Umbarra, or King Merriman (died 1904) was an elder of the Djirringanj/Yuin people of the Bermagui area on what has become called the Sapphire Coast since European Colonial settlement of far-southern New South Wales coastal area.
Although Aboriginal people traditionally did not have kings or chiefs, only elders, the white colonial powers used to often grant king plates to certain elders, hence the moniker "King".[ citation needed ]
Umbarra lived on Merriman Island, in the middle of Wallaga Lake, while his people lived on the shores of the lake. Umbarra was believed to have clairvoyant abilities, and communicated with a black duck, his moojingarl or being with which he had a spiritual connection, which warned him of coming danger.[ citation needed ]
Umbarra provided information on the Yuin to Alfred William Howitt for Howitt's 1904 book The native tribes of South-East Australia. [1]
Umbarra's father, who was also associated with the black duck, is believed to have also been named Merriman and to have died around 1850. [1] His wife, Queen Narelle, died around 1900. [2] The brother of Umbarra and the brother of Narelle, despite being unrelated to one another, founded a single family, the Nobles. Yuin genealogist and researcher Dave Tout is a descendant of the Nobles. [1]
Many legends exist about Umbarra and his moojingarl. One day it told him of a group of warriors coming from the far south to do battle. King Merriman remained on the island while the other men took the women and children to a place of safety and then hid in the reeds. The first to sight the approaching warriors, the King warned his men who fought a fierce battle but lost. The opposing tribesmen then set out for the island. [3]
King Merriman threw powerful spears, and a boomerang which severed the arms and heads of his opponents before returning to him, but it was not enough. He then turned himself into a whirlwind and flew off. He passed over the fierce Kiola tribe and their wise men correctly divined his presence and that it meant the defeat of the Wallaga people and the advance of another tribe. King Merriman journeyed on to the Shoalhaven tribe to warn them but the Kiola tribe defeated the invaders and the King, whose power was finished, stayed for a time at the Shoalhaven then travelled away. [3]
General access to Merriman Island is forbidden due to its great significance for Indigenous people, and is gazetted as an Aboriginal site. [4]
The former Wallaga Lake National Park is incorporated into Gulaga National Park.
Biamanga National Park is a protected area in New South Wales, Australia, 408 km (254 mi) south of Sydney and 40 km (25 mi) north of Bega. The park forms part of the Ulladulla to Merimbula Important Bird Area because of its importance for swift parrots.
Gulaga National Park is a national park on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) north of Bermagui. The park is dominated by Gulaga, also known as Mount Gulaga. The former Wallaga Lake National Park, Goura Nature Reserve, and Mount Dromedary Flora Reserve were combined to form this park in 2001.
Wallaga Lake National Park is a former national park in New South Wales, 296 km (184 mi) south-west of Sydney and north of Bermagui. It now forms part of a greater Gulaga National Park.
A totem is a spirit being, sacred object, or symbol that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, lineage, or tribe, such as in the Anishinaabe clan system.
Merriman may refer to:
Eurobodalla Shire is a local government area located in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire is located in a largely mountainous coastal region and situated adjacent to the Tasman Sea, the Princes Highway and the Kings Highway.
Aboriginal breastplates were a form of regalia used in pre-Federation Australia by white colonial authorities to recognise those they perceived to be local Aboriginal leaders. The breastplates were usually metallic crescent-shaped plaques worn around the neck by wearer.
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.
Gulaga, dual-named as Mount Dromedary and also referred to as Mount Gulaga, is mountain located in the south coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It rises above the village of Central Tilba and is within the Gulaga National Park. At its highest point, it measures 806 metres (2,644 ft) above sea level.
Nerrigundah is a small village on the Eurobodalla Nature Coast in south eastern New South Wales. Situated at the head of the Tuross River Valley, it is nineteen kilometres inland from Bodalla. At the 2016 census, Nerrigundah had a population of 25.
South Durras is a small village on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia. South Durras is located approximately 280 kilometres south of Sydney and 15 kilometres north of Batemans Bay, in the local government area of Eurobodalla Shire. The village is surrounded by the Murramarang National Park.
The Thaua people, also spelt Thawa and Dhawa, and also referred to as Yuin (Djuin), are an Aboriginal Australian people living around the Twofold Bay area of the South Coast of New South Wales.
Wallaga Lake is an estuarine lake in Bega Valley Shire in New South Wales, Australia, the largest lake in southern NSW. It is located between Bermagui to the south and between Tilba Tilba to the north, situated beneath Mount Gulaga, in the traditional lands of the Yuin people. A large section of its foreshore and catchment are within the Gulaga National Park, since Wallaga Lake National Park, Goura Nature Reserve, and Mt Dromedary Flora Reserve were combined into the larger national park. There is an island in the lake known as Merriman's Island, Merriman Island or Umbarra.
Edwin "Guboo" Ted Thomas, a Yuin man, was a prominent Aboriginal leader. He toured Australia with a gumleaf orchestra during the Great Depression of the 1930s, played rugby league and became a respected elder who campaigned for protection of sacred sites on the South Coast. He went to the United Nations in New York and urged the World Council of Churches to accept Indigenous religions, and also met the Dalai Lama.
The Wandandian are an Aboriginal Australian people of the South Coast of New South Wales with connections to the Yuin and Tharawal nations.
The Dhurga language, also written Thurga, is an Australian Aboriginal language of New South Wales. It is a language of the Yuin people, specifically the Wandandian and Walbunja groups, but there have been no fluent speakers officially recorded for decades, so it has been functionally extinct for some time. Efforts have been made to revive the language since the 2010s.
Batemans Bay is an open oceanic embayment that is located in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The bay forms the mouth of the Clyde River and its primary outflow is to the Tasman Sea of the South Pacific Ocean.
The Tatungalung are an indigenous Australian people of the state of Victoria. They are often, together with the Bratauolung, Braiakaulung, Brabiralung and Krauatungalung classified as belonging to one nation, the Gunai/Kurnai, though this typology has been thought, by Norman Tindale, to be an artificial construct.
The Walbunja, also spelt Walbanga and Walbunga, are an Aboriginal Australian people of New South Wales, part of the Yuin nation.
The Djiringanj, also spelt Dyirringañ, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the southern coast of New South Wales. They are one of a larger group, known as the Yuin people, who all speak or spoke dialects of the Yuin–Kuric group of languages.
