estimated that around 15 massacres took place in the region targeting Aboriginal people of the area.
The Djangadi and other tribes affected adopted guerilla tactics to fight the usurpation of their land, by attacking shepherds, hit-and-run raids on homesteads and duffing sheep and cattle livestock before retreating into the gorges where pursuit was difficult. Some 2 to 3 dozen people were killed for rustling sheep at a massacre which took place at Kunderang Brook in 1840. The war ended with the establishment of a force of native police at Nulla Nulla in 1851. However, by that time, attrition had devastated tribal numbers. Of the 4,000 Aboriginal people in the area before the settlements, one third are thought to have been killed in a little over two decades.
A description of the Djangadi and other Aboriginal groups in the Macleay area was given by Captain John Macdonald Henderson in 1851.
Some Djangadi settled the Shark, Pelican Island and the two Fattorini Islands in the Macleay River, gazette as Aboriginal reserves in 1885, and grew corn there. In 1924 the Fattorini island residents were relocated to Pelican Island, and its status as a reservation was cancelled. Eventually the Djangadi moved to Kinchela Creek Station though an unofficial camp remained at Green Hills, resisting attempts to have them relocated, until they were placed under the administration of a white manager at Burnt Bridge Reserve. Discrimination barriers were finally broken in part when the first Aboriginal children were permitted in 1947 to attend Green Hill Public School, though the white community reacted by shifting their children to West Kempsey.
Carrai is a national park located in New South Wales, Australia, 347 kilometres (216 mi) north of Sydney. Not far from the north coast of New South Wales, located on a granite plateau, lies Carrai National Park. Surrounded and protected by vast areas of eucalyptus and subtropical rainforests, stands the Carrai plateau with steep slopes that dramatically descend to the Kunderang stream and the Macleay river.
Hat Head is a national park on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, 461.7 kilometres (286.9 mi) north-east of Sydney. It lies within the Hastings-Macleay Important Bird Area. Within the park is the eponymous village of Hat Head, with about 320 inhabitants.
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The Macleay River is a river that spans the Northern Tablelands and Mid North Coast districts of New South Wales, Australia.
Kempsey is a town in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia and is the council seat for Kempsey Shire. It is located roughly 16.5 kilometres inland from the coast of the Pacific Ocean, on the Macleay Valley Way near where the Pacific Highway and the North Coast railway line cross the Macleay River. It is roughly 430 kilometres north of Sydney. As of June 2018 Kempsey had a population of 15,309 (2018).
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The Yuin nation, also spelt Djuwin, is a group of Australian Aboriginal peoples from the South Coast of New South Wales. All Yuin people share ancestors who spoke, as their first language, one or more of the Yuin language dialects. Sub-groupings of the Yuin people are made on the basis of language and other cultural features; groups include the Brinja or Brinja-Yuin, Budawang, Murramarang, Yuin-Monaro, Djiringanj, Walbunja, and more. They had a close association with the Thaua people.
Kempsey Shire is a local government area in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia.
The Gumbaynggirr people, also rendered Kumbainggar, Gumbangeri and other variant spellings, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Mid North Coast of New South Wales. Gumbathagang was a probable clan or sub-group. The traditional lands of the Gumbaynggirr nation stretch from Tabbimoble Yamba-Clarence River to Ngambaa-Stuarts Point, SWR- Macleay to Guyra and to Oban.
The Macleay Valley Bridge is a road bridge over the Macleay River and its floodplain near the settlement of Frederickton, New South Wales, Australia. The bridge is part of the Pacific Highway (A1) new alignment which bypasses Kempsey and Frederickton. At the time of its official opening in 2013, the bridge was the longest road bridge in Australia.
Nils Magnus Holmer (1904–1994) was a Swedish linguist born in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Dhanggati, previously known as Dyangadi (Djangadi), is the Australian Aboriginal language once spoken by the Djangadi of the Macleay Valley and surrounding high country of the Great Dividing Range in New South Wales. There is an ongoing program of language-revival. Ngaagu (Ngaku) and Burgadi (Burrgati) were probably dialects. The three together have been called the Macleay Valley language. Shared designated Ceremonial between surrounding tribes ie:Anaiwan, Gumbagerri and including tribes from further West from Armidale to the North at Tenderfield New South Wales and Southern tribes such as the tribes around Nowendoc, S.E New South Wales. Anaiwan Country did trade offs with the surrounding tribes for the use of a Ceremonial site which the 'University of New England' is now located at 'Booloominbah house' when the then colonial settlement Armidale was becoming an important trade route and penal colony housing a jail at the earliest time of Colonialism and a route further West to the 'Western Plains'. It was also a deterrent to large groups of natives from gathering so their places of the deepest and Spiritual importance was simply replaced by Aboriginal places of "checks and balances" to the White Imperialism ways of "keeping things in check". The site of this important ceremonial place was the "Original Square Dance" ceremony performed by tribal priests. Elders from the past referring to the 'New England' Tablelands as " Being to cold ". The group's surrounding the areas of Armidale merged with coastal tribes and shared in one of many ceremonies. The Dhunghutti Tribal name for the Creator Spirit was 'Woorparow Yo Wa' also known as 'Bhiamie'. The ceremonial meaning and purpose of the "Original Square Dance," is not lost to history. The ceremony is set in "high up" Country" close to the sky.
The Kunderang Brook, a perennial stream that is part of the Macleay River catchment, is located in the Northern Tablelands and Mid North Coast regions of New South Wales, Australia.
Himberrong is a clan of the Anēwan Aboriginal tribe of what is now known as the New England Tablelands region in northeast New South Wales. Part of their traditional land, once an Aboriginal reserve called Inglebah, is now a heritage Aboriginal Place.
The Anēwan, also written Anaiwan and Anaywan, are an Aboriginal Australian people whose traditional territory spans the Northern Tablelands in New South Wales.
The Ngaku were an Australian Aboriginal tribe located around the Macleay River of New South Wales. They were a predominantly coastal people. Although their language was not recorded, it was described as a dialect or accent of Dhanggati.
The Ngamba were an Australian Aboriginal people of New South Wales.
The Birrbay people, also spelt Birpai, Biripi, Birippi and variant spellings, are an Aboriginal Australian people of New South Wales. They share a dialect continuum with the Worimi people.
Bellbrook is a locality in the Kempsey Shire of New South Wales, Australia along the Macleay River. The mountain village is classified by the National Trust as a heritage village and is part of the Macleay Valley Coast.
Kunderang East Pastoral Station is a heritage-listed former pastoral station at Jeogla, Armidale Regional Council, New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1892 to 1893 by Joe Small. It is also known as Cunderang / Kunderang station or Apsley Gorges. The property is owned by the Office of Environment and Heritage. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
