Worimi

Last updated

The Worimi (also spelt Warrimay) people are Aboriginal Australians from the eastern Port Stephens and Great Lakes regions of coastal New South Wales, Australia. Before contact with settlers, their people extended from Port Stephens in the south to Forster/Tuncurry in the north and as far west as Gloucester. [1] [2]

Contents

Country

Traditional lands of Australian Aboriginal tribes around the Worimi. Dharag-Neighbors1.png
Traditional lands of Australian Aboriginal tribes around the Worimi.

The Worimi's lands extended over 1,500 square miles (3,900 km2) according to Norman Tindale, who specified that the tribal area encompassed the Hunter River to the coastal town of Forster near Cape Hawke. It reached Port Stephens and ran inland as far as roughly Gresford and in proximity of Glendon Brook, Dungog, and the upper Myall Creek. To the south, their territory extended to Maitland. [3]

Social organisation

The Worimi were divided into four bands.

Language

The language of the Worimi peoples is Gathang, which is undergoing revival in the 21st century. [5]

History of contact with British colonists

The Australian Agricultural Company was established upon an act of the British Parliament in 1824. The aim of the legislation was to further the cultivation and improvement of what it termed 'waste land' in the colony of New South Wales. In January 1826, a company agent, Robert Dawson (1782–1866), set up camp near the shoreline at Port Stephens. He confined his settlement activities to the coast, with farms on Stroud creek, outposts on the Manning River, stock-mistering in Gloucester Vale. Despite good reports, according to a modern historian, Dawson's numerous improvements, [6] were judged inadequate and the area around Port Stephen was seen as disappointing, with useless outskirts, the central zone rocky, steep and the Gloucester flats water-logged: sheep suffered from foot-rot. [7] The Company wanted to push beyond the hills that hemmed the settlement in, and Dawson was dismissed for mismanagement and replaced by the Arctic explorer, William Parry.

Dawson himself soon after published a vindication, and then a glowing account of the area, together with an account of the Worimi. He found the Worimi a 'mild and harmless race', and attributed any harm they might cause to the maltreatment they received from settlers, who elsewhere had been shooting them like dogs. [8] Of the situation around Port Stephens, he wrote:

There has, perhaps, been more of this done near to this settlement, and on the banks of the two rivers which empty themselves into this harbor, than in any other part of the colony; and it has arisen from the speculators in timber..The natives complained to me frequently, that 'white pellow' (white fellows) shot their relations and friends; and showed me many orphans, whose parents had fallen by the hands of white men, near this spot. The pointed out one white man, on his coming to beg some provisions for his party up the river Karuah, who, they said, had killed ten;: and the wretch did not deny it, but said he would kill them whenever he could. It was well for him that he had no white man to depose to the facts, or I would have had him off to jail at once.' [9]

Lifestyle

The Worimi fostered, cared for and lived on resources found within their country. Marine food, especially shell-fish were favoured by people living closest to the sea. Due to the reliability of this resource it may have been preferred over land animals and vegetables. The latter two were used as supplementary foods and added variety to their diet. Animals that were abundant included kangaroos and goannas, possums, snakes and flying foxes. Vegetables eaten included fern roots, stalks of the Gymea lily, and the bloom of the banksia. [2]

Modern period

Today the Worimi Local Aboriginal Land Council [10] is working closely with Worimi descendants to provide opportunities that promote, foster and protect the culture and heritage. In July 2016, the New South Wales Government recognised 5.9 ha (14.6 acres) of the suburb of Soldiers Point as a place of historical value for Aboriginal people, noting the particular importance in cultural and spiritual terms that it held for the Worimi. [11]

Alternative names

Source: Tindale 1974 , p. 202

Some words

Footnotes

  1. This map is indicative only.
  2. Elkin states:'living along the tidal reaches of the Hunter River from its mouth to Maitland.' (Elkin 1932, p. 360)
  3. Elkin adds:'and east of the Karuah River to Tea Gardens.' (Elkin 1932, p. 360)
  4. Elkin adds:' from Limeburner's Creek up to Stroud.' (Elkin 1932, p. 360)

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Stephens (New South Wales)</span> Estuarine lake in New South Wales, Australia

Port Stephens, an open youthful tide-dominated drowned-valley estuary, is a large natural harbour of approximately 134 square kilometres (52 sq mi) located in the Hunter and Mid North Coast regions of New South Wales, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wonnarua</span> An Aboriginal Australian people of New South Wales

The Wonnarua people, otherwise written Wanarruwa, are a group of Aboriginal Australian people united by strong ties of kinship, and who survived in family groups or clans scattered along the inland area of what is now known as the Upper Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia. Their creation spirit is Baiami, also known as Koin, the creator of all things and the Keeper of the Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bucketts Way</span> Road in New South Wales, Australia

(The) Bucketts Way is a 151-kilometre (94 mi) rural road that links Gloucester to Taree and Raymond Terrace, in New South Wales, Australia. A former alignment of Pacific Highway, it was later named after the Bucketts Mountains, a prominent mountain range near Gloucester. The entire route is designated as Tourist Route 2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Awabakal</span> Australian Aboriginal people of mid north coastal New South Wales

The Awabakal people, are those Aboriginal Australians who identify with or are descended from the Awabakal tribe and its clans, Indigenous to the coastal area of what is now known as the Hunter Region of New South Wales. Their traditional territory spread from Wollombi in the west, to the Lower Hunter River near Newcastle and Lake Macquarie in the north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seaham, New South Wales</span> Suburb of Port Stephens Council, New South Wales, Australia

Seaham is a suburb of the Port Stephens local government area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Williams River which flows into the Hunter River 14.6 km (9.1 mi) downstream from Seaham village at Raymond Terrace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brandy Hill, New South Wales</span> Suburb of Port Stephens Council, New South Wales, Australia

Brandy Hill is a suburb of the Port Stephens local government area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. It was originally farmland but was subdivided in the 1980s and now supports a population of almost 700 people living on large, primarily residential, blocks. It overlooks working farmland and offers superb views of the greater Morpeth area, with visibility extending to Maitland.

The Gathang language, also spelt Gadjang, Kattang, Kutthung, Gadhang, Gadang and previously known as Worimi language, is an Australian Aboriginal language or group of dialects. The three known dialects are Birrbay, Guringay, and Warrimay, which are used by the Worimi, Guringay, and Birrbay peoples. It became dormant during the latter half of the 20th century, but has been revived during the 21st century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Lakes Council</span> Former local government area in New South Wales, Australia

Great Lakes Council was a local government area in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is situated adjacent to the shores of Port Stephens, Myall Lakes and Wallis Lake and the Pacific Highway and the Lakes Way. On 12 May 2016 the council was dissolved and the area included in the Mid-Coast Council, along with the City of Greater Taree and Gloucester Shire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodville, New South Wales</span> Suburb of Port Stephens Council, New South Wales, Australia

Woodville is a rural suburb in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia that is shared between the Port Stephens and Maitland local government areas (LGA). Most of the suburb lies to the east of the Paterson River in the Port Stephens LGA while a small area of approximately 1.3 square kilometres (0.5 sq mi), to the west of the Paterson, is within the boundaries of the Maitland LGA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karuah, New South Wales</span> Suburb of Port Stephens Council, New South Wales, Australia

Karuah is a locality in both the Port Stephens and Mid-Coast Councils, the Port Stephens lga side is part the Hunter Region while the Mid-Coast lga is in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is thought that the name means 'native plum tree' in the local Aboriginal dialect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tahlee</span> Historic site in New South Wales, Australia

Tahlee is a heritage-listed former pastoral property of 68.8 hectares in the suburb of Tahlee situated on the north side of Port Stephens near Karuah in New South Wales, Australia. It is the original site of the Australian Agricultural Company and more recently the location of the former Tahlee Bible College. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

Wallalong is a rural suburb of the Port Stephens local government area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. The suburb is bisected by High Street, along which a small residential zone of 938 people exists. To the east and west of this area the suburb is almost exclusively rural.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karuah River</span> River in New South Wales, Australia

Karuah River, an open semi-mature tide dominated drowned valley estuary is located in the Mid North Coast and Hunter regions of New South Wales, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broughton Island (New South Wales)</span> Protected area in New South Wales, Australia

Broughton Island is an island 14 km north-east of Port Stephens on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the Myall Lakes National Park.(map)

Gringai otherwise known as Guringay, is the name for one of the Australian Aboriginal people who were recorded as inhabiting an area of the Hunter Valley in eastern New South Wales, north of Sydney. They were united by a common language, strong ties of kinship and survived as skilled hunter–fisher–gatherers in family groups as a clan of the Worimi people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MidCoast Council</span> Local government area in New South Wales, Australia

MidCoast Council is a local government area that is located in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The council was formed on 12 May 2016 through a merger of the Gloucester Shire, Great Lakes and City of Greater Taree Councils.

Geawegal is the name for an Australian Aboriginal people who were recorded as inhabiting an area of the Hunter Valley in eastern New South Wales, north of Sydney. This identification has been recently questioned by Jim Wafer of Newcastle University, who also reconstructs the original name as Kayawaykal.

Walter John Enright was an Australian solicitor and amateur anthropologist whose notes on the aborigines of New South Wales made an important contribution to the conservation of their traditions. His friendship with, and unstinting assistance to, the new generation of professional anthropologists working on tribes in New South Wales is still remembered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birrbay</span> Indigenous people of New South Wales in Australia

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Dawson Esq.</span> English company agent

Robert Dawson (1782–1866) was a company agent and pastoralist in New South Wales in the early part of the nineteenth century. He was born in Essex, England and was the youngest son of Joseph Dawson. Dawson was working in England as the estate manager for Viscount Barrington's estate, Becket, when he was approached by John Macarthur junior, and old school friend, to apply for the post of chief agent in New South Wales for the newly formed Australian Agricultural Co. in which he was to establish and administer a pastoral grant of 1,000,000 acres (404,686 ha) subject to a committee resident there. The AA co. appointed Robert Dawson as their chief agent and appointed a Colonial Committee to assist him. This committee was entrusted by the directors in England with 'extensive discretionary powers'. Dawson was advised to accept their advice at all times. However the committee effectively included just three people, all members of the same family - James Macarthur, his cousin Hannibal Macarthur and his brother-in-law, Principal Surgeon, James Bowman. Dawson had several disagreements with the colonial committee as soon he arrived in Australia in 1825 and as such was maligned by the committee. Dawson received very little help from the committee and as such did most if the work managing the AA Co. affairs himself. The committee members and their acquaintances sold Dawson questionable sheep with foot rot and other diseases as well as older ewes that could not raise lambs. Dawson eventually refused to buy any more stock from the committee and so they set about to have him dismissed. The committee were successful in having Dawson dismissed but they were also dismissed and their reputations damaged. Dawson returned to NSW in 1839 with his second wife to superintend his estate and was appointed as magistrate for the area.

References

Citations

  1. Enright 1932, pp. 75–77.
  2. 1 2 Sokoloff 1980.
  3. Tindale 1974, pp. 201–202.
  4. Enright 1932, p. 76.
  5. "Gathang (Birrbay, Guringay & Warrimay)". Muurrbay Aboriginal Language and Culture Co-operative. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  6. Flowers 1966.
  7. Roberts 2013, pp. 57–58.
  8. Dawson 1831, pp. 51ff..
  9. Dawson 1831, p. 58.
  10. Worimi Local Aboriginal Land Council.
  11. Norris 2016, p. 15.
  12. Elkin 1932, p. 360.

Sources