Kuku Nyungkal facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kuku Nyungkal
Aka: Kokonyungal (Tindale), Gugu Njunggal (AIATSIS), Kuku-Nyungkul (SIL)
Wet Tropics BioRegion
Hierarchy
Language Family:	Pama–Nyungan
Language Branch:	Yalandyic
Language Group:	Kuku Yalanji
Dialect:	Kuku Nyungkal
Estates:	Kuna Ngulungkaban Muwan Jiraraku Wulumuban Ngarrimurril Nyambilnyambil Yulbu Yumal Kabu
Area (approx. 800 km²)
BioRegion:	Wet Tropics
Location:	Far North Queensland
Coordinates:	15°40′S 145°15′E / 15.667°S 145.250°E / -15.667; 145.250
Mountains:	Black Mountain (a.k.a. Kalkajaka) Mount Amos (a.k.a. Muku Muku Mount Finnigan
Rivers	Annan River (a.k.a. Yuku-Baja) Upper Normanby River
Creeks	Russell Creek (a.k.a. Ngarrilmurril) Banana Creek
Other Geological:	Shiptons Flat (a.k.a. Kuna) Kings Plain (a.k.a. Dandi) Cedar Bay (a.k.a. Mangkalba) Hope Islands
Settlements:	Helenvale (a.k.a. Bibikarrbaja), Rossville (a.k.a. Ngulangaban)
Notable Individuals
Noel Pearson
Henrietta Marrie

The Kuku Nyungkal people (also known as the Annan River Tribe) are an Aboriginal Australian group. They are the traditional owners of the coastal mountains, wet tropical forests, rivers, and waterfalls of the Upper Annan River. This area is located south of Cooktown, Queensland.

All Kuku Nyungkal people share a common history from their ancestors. For a very long time, their families have passed down their unique Kuku Nyungkal dialect. They also share important knowledge, names for people and places, traditions, heritage, and their special laws, known as lore.

In 1995, the Queensland Aboriginal Land Tribunal looked at the Kuku Nyungkal family records. They estimated that at least 900 Kuku Nyungkal people were living then. This number did not include people who had married into Kuku Nyungkal families.

Traditional Lands of the Kuku Nyungkal People

Norman Tindale, a researcher, wrote a book in 1974 about Australian Aboriginal tribes. In his book, he described the Kokonyungal (Kuku Nyungkal) country. He said it stretched from the Annan River south to Rossville. It also went west to the Annan-Normanby Divide.

Understanding Kuku Nyungkal Lore

The Kuku Nyungkal people have special laws and customs for their country, known as lore. An anthropologist named Dr. Christopher Anderson learned about this lore.

He found that the Upper Annan River area was divided into several family lands, called "patrilineal clan estates." Each estate was a specific part of the Annan drainage basin (the area where water collects). These estates formed a group that shared a language and culture. People connected to these estates could travel and use resources freely within the area.

Traditionally, adult men tried to stay on their own family lands. Groups of people living on the land were related in different ways. They often had a "core element" which was a main male, called maja maja, his wives, and children. The maja maja lived in semi-permanent camps on their family's land. They tried to stay there as much as possible because that was where their power was strongest.

The maja maja were important leaders. They gained high status and power because of their age and deep knowledge. They were believed to have special connections to the spiritual forces of the ngujakura (law or dreaming). These leaders were in charge of "minding" and "looking after" their lands and people. They made sure people were healthy and that the natural world was in order. This included making sure there was a steady supply of food from the land. They did this by making sure everyone followed the lore. Breaking social and cultural rules was thought to affect nature. This showed how moral knowledge and knowledge about getting food were closely connected.

The old men also had a special connection to the yirru, or "nature-spirit." This spirit was said to live in the ground at certain important sites. Because of this connection, the old men could approve or punish people who broke the moral code.

History of the Kuku Nyungkal People

Before the 1880s, the Kuku Nyungkal people had lived on, used, and enjoyed their country for a very long time. They followed their lore, which guided their lives.

They described their lore as follows: "Our Bama (people) lore was strong in the past years. The lore was made and carried out by Elders. Everyone has a duty to pass the lore down to the next generation. They also have a duty to follow it. Some lagoons, swamps, springs, and beaches are special story places with lore connected to them. Some are places where sickness might occur, some are healing places. Others are special places for birds or feeding areas for other animals. There are also special places for hunting and gathering seasonal foods like crab, mussels, bird eggs, and certain fish."

In 1885, tin was found at Mount Amos, which is in Kuku Nyungkal country. After this discovery, tin miners started to arrive. This was the Kuku Nyungkal people's first experience with outsiders coming onto their land. For decades, tin mining continued in their country.

Later, Kuku Nyungkal people looked back at the tin mining time. Dr. Christopher Anderson, the anthropologist, noted some important effects. One major effect was the damage or destruction of important sites for the Kuku Nyungkal people. Most of these important sites were connected to waterholes or waterfalls.

The Kuku Nyungkal people believed that many illnesses and accidents suffered by Europeans in the area were caused by these actions. They also thought that strong thunderstorms, big winds, or food sources not appearing on time were due to these disturbances.

The changes that tin mining brought to these sites also had a spiritual or psychological effect on the Kuku Nyungkal people. These sites were places of power, and the old men were meant to control access to them. When Europeans ignored rules about entering and disturbing these sites, it had a big impact.

Over the years, Queensland authorities encouraged and sometimes forced Kuku Nyungkal people to move away from the tin mining areas. They were moved to special reserved lands. These included places like Ayton, Hopevale, and Yarrabah.

In the 1950s, the Lutheran Church of Australia set up an Aboriginal mission on the Bloomfield River. The remaining Kuku Nyungkal people still living on their traditional lands were moved there. The Lutheran Church described how the people felt: "The Bama (people) are deeply hurt. They have been 'evicted' from their traditional lands by white settlers over the years. From their hunting grounds, they were slowly gathered into camps near the Bloomfield River. Finally, they were limited to a small 250-acre reserve at Wujal Wujal. They expressed their deep feelings by saying: 'We are like a crane standing on one leg (no room for two feet on the ground) on a little island.' They also said: 'We are like animals in a wild cage.'"

The Kuku Nyungkal People Today

By 1995, a century after the first tin miners arrived, an Aboriginal Land Tribunal looked into how Kuku Nyungkal traditions, beliefs, and people had been affected by the settlement of their country. Kuku Nyungkal representatives told the Tribunal, and the Tribunal agreed:

"Aboriginal culture in south-eastern Cape York Peninsula has changed a lot since the first European visitor arrived in 1872. New technologies and introductions have changed many parts of Kuku-Nyungkul life. Their economic and political system has also been affected by a dominant way of life. This new way of life was forced upon a people who were once independent. Living away from their traditional country in a central community for much of the time has also caused changes. The culture of the Kuku-Nyungkul people is not the same as it was one hundred years ago."

On December 9, 2007, the Kuku Nyungkal people were part of a larger Federal Court decision about native title. This decision officially recognized their legal right to their own lands and waters from the past. It also gave them new, exclusive rights to own, use, and enjoy some of their original lands along the Annan River.

See also

• Kuku Nyungkal language