Bundjalung people

The Bundjalung people, also spelled Bunjalung, Badjalang and Bandjalang, are Aboriginal Australians who are the original custodians of a region from around Grafton in northern coastal New South Wales to Beaudesert in south-east Queensland. The region is located approximately 550 km northeast of Sydney and 100 km south of Brisbane that now includes the Bundjalung National Park.

The languages of the Bundjalung people are dialects of the Lower-Richmond branch of the Yugambeh-Bundjalung language family.

The Arakwal of Byron Bay count themselves as one of the Bundjalung peoples.

Language
Bundjalung is a Pama-Nyungan language. It has two unusual features: certain syllables are strongly stressed while others are "slurred", and it classifies gender into four classes: (a) masculine (b) feminine (c) arboreal and (d) neuter.

Country


Norman Tindale estimated the Bundjalung People lived over an area approximately 2300 mi2, from north of the Clarence River to the Richmond River including the site of Ballina and inland to Tabulam and Baryugil. The coastal Widje clan ventured no further than Rappville. The area underwent significant change with sea level rise 18,000 to 7,500 years ago which completely displaced inhabitants of previous coastal areas and resulted in dramatic changes in distributions of peoples.

Alternative names


According to Norman Tindale, various spellings and other names were used for the Bundjalung people:


 * Badjelang (paidjal/badjal means "man")
 * Bandjalang, Bandjalong
 * Budulung
 * Buggul
 * Bundela, Bundel
 * Bunjellung
 * Paikalyung, Paikalyug
 * Watchee
 * Widje (clan or clans at Evans Head)
 * Woomargou

Initiation ceremony
According to R. H. Mathews, the Bundjalung rite of transition into manhood began with a cleared space called a walloonggurra some distance from the main camp. On the evening the novices are taken from their mothers around dusk, the men sing their way to this bora ground where a small bullroarer (dhalguñgwn) is whirled.

Musical instruments
The Bundjalung used a variety of instruments, including blowing on a eucalyptus leaf, creating a bird-like sound. Clapsticks were used to establish a drumbeat rhythm on ceremonial dancing occasions. Emu callers (short didgeridoos about 30 cm long) were traditionally used by the Bundjalung when hunting (Eastern Australia Coastal Emus). When striking the emu-caller at one end with the open palm it sounds like an emu. This decoy attracts the bird out of the bush making it an easy prey.

Native title
In late April 2021, the Federal Court of Australia convened at Evans Head, where a native title determination was made over 7.2 km2 of land, consisting of 52 separate areas of land. The application had been launched in 1996, and the first determination made in 2013. Included in the land is a bora ring of great cultural significance near Coraki.

Notable people

 * Sharlene Allsopp, author and poet, winner of the Ford Memorial Prize in 2021
 * Evelyn Araluen, poet
 * Bob Bellear, judge of the District Court of New South Wales, the first Indigenous person to be appointed to any court in Australia
 * Troy Cassar-Daley, country singer, winner of ARIA and Deadly awards, among others
 * Melissa Lucashenko, author, winner of 2013 Walkley Award for non-fiction and 2019 Miles Franklin Award
 * Madeleine and Miah Madden, actresses, half-sisters with Bundjalung heritage through their father
 * Lambert McBride, activist for Aboriginal citizenship rights during the 1960s
 * Digby Moran, artist
 * Anthony Mundine, former boxer, rugby league star
 * Djon Mundine, artist
 * Warren Mundine, businessman, former politician
 * Mark Olive, Aboriginal Australian chef
 * Nikita Ridgeway, tattoo artist and graphic designer
 * Rhoda Roberts, journalist, arts advisor and artistic director
 * Clive Andrew Williams, aboriginal cultural activist.