Gunditjmara
The Gunditjmara or Gundidj are an Aboriginal tribe in western Victoria . ( Gunditj means belong to , mara means person ). Their neighbors in the west were the Buandig , in the north the Jardwadjali and the Djab wurrung and the Girai wurrung in the east. These Aborigines are very important because they built hundreds of round stone huts and an inland aquaculture system that no other Aboriginal did.
Surname
The name is also pronounced as Gournditch-Mara . Subgroups based on different dialects are the Dhauwurd wurrung . Alternative names are Dhauhurtwurru, Kunditjmara, Gournditch-mara, Kuurn-kopan-noot (language names) Kirurndit, Tourahonong, Weeritch-Weeritch, Ngutuk Tribe, Villiers Tribe, Spring Creek Tribe, Port Fairy Tribe, Gournditch-Mara, Gurndidy , Dhaurwurd-Wurrung.
Life
They were a traditional tribe who lived by the rivers and lakes in the Framlingham Forest on Lake Condah and the surrounding river system. Rivers and lakes were of great importance to their diet and spirituality. They had a sophisticated system of aquaculture and eel breeding and built stone dwellings. They built stone dams to hold back the water in these areas in the swamps, where they raised eels and other fish. They also built connections between these swamps. These canals had fish weirs and large baskets were woven by women to fish for the adult eels.
history
Convincing Ground Massacre
In 1833 whalers fought with the Kilcarer Gundidj in the so-called convincing ground massacre on Portland beach . The reason for the argument was the body of a whale lying on the stand . There is a debate about the accuracy of the massacre report. However, there are daily reports from this period of a skirmish between the Gunditj who threw spears and whalers who fired rifles, in which more than 200 Aborigines were killed.
Eumerella Wars
Conflicts between the Aborigines of this area and the European colonialists took place in Deen Maar. These conflicts were known as the Eumerella Wars and took place for over 20 years in the mid-19th century.
Recent history
From the 19th century onwards, many Gunditjmara went or were brought to Framlingham Aboriginal Station , a mission station outside Warrnambool . In 1987, when Victoria was ruled by the Australian Labor Party under John Cain , they tried to transfer some parts of the Framlingham State Forest to the Aborigines as an immutable title. However, this was blocked by the legislature, the Liberal Party opposition in the Victorian Legislative Council . However, the federal labor government under Hawke intervened by enacting an Aboriginal Land Act 1987 , which made it possible to transfer 5 km² of the Framlingham Forest to the Framlingham Trust. Although this title was non-transferable, it could be transferred to another Aboriginal land trust. The Framlingham Trust has no right to mine the area. This is unusual in comparison with other trusts or communities that hold a native title.
In 1993 the spokesman for the Peek Whurrong of the Dhauwurdwurung was awarded the Deen Maar Indigenous Protected Area under the protection of ATSIC for the Framlingham Aboriginal Trust by the Gunditjmara Nation , with the intention that it should become a protected zone for the Aborigines. This status has been guaranteed since 1999; this is the only such recognized status in Victoria.
The Gunditjmara of Lake Condah and the surrounding area fought fiercely for recognition as traditional owners of their ancestral lands. In 1987 they achieved recognition with the Framlingham community under the Australian Government's Aboriginal Land (Lake Condah and Framlingham Forest) Act 1987 . They finally got their land back as a Native Title Claim in August 1996 and only eleven years later were they able to fulfill the formalities for their rights, the Native Title Rights, in March 2007.
The organizations Winda Mara Aboriginal Corporation and Gunditjmara Native Title Claimant Group (now the Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation ) have initiated several major projects, such as the on the principles of sustainable development and wider community participation Lake Condah Sustainable Development Project based .
The Gunditjmara living on Lake Condah own about 20 square kilometers of land in the Budj Bim National Heritage Landscape, which is important to them . This property shows their traditionally constructed aquaculture system and their permanent housing. The Gunditjmara area and settlements destroy the notion that the Gunditjmara were nomads . The Budj Bim National Heritage Landscape is now inscribed on the Australian Heritage List.
Well-known Gunditjmara
- Richard J. Frankland , singer, songwriter, writer and film director.
- Norm McDonald , football player in the AFL.
- Robert Lowe, author of The Mish, on growing up in the Framlingham Mission.
- Archie Roach , singer and songwriter, best known for a music album about the stolen generation .
- Chris L. Johnson , Brisbane Lions AFL player.
- Nathan Lovett-Murray , Essendon Bomber AFL player.
- Wally Lovett , player for the Richmond and Collingwood AFL.
- Andrew Lovett , Essendon Bomber player.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Information on www.environment.gov.au ( Memento of the original from August 18, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 672 kB)
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original dated August 26, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Anna Salleh, Aborigines may have farmed eels, built huts , News in Science, Australian Broadcasting Corporation , March 13, 2003. Retrieved November 26, 2008
- ↑ Life was not a walkabout for Victoria's Aborigines , The Age, March 13, 2003. Retrieved November 25, 2008
- ↑ [1] ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Australian National Heritage List
