Gadubanud facts for kids
.jpg)
The Gadubanud (also called Katubanut) were an Aboriginal Australian people from Victoria. They lived along the rugged coastline and rainforest plateau of Cape Otway. For a long time, it was thought that the Gadubanud people disappeared quickly after Europeans arrived. However, some may have found safety at mission stations like Birregurra and Framlingham. Today, some people can still trace their family back to these survivors.
Currently, the Gunditjmara people are recognized as the traditional custodians of the Gadubanud lands. This means they are responsible for caring for these lands and their heritage.
Contents
What's in a Name?
The name "Gadubanud" or "Katubanut" likely meant "King Parrot language." It seems this name was given to them by neighboring tribes, possibly not in a friendly way.
Their Language
We know very little about the Gadubanud language. Some experts think it might be connected to the language of the Gulidjan people, who lived to their north. The idea that their language meant "king parrot language" was first noted by James Dawson in 1881.
Their Country
The Katubanut people lived in the rainforests and along the tough coastline of the Cape Otway peninsula. Many believe their main home was around Apollo Bay. We don't know the exact size of their territory.
Their land included dense rainforests with huge gum trees and southern beeches. These areas didn't have a lot of food but were home to dingo packs. They also lived near sclerophyll woodlands and the wet areas where the Barwon River starts. The coastal river mouths were rich in food, depending on the season.
Archaeological studies show that people have lived in this area for hundreds, even thousands, of years.
History of Contact
Early European settlers found the Otway peninsula hard to enter. They thought it was a safe place for Aboriginal people. These people would sometimes leave the rainforest to get food and blankets from settler outposts. They were not known for being violent.
According to stories passed down by Aboriginal people, the Gadubanud were wiped out in a war. Neighboring tribes supposedly set fire to their forests, causing them to die from smoke. Other tribes, like the Wathaurong and Girai wurrung, saw them as "wild blacks." However, historian Norman Tindale believes their numbers declined after Europeans began settling the area.
In 1842, George Robinson, a Protector of Aborigines, met three Gadubanud people far from their usual lands. This meeting suggested they might have had some language links with the Djargurd Wurrong group.
In March 1846, Charles La Trobe, a district superintendent, met seven Gadubanud people in the Aire Valley. Later that year, surveyor George D Smythe met eight Gadubanud people. They helped Smythe find a track, and he gave them a note for flour. However, shortly after, one of Smythe's party was killed by a local native.
Blanket Bay Incident
Smythe decided to get revenge. In August 1846, he went back to the Otways with a group, including some Wathaurong people. They found seven Gadubanud people at the mouth of the Aire River (known as Gunuwarra in Gadubanud language) at Blanket Bay and killed them. A newspaper, The Argus, reported this event on September 1, 1846. After this, there are very few records of the Gadubanud people in colonial writings.
One story, told by Aldo Massola, suggests that in 1848, a Gadubanud woman who survived said that about twenty people from her group were killed. She and another woman hid and were only slightly hurt.
Another newspaper, The Age, reported in 1887 that Smythe attacked the group while they were sleeping, killing everyone except one young woman. She was taken away and later joined the Woi wurrung tribe.
It seems another attack happened near the Aire River in 1847. A group of Native Police Corps, led by Foster Fyans, killed another group of Gadubanud people. They also took two children, a girl and a boy. The boy was later killed to prevent him from seeking revenge when he grew up.
By 1848, the Otways were open for European settlement. The Gadubanud people had used fire-stick farming to clear paths in the forests. After their decline, the forests grew wild again, making travel difficult until a large bushfire in January 1851 cleared much of the area.
Social Life and Customs
George Robinson noted that the Katubanut had at least four clans (smaller family groups). Ian Clark suggested they might have had connections with the Gulidjan people. Another researcher, Niewójt, believes these links were through language and marriage. He also thinks there were more Gadubanud people than the small number mentioned in records from the 1840s, especially given the rich food sources like shellfish and abalone along their coast.
Before European settlement, there were five known clans:
| No | Clan name | Approximate location |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bangura gundidj | Cape Otway |
| 2 | Guringid gundidj | Cape Otway |
| 3 | Ngalla gundidj | Cape Otway |
| 4 | Ngarowurd gundidj | North of Moonlight head. |
| 5 | Yan Yan Gurt | East head of the Barwon river |
One of these clans was linked to a place called Bangurer.
What They Ate
The Gadubanud people were semi-nomads, meaning they moved around. They traveled from the inland rainforests through wetlands to the coast. Their diet changed with the seasons. They ate many kinds of fish, eels, waterfowl, and other birds. The lakes and wetlands around Gerangamete, Irrewillipe, and Chapple Vale provided steady food.
They also ate over 200 types of starchy tubers (underground plant parts), like water-ribbons and club-rush. Inland, they relied on yam daisies, which they grew by regularly burning small areas of forest. Bracken ferns were also a food source, as their inner part is very nutritious. For protein, they hunted native bush rats, mice, possums, snakes, lizards, frogs, birds and their eggs, eastern grey kangaroos, red-necked wallabys, and sugar gliders.
By 1998, about 276 Aboriginal archaeological sites had been found in the Otways region. A large site at Seal Point, dating back 1,500 years, shows it was a camp used from spring to early summer. Here, archaeologists found remains of elephant and brown fur seals, possums, fish, and bracken ferns. They also found evidence of stone tool making.
The local Lorne Historical Society says the Gadubanud people traded spear wood for green stone from Mount William, which was mined by the Wurundjeri people.
It is thought that the Yan Yan Gurt clan might have met William Buckley (an escaped convict) at Bermongo on the Barwon River. They might have traded their special tuupuurn eels for baskets of tubers.
Other Names for the Gadubanud
- Katubanut
- Pallidurgbarran
- Yarro waetch: This name was used by Aboriginal people to their west to describe the cold rainforests of Cape Otway, which was the Gadubanud's home.
