Yuin
Yuin people | |
---|---|
Aka: Thurga (Tindale) Dhawa (AIATSIS), Dhu Dhurga (SIL) | |
Hierarchy | |
Language family: | Pama–Nyungan |
Language branch: | Yuin–Kuric |
Language group: | Yuin (shared word for man) (a.k.a. Thurga) (shared word for no) |
Group dialects: Dhurga | |
Area | |
Bioregion: | South east corner |
Location: | South Coast (NSW) |
Coordinates: | 36°30′S 149°45′E / 36.500°S 149.750°E |
Notable individuals | |
|
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, Wodi Wodi, Wandandian, Jerrinja, Budawang, Yuin-Monaro, Djiringanj, Walbunja, and more. They have a close association with the Thaua and Dharawal people.
Name and identity
The ethnonym Yuin ("man") was selected by early Australian ethnographer, Alfred Howitt, to denote two distinct tribes of New South Wales, namely the Djiringanj and the Thaua.[1][a] In Howitt's work, the Yuin were divided into northern (Kurial-Yuin) and southern (Gyangal-Yuin) branches.[2]
The term "Yuin" is commonly used by South Coast Aboriginal people to describe themselves,[3][4] although in a 2016 New South Wales native title application for land overlapping Yuin country, "South Coast people" is used.[5] The name is also spelt Djuwin[6] and Juwin.[7]
The
In 2018, the National Native Title Tribunal ruled that the South Coast people represent a "single cohesive kinship population" going back to colonisation, governed by shared rules, with a "single system of religion" centred on the figure Darhumulan, a marine-based economy, sacred sites that continue to be recognised, exogamous marriage rules, and a male initiation ceremony called Bunan (remembered, but not practised since the 1920s).[5]
Language
Dialects of the
.Country
The country the Yuin ancestors occupied, used, and enjoyed reached across from
The Yuin groups include:
- Murramurang, north of Deua River to south of Lake Conjola[12][13]
- Dyiringanj, or Djiringanj, from Corunna Lake, south to Bega and west to the top of the range[12][13]
- Brinja from South Kianga to Moruya River.[14][15]
- Budawang[16][17][18]
- Murramarang[19][18]
- Yuin-Monaro[18]
The Yuin are set out as follows by Howitt (1904):
- Yuin[10]
- Guyangal Yuin (South-Yuin)
- (1) Thauaira, east of Mallacoota Inlet.
- (2) Tadera-manji,- in the Bega district.
- (3) Bugelli-manji, in the Moruya district
- Kurial-Yuin (North-Yuin)
- (4) Name not ascertained, in the Braidwood district.
- (5) Name not ascertained, in the Ulladulla district.
- (6) Gurungatta-manji, in the Lower Shoalhaven River district.
- Guyangal Yuin (South-Yuin)
Contemporary sources report that the Brinja-Yuin people's traditional lands extended along the "Lagoon Coast", south of the
During the push in the late 1970s and early 1980s to protect
In 2016, 12 applicants representing South Coast Aboriginals lodged a native title claim in the Federal Court for Yuin country in New South Wales. The claim is made by 52 family groups and was approved by more than 500 Aboriginal people. The claim extends into the ocean and includes traditional fishing rights.[4] In 2018, the registration was accepted.[5]
History
The population before 1788 has been estimated at about 11,000 between
The
The Yuin at
Places
The Yuin are considered as the traditional owners of
Umbarra, aka
On 6 May 2006 the
Kinship and marriage
The exact arrangement of Yuin
Marriage should be exogamous between family groups, as determined by the spiritual connections of those families. However, these family connections are no longer a "a strong element" of contemporary Yuin kinship.[39] To the extent that they are known, family spiritual connections are inherited, and there are still some Yuin families associated with certain animals.[39] Yuin typically do not marry people with connections to the same personal or family beings (see below, Relationship with the natural world).[40]
Skin groups
Multiple Yuin have described a system of "skin groups" (subsets of language groups) that would "govern social behaviours and interaction, determining those with whom individuals can (and cannot) talk, marry, trade, as well as identifying their natural enemies". However, most Yuin these days are "not familiar with this level of the system".[39]
Relationship with the natural world
Yuin people had, and in many cases still have, spiritual, mutual relationships with an aspect of the natural world. These spiritual connections are represented by animals, and these connections come with obligations and relationships, not just to the animal but to other humans and to places and things associated with that animal.[41]
Anthropologist Alfred William Howitt briefly described Yuin spiritual connections with animals in 1904, in The native tribes of south-east Australia.[42] Howitt, and other early ethnographers, used the Ojibwe term "totem" to describe these spiritual connections, as they saw commonalities between Aboriginal Australian spiritual connections to animals and those of First Nations and Native Americans.[43] The term is not widely used by Yuin[44] and the term "totemism" is not well-regarded by them,[45] but Yuin authors often use the term "totem" in works for wider audiences.[46][47][48][49][50]
Yuin believe these spiritual animals to have been made in the
The best known Yuin spiritual animals are the
In 2003, Rose, James and Watson identified six levels of "interacting beings" spoken of by the Yuin, also described as "families within families" by Yuin woman Mary Duroux. The six families described (and, in brackets, the alternative terms used by Yuin elder Randall Mumbler) are:[54][55]
- Beings interacting with the Yuin nation ("tribal totem")
- Beings interacting with tribes or named groups (N/A);
- Beings interacting with families (operating like clans) ("family totem");
- Beings interacting with skin groups (N/A);
- Initiation totems and names ("ceremonial totem");
- Beings interacting with specific individuals ("personal totem"; also called "individual totem" or moojingarl in other sources).
A Yuin's responsibilities to these beings, and their responsibilities to that Yuin, varied depending on the level of the relationship. For example, while a Yuin is expected to protect animals of their moojingarl,[56] Guboo Ted Thomas described no obligation to protect the black duck as his relationship with it was only on a "nation" level.[57]
Donaldson also briefly mentions "gender totems".[55]
Some animals, including the Black Duck, can have spiritual connections with Yuin at any of these levels.[58] Yuin typically do not eat animals with which they have a spiritual connection, which are considered part of their extended family[56] – restrictions which may extend to related animals (all ducks, for example, because of the Black Duck connection).[40]
Yuin elder Randall Mumbler describes the significance of the different levels of connection:[59]
There are personal, family, tribal, and ceremonial totems. The ceremonial totem gives you status if you've been through the law, the tribal totem connects you with everyone in your tribe, the family totem connects you with your family and the personal totem is your best mate
Susan Dale Donaldson has assembled a preliminary list of Yuin spiritual connections, consisting of 20 birds, two marine animals (bream and whale), seven terrestrial mammals and three reptiles.[60]
Specific animals
The
- Wadthi-Wadthi (northern group): Lyrebird
- Wadthi-Wadthi (southern group): Spotted owl
- Yeerimbine (south of Twofold Bay): Killer whale
- Wandian (Mount Sassafrass): Eagle
Beings interacting with families
In 1904, the ethnologist Howitt described Yuin "totems" as
There are still some Yuin families associated with certain animals.[39] Many family connections are with birds – in which case they may be called "family birds".[64]
Initiation totems and names
Howitt described a "medicine man" bestowing a "second totem" (additional to a family "totem") on a Yuin man at his initiation. Contemporary Yuin describe the process as a "discussion" between elder and initiand about which animal is personally significant, rather than a bestowal, and variously describe the spiritual connection as a "secret" or "ceremonial" one, or as a "personal" one.[65]
Donaldson says that ceremonial connections are earned by Yuin who "attain a certain ritual status".[66] Many ceremonial relationships are with fish.[66] Ceremonial connections are associated to the "specialised powers" that "clever people" have, such as Umbarra's power to turn into a whirlwind.[67]
Yuin women may receive up to four new names during their spiritual training. The first two level names are open but the third and fourth are secret. However, unlike other kinship relationships described here, the names are not those of animals; examples include plant names, sacred place names, spirit women names and the word for "female warrior".[65]
Beings interacting with individuals
The Yuin word for a personal spiritual connection with an animal, moojingarl, literally means "my friend" (from moodji, friend, and gaarl, my) and involves reciprocity with that animal and a place or places where it is commonly found.[62] Yuin typically do not marry people with connections to the same personal or family beings.[40]
A moojingarl is believed to "appear" unexpectedly, with its behaviour variously indicating approval, that all is well or that danger approaches.[68] A person's "spirit" is expected to return to their moojingarl, so the appearance of a dolphin may remind viewers of a relative whose moojingarl was the dolphin.[62] A moojingarl is believed to reveal itself to a Yuin person, rather than be chosen for them.[69]
Yuin elder Harrison says that your "personal totem" is "whatever comes near you when you are born".[56]
Spiritual beliefs
Messenger birds
Some Yuin believe in "messenger birds" or "mail birds", who are believed to communicate with their calls. Mopokes calling from a particular direction indicate that people are approaching from a particular direction (if they sing "fast and happy") or that a death occurred in the direction from which they are coming (if they call while slowly approaching from a distance).[71] Willie wagtails deliver bad news, like the death of a loved one, and swans flying north indicate approaching storms.[71] Yuin woman Eileen Morgan identifies four messenger birds (curlews, mail-birds, black ducks and owls), but also two mammals (black dogs and black wallabies).[72]
When angered, "wind birds" (perhaps whip birds) are believed to make the west wind blow by whistling.[71]
Dulagal
Some Yuin believe in dulagal (also rendered doolagarl) or "hairy man", a powerful being that lives on
Notable Yuin
- King Paddy Nurrang, King of Bergalia or Baragalia(?), of the
- Umbarra (died 1904), aka King Merriman,[77] leader of the Djiringanj for many years from the late 1800s[78]
- Mumbulla Mountain and Biamanga National Park are named.[31][32] In 1912 white authorities declared him king of the Wallaga Lake tribe, and gave him a brass breast-plate. Biamanga was the son of an Aboriginal man with the surname Mumbler/Mumbla and Elizabeth Mumbla Turner, and married Rose Gunaal (Gunnal)[82]) Carpenter (1880–1971).[81] Biamanga took over the leadership of the Wallaga Lake clan from Umbarra (see below).[78]
- Percy Mumbler (1907–1991), son of Biamanga and Rose, elder and land rights activist[81][82]
- Edwin "Guboo" Ted Thomas (1909–2002)[83]
- Jimmy Little (1937–2012), on his father's side[84]
Notes
- ^ "In the early days of white contact there was a compulsion to try and find major units in Australia of the kinds familiar to the people of Europe. Layman recorders were not satisfied to accept the autonomous tribal units that they were in contact with as the largest ones present. Soon several tribes extending along the south coast of New South Wales were treated together as the 'Yuin,' because they were all familiar with the word as meaning 'man.'." (Tindale 1974, p. 156)
Citations
- ^ Tindale 1974, p. 193.
- ^ Howitt 1904, pp. 81–82.
- ^ AIATSIS 2017.
- ^ a b c Coote 2018.
- ^ a b c d NNTT.
- ISBN 978-1-74359-862-7. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
- ^ S67 Yuin at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
- ^ Cook 2013, p. 9.
- ^ The Canberra Times 19 Aug 2015.
- ^ a b Howitt 1904, p. 82.
- ^ Interview with Graham Moore (Yuin Elder)
- ^ a b c d e The Aboriginal Peoples – The Yuin Tribes 2004.
- ^ a b c Luff 2005.
- ^ AIATSIS. Retrieved 18 August 2021..
Collection includes nine volumes of Harry Warner's research material, drawings, sketches, figures, diagrams and maps relating to Harry Warner's archaeological reconnaissance of the Lagoon Coast.
Catalogue entry - AIATSIS.
- ^ "Noel Butler". Australian Geographic. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
- ^ "Miryyal: Budawang Aboriginal". Ulladulla.Info. 22 January 2010. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
- ^ a b c "South Coast New South Wales". AIATSIS. 26 January 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
- ^ "Aboriginal History – Eurobodalla". South Coast Travel. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
- ^ "Tuross Head History". Welcome to Tuross Head. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
- ^ "About us". Minga Aboriginal Experiences. 11 October 2018. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
- ^ "Aboriginal Moruya". Moruya and District Historical Society. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
- ^ "The History of Moruya: The Yuin People". Moruya Community. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
- ^ Thomas & Stacey 1980.
- ^ Mazel 2005.
- ^ ABC South East NSW 2013.
- ^ Gulaga National Park 2006.
- ^ a b Debus 2006.
- ^ a b c d Allen, Craig (2 April 2016). "Sacred mountains celebrate decade back under Aboriginal management". ABC News. Australia Wide. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
- ^ Corkhill, William Henry, 1846–1936 (1900), The funeral of Queen Narelle, wife of King Merriman at Wallaga Lake (Photo)
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b Mumballa Foundation 2004.
- ^ a b c "The Indigenous Story of Mt Mumbulla / Mumbulla Falls". About the Sapphire Coast NSW. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
- ^ Pacey 2006.
- Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (New South Wales). 30 November 2021. Retrieved 25 December 2021. Text may have been copied from this source, which is available under a Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)licence.
- ^ "Home page". Montague Island. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
- ^ "Montague Island". Visit NSW. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
- ^ Foster 2006.
- ^ Toner 2015.
- ^ a b c d e Rose, James & Watson 2003, p. 45.
- ^ a b c Donaldson 2012, pp. 10–13, 16–17.
- ^ a b Donaldson 2012, p. 1.
- ^ Donaldson 2012, p. 9.
- ^ a b Howitt 1904.
- ^ Donaldson 2012, p. 5.
- ^ Rose, James & Watson 2003, p. 39.
- ^ Mumbler & Thomas, p. i,ix.
- ^ Harrison & McConchie 2009.
- ^ Preschool 2015.
- ^ Guboo 1997.
- ^ Morgan 1994, pp. 9, 171.
- ^ Donaldson 2012, pp. 11, 14.
- ^ Donaldson 2012, pp. 14–15.
- ^ a b Donaldson 2012, p. 11.
- ^ Rose, James & Watson 2003, pp. 42–43.
- ^ a b Donaldson 2012.
- ^ a b c Harrison & McConchie 2009, p. 91.
- ^ a b Rose, James & Watson 2003, pp. 43–44.
- ^ Donaldson 2012, pp. 11–12, 18.
- ^ Donaldson 2012, p. 15.
- ^ Donaldson 2012, pp. 36–38.
- ^ Donaldson 2012, pp. 12, 14.
- ^ a b c Donaldson 2012, p. 14.
- ^ Rose, James & Watson 2003, pp. 39–40.
- ^ Donaldson 2012, p. 17.
- ^ a b Rose, James & Watson 2003, pp. 45–46.
- ^ a b Donaldson 2012, p. 18.
- ^ Donaldson 2012, pp. 11–12.
- ^ Donaldson 2012, p. 13.
- ^ Donaldson 2012, p. 16.
- ^ Howitt 1904, p. 147.
- ^ a b c Donaldson 2012, pp. 20–21.
- ^ Morgan 1994.
- ^ Morgan 1994, pp. 111–113.
- ^ Mumbler & Thomas.
- ISBN 978-0-908120-35-2,
King of Bergalia brass plate by John Hawdon
- ^ St. John the Evangelist's Church (Moruya, N.S.W.) (1965), The parish church of St. John the Evangelist, Moruya, 1890-1965, St John's Church
- ^ a b "Yuin Peoples". mumbulla.org. Archived from the original on 10 March 2005.
- ^ a b c "Djiringanj – Yuin Nation". Bermagui Historical Society. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
- ^ Corkhill, William Henry, 1846–1936 (1900), The funeral of Queen Narelle, wife of King Merriman at Wallaga Lake (Photo)
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Corkhill, 1846–1936, William Henry (1890), Neddy, Biamanga (Jack Mumbler), an unidentified man and Umbarra (Merriman) at Wallaga Lake, New South Wales, ca. 1900 (Photo)
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c "Can you help "Find Our Mob"" (PDF). Coastal Custodians. 2 (11): 7–8. February–March 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 March 2011. Retrieved 22 August 2021 – via NSW Dept of the Environment.
- ^ a b Stewart, Jodie (9 December 2014). "Percy Mumbler". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
- ^ Brown, Bill (28 May 2013). "We and the land are one – Guboo Ted Thomas". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
- ^ "Jimmy Little". Murandak. 5 April 2012. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012.
Sources
- "The Aboriginal Peoples – The Yuin Tribes". Taken from the book " Bermagui – A Century of Features and Families " by Ron Gaha and Judy Hearn. Internet Archive cached version from 10 March 2005 of The Mumballa Foundation web site. 2004. Archived from the original on 10 March 2005. Retrieved 22 May 2006.
- "The Aboriginal whalers of Eden". ABC South East NSW. 29 October 2013. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
- "Application Details". National Native Title Tribunal. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
- Cook, Kevin (2013). Making Change Happen: Black & White Activists Talk to Kevin Cook about Aboriginal, Union and Liberation Politics. ANU Press. p. 9.
- Coote, Gavin (20 February 2018). "Cultural fishing rights in Yuin native title claim gathers momentum". ABC News. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
- New South Wales Department of Environment and Climate Change. Retrieved 22 May 2006.
- Donaldson, Susan Dale (2012). "Exploring ways of knowing, protecting, acknowledging Aboriginal totems across the Eurobodalla, Far South Coast, NSW: Final report" (PDF). Eurobodalla Shire Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 June 2018.
- Foster, Warren (2006). "Gulaga told by Warren Foster". Stories of the Dreaming. Australian Museum. Retrieved 22 May 2006.
- Guboo, Ted Thomas (1997). Renewing the dreaming: Guboo Ted Thomas. New South Wales: N/A.
- "Gulaga National Park". New South Wales Department of Environment and Climate Change. 2006. Retrieved 22 May 2006.
- Harrison, Max Dulumunmun; McConchie, Peter (2009). My people's dreaming: an Aboriginal elder speaks on life, land, spirit and forgiveness. Warriewood: Finch Publishing. ISBN 978-1876451967 – via Trove.
- Howitt, Alfred William (1904). The native tribes of south-east Australia (PDF). Macmillan.
- "Indigenous rights organiser Kevin Cook 'opened the pathways' for all Australians". The Canberra Times. 19 August 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
- Luff, Erika (2005). "Aboriginal Overview". Cultural map. Bega Valley Shire Council. Retrieved 22 May 2006.
- Mazel, Odette (2005). "Yuin Nation – Agreements". Agreements, Treaties and Negotiated Settlements (ATNS) project. Archived from the original on 11 February 2006. Retrieved 22 May 2006.
- Morgan, Eileen (1994). The calling of the spirits. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press. ISBN 978-0855752552.
- "Mumballa Foundation". Internet Archive cached version from 10 March 2005 of The Mumballa Foundation web site. 2004. Archived from the original on 10 March 2005. Retrieved 22 May 2006.
- Mumbler, Percy; Thomas, Guboo Ted. "Umbarra – Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS)". AIATSIS. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
- Pacey, Laurelle (11 May 2006). "Handing back heartbeat of Yuin nation". Narooma News. Retrieved 22 May 2006.
- Preschool, Children of Little Yuin Aboriginal, ed. (2015). Our Little Yuin. Wallaga Lake, NSW: Little Yuin Aboriginal Preschool. ISBN 978-0646932682.
- Rose, Deborah; James, Diana; Watson, Christine (May 2003). Indigenous kinship with the natural world in New South Wales (PDF). NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. ISBN 0-7313-6704-9.
- "South Coast New South Wales". AIATSIS. 11 May 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
- Thomas, Guboo Ted; Stacey, Wesley (1980). Mumbulla spiritual contact. Canberra: Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0909596712 – via Trove.
- ISBN 978-0-708-10741-6.
- Toner, P.G. (2015). Strings of Connectedness (PDF). Australian National University.
External links
- AusAnthrop Australian Aboriginal tribal database entry for Thaua (aka Thurga, aka Yuin) Accessed 9 June 2008
- Tindale, Norman (1974) "Djiringanj" (dialect of Yuin) in his Catalogue of Australian Aboriginal Tribes. South Australian Museum. Accessed 9 2008
- Portion of Norman Tindale's (1974) Tribal Boundary Map including Djiringanj, Thaua, Walbanga, & Wandandian Accessed from South Australian Museum website 9 June 2008