SENSITIVE CONTENT Correspondence and Transcripts - North Coast Including Taree, Tabulam, Lismore, Nambucca and Port Stephens

Due to the nature of the records, the Archives reserves the right to restrict, limit or refuse access to any item/s without prior notice, on the basis of personal privacy or out of respect for the rights and/or beliefs of First Nations people in accordance with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Library, Information and Resource Network (ATSILIRN) protocols.

Language groups include: Birpai - Waw-wyper, Kattang, Tharawal, Bundjalung, Wonnarua, Gumbaynggir, Yaygir, Worimi, Geawegal

AUSTLANG references Waw-wyper as a variation spelling for Birpai.

Places: Lake Illawarra, Nambucca Heads, Bowraville, Taree, Tabulam, Lismore, Manning River, Bylong, Port Macquarie, Wollombi, Tea Gardens, Purfleet, Kempsey, Casino, Woodenbong, Byron Bay.

The item contains 10 bundles of loose sheets of paper. Entries are handwritten in lead pencil and/or ink and typescript. There are 67 folios. Not all items appear to be written by Elkin.

Bundle 1: 17 pages. 16/09/1931 – 29/06/1956. Correspondence addressed to AP Elkin from various authors in relation to Indigenous people. The letters are handwritten as well as in typescript; some of the letters have handwritten notes from Elkin. The correspondence includes cultural material relating to the area.

Language groups: Birpai - Waw-wyper, Kattang, Tharawal, Bundjalung,

Places: Lake Illawarra, Nambucca Heads, Bowraville, Taree, Tabulam, Lismore

Bundle 2: 1 page. Transcript from JW Fawcett, 'Australian Aborigines, a burial ceremony of the Maw-Wyper Tribe.' The Australasian Anthropological Journal. Vol.1. 1896-7. May 31. 1897. P125.

Language groups: Wonnarua, Birpai - War-wyper.

Places: Taree, Manning River.

Bundle 3: 2 pages. Transcript from S Stutchbury, Private Diary dated 6/08/1851 (2). The transcript notes the diary is deposited in the Mitchell Library NSW. Subject: Sorry Business and the interior of New South Wales.

Bundle 4: 1 page. Transcript titled “Information re soil ring formations in the Bylong district”.

Language groups: Wonnarua.

Places: Bylong.

Bundle 5: 3 pages. Includes a sheet of paper marked North Coast NSW to be shredded. Typescript copy of an interview of Samuel Kelly of Frederickton. The interview is in relation to translating songs used in initiation ceremonies and identifying artefacts.

Language groups: Gumbaynggir, Dunghutti.

Places: Nambucca.

Bundle 6: 7 pages. Transcript titled “Ethnology of Qumaigqera”. Detailed report regarding the nomadic clans located on the North Coast of NSW.

Language groups: Gumbaynggir, Dunghutti, Yaygir.

Places: Grafton, Nambucca.

Bundle 7: 10 pages. Titled “Henry Buchanan Nambucca Heads”. Typescript document appears to be an interview between two women and an Aboriginal man Harry Buchanan regarding religion, Christianity and the dreaming.

Language groups: Gumbaynggir, Dunghutti.

Places: Nambucca Heads.

Bundle 8: 6 pages. Typescript document regarding the population of Aboriginal people in the North Coast area and the affect colonisation has had on their traditional ways.

Language groups: Darkinyung, Gumbaynggir, Dunghutti, Worimi.

Places: Port Macquarie, Wollombi, Tea Gardens, Nambucca.

Bundle 9: 16 pages. Handwritten research notes on the language groups of North Coast NSW. The notes include citations from unknown sources. Includes references to language; totem; kinship; rites; myth; initiation and ceremony.

Language groups: Birpai - Waw-wyper, Geawegal, Worimi.

Places: Port Stephens, Taree, Purfleet, Kempsey, Casino, Woodenbong, Byron Bay.

Names: A Woodlands.

Bundle 10: Five small palm cards. The cards have handwritten notes regarding traditional health treatments related to women from Port Stephens. The back of the cards has a Grand concert from St James Church Morpeth.

Language groups: Geawegal, Worimi.

Places: Port Stephens.

Fawcett, JW, 'Australian Aborigines, a burial ceremony of the Maw-Wyper Tribe'. The Australasian Anthropological Journal. Vol.1. 1896-7. May 31 1897, p125. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-569100821/view?sectionId=nla.obj-588121959&partId=nla.obj-569105377 Accessed 07/11/2023 Samuel Stutchbury diary https://collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/9Bv7gxL9 accessed 07/11/2023