The Bundjalung people (also spelt as Bunjalung, Banjalang and Bandjalang) are the original custodians of northern coastal areas of New South Wales. The Traditional country is an area that included the north-east corner of New South Wales and the south-eastern corner of Queensland, stretching from Grafton on the Clarence River in the south to the Logan River in the north and inland as far as the Great Dividing Range at Tenterfield and Warwick.
The Bundjalung language belongs to the Pama-Nyungan family of Australian languages, at the time of first contact with Europeans there were up to 20 dialects of the language, which includes the Wahlubal, Yugambeh, Birrihn, Barryugil, Bandjalang, Wudjebal, Wiyabal, Wuhyabal, Minyangbal, Gidhabal, Galibal, and Ngarrahngbal dialects.
The BlackWords team have so far identified close to eighty authors who identify as Bundjalung. Prominent Bundjalung writers include Ruby Langford Ginibi, Melissa Lucashenko, Sam Wagan Watson, and Jon Bell. Some of those writers and their works are listed below. Discover more Bundjalung writers by choosing 'cultural heritage' in 'Personal Details' in the AustLit's 'Advanced Search' or click here for an automatic search.
'Don’t Take Your Love to Town is a story of courage in the face of poverty and tragedy. Ruby recounts losing her mother when she was six, growing up in a mission in northern New South Wales and leaving home when she was fifteen. She lived in tin huts and tents in the bush and picked up work on the land while raising nine children virtually single-handedly. Later she struggled to make ends meet in the Koori areas of Sydney. Ruby is an amazing woman whose sense of humour has endured through all the hardships she has experienced.
(...more)This work published in 1988 was Ginibi's bestselling first book, it has sold over 30,000 copies since publications. This work is now a formative work of Australian Indigenous memoir and is one of the most important Indigenous life stories to be published in Australia.
Talk Softly, Listen Well details Charles Moran's family history, including his early life in the Northern Rivers region and describes how he survived the clash of cultural expectations. (Source: Publishers website)
(...more)Grace Roberts was a 'stolen' child. This short book tells the story of her life. Grace 'was regarded as a "special woman" , she lived and worked mainly within her own language area, but her presence was felt in far wider circles; the bureacracy of the time both state and federal were very aware of her work and aspirations'. (Source: Grace Roberts: Her Life, Her Mystery, Her Dreaming 198?:4)
(...more)'In 200 years since colonisation soldiers from this country have distinguished themselves in eight campaigns on foreign soils. Australian Aborigines have served an active role in each of these wars, though their efforts to sign-up were often resisted by official policy that saw them as unsuitable because of their racial origin. After the event Aboriginal contribution was rarely recognised by historians or brought to the attention of the public.'
'Through the erection of the war memorial the people of Yugambeh Aboriginal group pay tribute to the many Aboriginal service men and women who have served this country'.
(...more)This small book includes life stories of Yugambeh/Bundjalung service men and women. It also includes a list of names of persons who served in World War I, World War II, Malaya, Borneo and Vietnam.
see records of reviews for Lucashenko's Mullumbimby: Mullumbimby by Melissa Lucashenko in First Nations Telegraph and Melissa Lucashenko : Mullumbimby by James Tierney.
'A haunting novel of loss and redemption, Watershed tells with great poignancy and ironic insight the story of Eve and her husband Marconi, whose son David disappeared one day in the Murray River. A novel of contemporary Australian life.' (Source: TROVE)
(...more)Watershed was shortlisted in the Victorian Premier's Literacy Awards in 2006.
'In this award-winning work of fiction, Ellen van Neerven takes her readers on a journey that is mythical, mystical and still achingly real.'
'Over three parts, she takes traditional storytelling and gives it a unique, contemporary twist. In ‘Heat’, we meet several generations of the Kresinger family and the legacy left by the mysterious Pearl. In ‘Water’, a futuristic world is imagined and the fate of a people threatened. In ‘Light’, familial ties are challenged and characters are caught between a desire for freedom and a sense of belonging.
(...more)'Unconventional Means: The Dream Down Under is a combination of memoir and personal adventure in which the lives of an upper-middle-class artist from Nashville, TN and an Aboriginal Australian elder intersect. Contains traditional Aboriginal stories and artwork by the author. Sixteen-year-old Anne Williams, shattered by a family tragedy, tries to cope through art and reading. She eventually finds solace in Nevil Shute's novel A Town Like Alice. His heroine's journey through the tribulations of war to find love and a new home modeled after the town of Alice Springs, Australia gives teenage Anne hope "that there is something on the other side of the terrible things" for her, too.
(...more)This work includes Aboriginal traditional stories told by Lorraine Mafia-Williams.
'Some people say that Dirrangun is a witch, That she's mean and cunning and Brings you all the mischief in the world. Others say that she's friendly. But she's a very old woman and She has long hair down to her knees. Dirrangun is well-known near Grafton and along the north coast of New South Wales. Both the Bunjalung and Githavul people speak of her and of her connection with local landmarks. She is a powerful woman.' (Source: Publishers website)
(...more)'Come with me to my family's old house in Lionsville. It's full of memories. It's a special place. Uncle Pat calls it a secret place.
'We played in that old tin cubby, swam in the creek with the catfish, and fell asleep to the ribbip of frogs at night.
'And around the red cedar table we listened to the old people's stories. We learned a lot that way.
'Renowned artist Bronwyn Bancroft's Remembering Lionsville brings to vivid life her family's oral history and her own childhood memories.
In 1999, State and National Award-winning poet, professional narrator and storyteller Sam Wagan Watson had won the David Unaipon Award for his selected poetry work Of Muse, Meandering and Midnight, and In 2005 he won the Kenneth Slessor Prize - New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards for his work Smoke Encrypted Whispers.
Watson his also the son of well-known activist and writer Sam Watson.
'These poems pulse with the language and images of a mangrove-lined river city, the beckoning highway, the just-glimpsed muse, the tug of childhood and restless ancestors. For the first time Samuel Wagan Watson's poetry has been collected into this stunning volume, which includes a final section of all new work.' (Source: UQP website: www.uqp.uq.edu.au)
(...more)Shane Hendry, poet and writer was born in Stanthorpe, Queensland, his poetry helped 'him to understand why, as a child, he was different and why he had a different way of looking at life and the world around him...' (Source: Message Stick, 1997)
Shane Hendry has been writing poetry for the Koori Mail since 1995. The Koori Mail is owned jointly by five small Aboriginal organisations in Bundjalung country, on the far north coast of New South Wales.
Shane Hendry has been writing poetry for the Koori Mail since 1995. The Koori Mail is owned jointly by five small Aboriginal organisations in Bundjalung country, on the far north coast of New South Wales.
First line of poem: "I wonder who will be there?"
'Opera Australia and the Yarrabah Indigenous Community of Far North Queensland join forces for this world premiere musical. Directed by Rhoda Roberts, this innovative production tells the stories and history of Yarrabah through spoken word, dance and song, performed with a live band and featuring an original score by Shenzo Gregorio, with choreography by Marilyn Miller. Featuring many of the young people and elders of the Yarrabah Community, alongside artists Casey Donovan, Troy Brady and Nick Backstrom, 'YARRABAH! The Musical' is both striking and extraordinary.
(...more)'Yarrabah! The Musical' is over two years in the making, brought about by ongoing conversations between Opera Australia's Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini and the people of Yarrabah.
A documentary that uses historical footage and interviews with people who were part of the generation of Indigenous Australians forced into unpaid servitude by the Australian government. The title refers to the amount of pocket money the indentured workers were supposed to be given, but never received, while their wages were managed by their 'employers' on behalf of the Aborigines Protection Board.
(...more)One of a trinity of talented brothers, Stephen and Russell. David has composed music for many of the Bangarra Dance Theatre's major works, including Mathinna. Stephen was appointed Artistic Director of Bangarra Dance Theatre in 1991,Russell was an acclaimed dancer for Bangarrabut died in 2002.
'Inspired by a young girl's journey between two cultures, Mathinna traces the fragmented history of a young Tasmanian Aboriginal girl removed from her traditional life and adopted into Western Colonial society, only to be ultimately returned to the fragments of her original heritage' (Source : www.bangarra.com.au (Sighted 07/10/2009)).
(...more)See this Bangarra Dance Theatre's Education Resource video. It is an excerpt of 'Mathinna' (2008) based on the true story of a young Tasmanian Aboriginal girl who lived in the early 1800s.
The Bangarra Dance Theatre Education Resources are available on their website.
'She was Oodgeroo, Custodian of Minjerribah and senior lore woman of the Noonuccal people. In November 1974, a BOAC aircraft was hijacked in Dubai by Palestinian terrorists.
The aircraft was flown to Tunisia and held on the tarmac for three days. Kath Walker, member of the steering committee for the 2nd World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture meeting in Nigeria, and later to be Oodgeroo Noonuccal, was on that plane. Walker pleaded with the hijackers on behalf of the passengers, particularly a German banker who had been targeted for execution.
(...more)Jon Bell grew up in Casino, he created and wrote the drama series The Gods of Wheat Street with Every Cloud Productions for ABC's Indigenous unit.
'Taking Australians into the home, and hearts, of an Aboriginal family, 'The Gods of Wheat Street' aims to fill a huge gap in Australian television. Series creator Jon Bell says the production, which explores modern Aboriginal stories, has been described as 'Black to the Rafters'.' (Souce: ABC North Coast NSW website)
'The central character in the series is Odin Freeburn, who promised his dying mother 20 years ago he would keep the family together. Now, he has one brother in jail, another brother in love with the daughter of the family enemy and his wife has run away to the city, leaving him to raise their two daughters.
His employer has just died, his sister-in-law is in love with him and the spirit of his mother Eden has come back to tell him how to do it all so much better and protect the important destiny of the Freeburn line.
(...more)Premiered on the 12 April 2014 on the ABC.
In this book the author presents information from an Aboriginal perspective on the Aboriginal Kombumerri people of the Gold Coast and Beaudesert Region. In explaining tradition life, the author had included 'information from neighbouring Aboriginal clans who share the Yugambeh language as their customs and practices have been described as similar.' (Source: Rory O'Connor: page 4)
(...more)'This paper suggests that the current depictions of Aboriginal families must be contextualised within an understanding of the complex historical relationships that continue to be marked by both a culture of fear and also a failure to appreciate the alternative narratives on Aboriginal families that are extant with Aboriginal communities themselves.' (Source: Abstract)
(...more)For the first time the music of the Yugambeh language region has been gathered in one place. This book opens a window on the musical traditions of the Aboriginal people of the region that extends from the Logan River in south-east Queensland to the Tweed River on the border with New South Wales. The real authors of this book are the many people listed in the acknowledgments and end notes. They were the ones who first recorded their experiences and events or shared their personal recollections.
(...more)This organisation aims to record and promote the traditional knowledge of their region, especially the Yugambeh language, which was spoken throughout south east Queensland. For more information see the Yugambeh website
This organisation provides vital support to Aboriginal communities who want to revitalize their languages covering an area from the Tweed to the Hawkesbury River and six languages: Bundalung-Yugambeh, Yaygirr Gumbaynggirr, Gathang, Awabakal-Wanarrua and Darkinyung. For more information see Muurrbay Aboriginal Language and Culture Co-operative website.
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