Bungjalung Jugun: Part I

Notes from Bundjalung Jugun by Jennfier Hoff (2006). Richmond River Historical Society Inc.

Bundjalung Jugun

Bundjalung country

-European invasion in 1788

-60 thousand years

Life before the invasion

-Seasonal food gathering

-regional bush medicines

-Cycles of ceremonial events

-belief in an ancient and strict customary law

The spiritual power of the Budheram (Budjeram), the sacred dimension of all life.

1788: Convicts, soldiers and sailors arrived of the coast intending to found a penal settlement.

At first, the Bungjalung treated Europeans with respect as the ‘white man’ was seen as ghost; as the reincarnate of the Aboriginal. The true nature of the new European settlers changed their mind.

Europeans were reluctant to learn the language and considered the natives with contempt. Many admired the native people’s fitness and their ability to hunt and track, however they considered them to have thoughts like children.

1 The invasion begins

The British were not the first to have encountered the Bundjalung people. John Oxley came across an unknown shipwreck near Tweed river. Europeans brought new diseases such as smallpox, consumption and influenza. It is believed that the British Army spread smallpox intentionally through distributing infected blankets. Natives were shocked at the way Europeans punished their own convicts, as there was no torture in the Bundjalung culture. Some escapees were seen with sympathy and adopted into local tribes. It was a novelty for a tribe to have a ‘dokkai’ or ‘mogwi. (ghost). They attended Bon-ye, Bon-ye which was a big festival in which tribes ate together and re-enacted experiences that they had had or seen. They also discussed the threat of war.

2 Cutting the forests

Before the European settlers arrived, the area was dense forest, rich swamps and abundant with food. Huge trees including cedar were a valuable to the settlers and within 50 years huge areas were cleared. Much of the forests were cleared for farmland as well as timber production. The cedar cutters were often former convicts or misfits and brought with them alcoholism and violence. Their use of the waterways disrupted the local people’s travel routes and connections with other families and tribes. There were account of local people exchanging labour and goods in terms of tree felling. The Bundjalung people were often used for their ability to climb, locate specific tree and access thick scrub.

3 Many strangers, One land

The introduction of European livestock disrupted local native bushland. Escaped cattle tore up earth and contaminated water holes. Native animals sort new habitats, which meant native people found it harder to hunt bush food. Travelling settlers would bring large quantities of supplies which required horses and wagons. They would cross lands without permission, hunting native animals and often behaving in an arrogant manner. Many of the local tribesmen were hostile towards the settlers for these reason.

4 Squatters and settlers

Despite the fact that the settlers struggled to connect their activities with the droughts; the Bundjalung people could recognise that since the Europeans had arrived and drastically changed their landscape, things had become harder.

There is an account on a noisy vessel that came into the Richmond rivers and fired guns in celebration. Due to this, the local people and animals fled the area. Later, after going missing for ten days, two crew members were returned to the vessel by local tribes. They recounted that if the vessel hadn’t made so much noise, the tribes would have been willing to rescue them earlier, saving a huge ordeal.

As large areas of land were being transformed into farmland, settlers with huge herds of animals were taking journey’s through Bundjalung land. Many animals would become lost or die on route. These carcasses contaminated water and the earth around them. Settlers that abided by the local customs and spoke the Bundjalung dialect were more likely to build positive relationships with local tribes and allowed to pass over their land.

From many accounts, if the settlers (intruders) treated the locals with respect, attempted to speak their dialect and were willing to share; they could develop an amicable relationship. If local tribes attacked intruders, this would normally be in connection with murder, rape or desecration of a sacred place.

In some cases the local people and settlers would get along and share stations or camps. When settlers used the local tribes land for farming, it was understood by the tribes that they would share their food, however this was not always the case. On occasions, local tribes might spear the cattle and take what they considered to be theirs. This created a great deal of misunderstandings.

With the dissipation of local resources such as native grasses, traditional food was getting harder to make. Some natives became more and more reliant on imported foods and would suffer along with the settlers if food didn’t arrive on time, or was lost in transit.

Hunting was a big pastime for settlers. Unlike the native approach to hunting (in that you hunt for food and only take what you can eat) settlers hunted for sport, killed with guns, horses and dogs, and frequently left their prizes to die in the bush. Within 30 years, many animal species plummeted in numbers.