Black Mountain, part of the claimed territory of the Ngambri
The Ngambri, also known as Kamberri, are an Aboriginal clan or group who claim traditional ownership of the Australian Capital Territory area, but their connection to the land is contested. One reason for this is that Canberra, where Ngambri claims are made, lay close to the tribal boundaries that separated the Ngarigo from the Ngunnawal people (according to Norman Tindale). Other reasons are the dislocation of Aboriginal populations and intertribal marriage and interracial relationships following European settlement, leading to a high proportion of people identifying themselves as Indigenous Australians, but not knowing their traditional origins. As of April 2023[update] the ACT Government does not recognise Ngambri people as traditional owners of the ACT, listing only the Ngunnawal people as traditional custodians of the land, but has promised a review of their Indigenous protocol following a Supreme Court challenge by Ngambri families in July 2022.
In 1974 Norman Tindale, in his major work on Aboriginal tribal boundaries, located the southern boundary of Ngunnawal country close to the ACT boundary, close to the tribal boundaries that separated the Ngarigo from the Ngunnawal people, who were from Yass.[2]
The extent of recognised Ngambri (also known as Kamberri[3]) territory, and of their distinction from other Aboriginal clans or peoples, is contested.[4][5]
In 2002, a group of Ngambri people burnt down a humpy and dismantled tents at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. At the time, prominent Ngambri elder Matilda House said her people were "cleaning up the site and making it respectable so that when visitors do come here we will be proud".[6] House had been closely involved with the tent embassy since it was founded in 1972 and remembers the four men who founded the embassy as heroes.[7] House had a vision for the future of the tent embassy:[6]
I'd like to see the tent embassy used for a place of education and proper understanding of protocols and the proper understanding of our identity. It could be achieved by looking at a proper way of having a place where Aboriginal people can do what they want and protest. But in a manner that will get the message across and (provide) a really good place for educating the rest of the community. Not this thing where buses will pull up and sometimes people get told the wrong story.
The comprehensive dislocation of Aboriginal populations, intertribal marriage and interracial relationships following European settlement has led to a high proportion of people identifying themselves as Indigenous Australians, but not knowing their traditional origins. In 2012, Australian Bureau of Statistics records showed several Aboriginal families in the ACT were affected by the removal of mixed-race children from their parents in the Stolen Generation era.[8] Due to the geographical relocation of Indigenous populations, along with intertribal marriages since the 1900s, there are disputes between people who claim descent from the Ngambri family of the Nyanmudy/Namadgi, Ngarigo and Ngunnawal people, who all claim they are Canberra's traditional owners.[9][10][11][12][13][14]
In 2005, in response to a question in the ACT Legislative Assembly about the status of the Ngambri people, the Chief Minister at the time, Jon Stanhope stated that "Ngambri is the name of one of a number of family groups that make up the Ngunnawal nation". He went on to say that "the Government recognises members of the Ngunnawal nation as descendants of the original inhabitants of this region: there is no specific recognition of the Ngambri group outside of this broader acknowledgement".[15]
The debate came to a head in April 2009 when five "Welcome to Canberra" signs on the Canberra border were defaced by replacing the words "Ngunnawal Country" with "Ngambri Country".[14][16][17] The signs were quickly restored by the ACT Government, with the Chief Minister Jon Stanhope promising that the signs would be monitored closely in the future.[18] He said that one family who had formerly identified as Ngunnawal later identified as Ngambri, causing "confusion and distress within the community".[19]
In December 2012, the Ngambri Local Aboriginal Land Council made three applications for native title:[20][21][22][23]
McQuoid Street, Queanbeyan, NSW
Karabar, Queanbeyan, NSW
Erin Street, Queanbeyan, NSW
For each application, the court determined that native title did not exist.[20][21][22][23]
In 2013, an ACT Government genealogy report entitled Our Kin Our Country was released. The report, researched to settle the dispute of who were the first people, found that the Ngunnawal were not the original inhabitants of the ACT; however they did attend corroborees in the area. The report concluded that evidence gathered from the mid-1800s onward was too scant to exclusively support any present day group's claims. It showed that the ACT land had been either part of the Ngarigo tribe territory, the Nyamudy territory, or split between the Nyamudy and Namadgi people.[24]
The ACT Government has recognised only the Ngunnawal people as traditional owners of the land since around 2003.[25] In July 2022, the Ngambri took the ACT government to the Supreme Court for recognition of their status as traditional owners[26] but other groups do give acknowledgement, including the National Museum of Australia.[27]
In April 2023, the ACT Government apologised to the Ngambri people for not recognising them as traditional owners, said that it would be reviewing its Indigenous protocols,[3] and reached a settlement with them. Ngunnawal people called this an "affront" to their people, with spokesman Richie Allan saying that their connection had been proven, and while many peoples have some connection to the land, "they don't belong to this land, [only] Ngunnawal people do". The ACT Government said that it "would continue to acknowledge the Ngunnawal people as traditional custodians of the ACT while also recognising any other people or families with connection to the ACT and region".[25]
LALC
The Ngambri Local Aboriginal Land Council is based in Queanbeyan.[28]
Traditional diet
Murnong, a staple in the traditional diet of Ngambri people
"Report of the Grassland Forum"(PDF). Office of the Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment. 20 May 2010. Archived from the original(PDF) on 10 May 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
Jackson-Nakano, Ann (2001). The Kamberri: a history from the records of Aboriginal families in the Canberra-Queanbeyan district and surrounds 1820-1927 and historical overview 1928-2001 (Aboriginal History Monograph 8). ANU Press. ISBN978-0958563741.
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a federal territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is located in this territory. It is located in southeastern Australian mainland as an enclave completely within the state of New South Wales. Founded after Federation as the seat of government for the new nation, the territory hosts the headquarters of all important institutions of the Australian Government.
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest Australian city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory at the northern tip of the Australian Alps, the country's highest mountain range. As of June 2022, Canberra's estimated population was 456,692.
Lake George is an endorheic lake in south-eastern New South Wales, Australia. It is approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) north-east of Canberra located adjacent to the Federal Highway en route to Goulburn and Sydney. Lake George is also the name of a locality on the western and southern edges of the lake, within the area of the Queanbeyan–Palerang Regional Council.
The history of Canberra details the development of the city of Canberra from the time before European settlement to the city's planning by the Chicago architect Walter Burley Griffin in collaboration with Marion Mahony Griffin, and its subsequent development to the present day.
The Molonglo River is a perennial river that is part of the Murrumbidgee catchment within the Murray–Darling basin. It is located in the Monaro and Capital Country regions of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, in Australia.
Native title refers to rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rights were first recognised as a part of Australian common law with the decision of Mabo v Queensland in 1992. The doctrine was subsequently implemented and modified via statute with the Native Title Act 1993.
The Queanbeyan River, a perennial stream that is part of the Molonglo catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Monaro and Capital Country regions of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, in Australia. The river is 104 kilometres (65 mi) in length with a catchment area of 96,000 hectares. The Queanbeyan River and the Cotter River meet the potable water supply needs of the Canberra and Queanbeyan region and whose water quality is specifically protected under Federal legislation.
The Ngunnawal people, also spelt Ngunawal, are an Aboriginal people of southern New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory in Australia.
Ngunnawal/Ngunawal is an Australian Aboriginal language, the traditional language of the Ngunnawal. Ngunnawal is very closely related to the Gandangara language and the two were most likely highly mutually intelligible. As such they can be considered dialects of a single unnamed language, but this is the technical linguistic usage of these terms and Ngunnawal people prefer to describe their variety as a language in its own right, as also do the Gandangara.
The history of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) as a separate administrative division began in 1911, when it was transferred from New South Wales to the Australian federal government. The territory contains Australia's capital city Canberra and various smaller settlements. Until 1989, it also administered the Jervis Bay Territory, a small coastal region.
Wamboin is a rural-residential area in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia in the County of Murray, Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council LGA. It is approximately 16 kilometres north-east of the Australian city of Canberra.
Bungendore is a town in the Queanbeyan Region of New South Wales, Australia, in Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council. It is on the Kings Highway near Lake George, the Molonglo River Valley and the Australian Capital Territory border. It has become a major tourist centre in recent years, popular with visitors from Canberra and some of it has heritage protection. It has expanded rapidly in recent years as a dormitory town of Canberra.
The Walgalu are an Aboriginal people of highland southeast New South Wales, Australia. The Ngambri may belong to the Walgalu grouping, but are often treated separately.
Jerrabomberra Creek, a partly perennial stream of the Murrumbidgee catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Capital Country region spanning both New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
Matilda Williams House was born in 1945 on the Erambie Aboriginal Reserve at Cowra, New South Wales (NSW), and raised in her grandfather’s house at Hollywood Aboriginal Reserve in Yass, NSW. When she was 12, House spent a year in Parramatta Girls' Home. House was one of ten children.
Shane Mortimer is a Ngambri man with a strong connection to the local Canberra region.
The Ngarigo people are Aboriginal Australian people of southeast New South Wales, whose traditional lands also extend around the present border with Victoria. They are named for their language, Ngarigo, which in the 19th century was said to be spoken by the Nyamudy people.
Mulloon is a locality in the Queanbeyan-Palerang Region, Southern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. At the 2016 census, it had a population of 144.
Strathnairn is a suburb in the Belconnen district of Canberra, located within the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The suburb was gazetted in 2016 as part of the West Belconnen / Parkwood cross-border development near the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales border.
Bumbalong is a rural locality in the Snowy Monaro Region, New South Wales, Australia. Although it lies in the valley of the Murrumbidgee River, it is sometimes referred to by its residents as Bumbalong Valley. At the 2016 census, it had a population of 24.
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