SENSITIVE CONTENT NSW North Coast Aboriginal Peoples
This item is comprised of news cuttings, loose papers, letters to Elkin, photographs and a reprint.
Language Groups include: Gumbaynggir, Kattang, Birpai, Dunghutti. Moreton Bay - Turubu. Diamantina River, Qld - Yarluyandi.
There are eight news cuttings; 5 articles are about Aboriginal communities in the Dungog, Port Stephens and Gresford area dealing with:
article 1: social life and customs including marriage, medicine-men, graves and funeral customs;
article 2: The Great Spirits, A Gresford Bora, Initiation Ceremonies;
article 3: other Bora Customs, Port Stephens 'Bumbat' - [an initiation ceremony], The Dungog Ceremonies, Messengers;
article 4 - History of the Dungog, Gresford, and Stroud district Aboriginals reprinted from Dungog Chronicle files 20 years old;
article 5: a continuation from article 4.
The other news cuttings deals with Richmond River Blacks - Ways and Customs in Early Days by Mary Bundock of Wyangarie Cattle Station, and a description of Gumbaynggir section; topics: variety of game, medicine bag, ban on delicacies, 1 photograph of a group of 8 individuals.
Port Macquarie Times - article entitled 'Aboriginal Life Port Macquarie and District' by CE Dick, reference to honey collecting, use of stone axes, the kipara [initiation] ceremony, corroboree.
Bundles of paper include:
Bundle 1 (10pp): Notes on the Richmond River Blacks by Miss Mary Bundock of Wyangarie Cattle Station. Social life and customs including food collecting, medicine-men, religion. Robt. L Dawson, Lindfield added the comment that the original manuscript had been lent to him by a niece of the writer, that he accepts the statements as reliable and correct and that the original manuscript was written in or about 1898. (Sent 06/12/1940).
Bundles 2- 5 letters by WJ Enright to Elkin; references include: Port Stephens 'Jung-um' - [?Spirit Figure], massacre at a place between Brookfield and Booral called the "Black Camp"; note on a ceremony in Port Stephens Blacks, Recollections of [?] Scott, 1929; 'The Pyramid', mountain near Stanthorpe containing carved faces; Port Macquarie, refers to the Quinlins - Himberrong [Dunghutti] Tribe.
Reprint "Early Drawings of an Aboriginal Ceremonial Ground" by RH Cambage from Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of NS Wales, Vol. L1V, refers to ceremonial ground at Moreton Bay, Queensland.
Photographs Restricted: 1 of Bullroarer [?Walcha]; 4 [?tjuringa's] - no place cited; 3 of Cave paintings - Howes Valley, near Singleton, N.S.W. [?Darkinyung or Wonnarua], 2 from EG Davidson; 2 of Rock carvings - Diamantina River, Queensland - [?Yarluyandi] - Goddard cited on reverse; 2 of stone in possession of Dr Barton of Singleton; 1 of uncarved stones - 2 of 6 carved stones - locality not cited.
Loose papers: Enright to Elkin re Elder initiates at Purfleet, the death of Arthur Marr, names of senior men, brief mention of initiation ceremonies; 22/6/1937 Enright to Elkin re a dumb-bell shaped stone [[?cylindro conical stone], and a similar stone found close to Thurrabri Lagoon near Boggabri; remains of 4 individuals near Wollombi found by Breton; Breton claiming was in a burial ground - a bora ground; [?cylindro conical stone] found in Boggabri; 3/12/1937 Enright to Elkin - receipt of a small dumb-bell stone [?cylindro conical stone]. Undated: AD Barton to Enright - [?cylindro conical stone] found at Carrowbrook and mention of stone axe heads also found in that locality; 29/3/1954 Lionel Gilbert [?teacher] at Central School, Nabiac to Elkin requesting more information for teaching purposes, on the Aboriginal history of the area along Wallamba River extending to Lake Wallis; 2 page notes Note on the Kattang and Birpai speaking tribes of the Coast of NSW, taken from articles by Elkin.
Mention: Cylindro conical stone, cave paintings, carved stones, The Keeparra.
Names mentioned in Enright's letters are Arthur Marr - Purfleet, Arthur [?], Sam Kelly - Purfleet, 3 elderly men with the name Buchanan - Nambucca Heads camp; Mrs Lobban - Purfleet Mission; Tom Lynch - "Chinchilla Tom", Constable Mumbler at Bulga Police Station; The Quinlins - Port Macquarie.
Places include: New South Wales, Purfleet, Nambucca Heads, Boggabri, Carrowbrook, Richmond River, Wyangarie Cattle Station, Port Stephens, Bulga, Stanthorpe, Moreton Bay, Walcha, Singleton, Port Macquarie, Dungog, Gresford and Stroud districts, Diamantina River Queensland.
The Mary Bundock Collection, Australian Museum Ref: AM0042