Ngarbal facts for kids

The Ngarabal are an Aboriginal people from northern New South Wales, Australia. They lived in the areas around Ashford, Tenterfield, and Glen Innes.

Speaking the Ngarabal Language

The Ngarabal people spoke their own language, also called Ngarabal. In the late 1890s, a doctor named John MacPherson noted that people still spoke it. This was in places like Glen Innes, Stonehenge, and Emmaville.

Ngarabal Country and Land

The Ngarabal people's traditional land covered about 1,000 square miles (2,600 square kilometers). This area stretched from Tenterfield to Glen Innes. It included the Beardy River and the Severn River catchment.

Ngarabal Society and Connections

The Ngarabal people were closely connected to the Jukambal people. Some experts believe they might have been a western group of the Jukambal. However, other experts, like A. Radcliffe-Brown, thought they were a separate tribal group.

Ngarabal Stories and Beliefs

The Ngarabal people have many important stories. One story tells how all Indigenous people were once one group. Then, a huge flood covered the land. The few people who survived were separated. Each group then became a different tribe with its own language.

Traditional Ngarabal Medicine

The Ngarabal people used many plants and animal parts for medicine. They had a deep understanding of healing.

Healing with Plants

They used the angophora apple tree for its special sap, called kino. This sap was rich in tannin and used in their medicines. The gum from the swamp mahogany tree, called yarra, was also used for healing.

Leaves from the manna gum tree, known as horra, helped treat eye problems. For example, they used it for narrada mil, which means "bad eye." This plant was also used for stomach issues like diarrhea. A doctor once saw it work on a pet opossum with loose bowels.

Animal Remedies

The fat from carpet snakes was very useful. It was used as a moisturizer for burns. It also helped with pain from rheumatism.

Treating Wounds and Bites

For wounds, a wedge-tailed eagle feather was placed over the injury. Then, tea tree bark was put on top. Both were bandaged with kangaroo skin to keep the wound warm, like a poultice.

Different types of tea trees (Melaleuca, Callistemon, and Leptospermum) were used to set broken bones. The bark was peeled and used inside-out. The inner layers held the bones still, and the softer outer layers provided padding.

For snake bites, the skin around the bite was cut. Then, several medicine men would take turns sucking out the venom. The "soldier bird," or noisy miner (bri-prri), was highly valued. This bird makes a loud noise when snakes are nearby, warning people of danger.

Recent Ngarabal Activities

In 1987, the Glen Innes Aboriginal Land Council bought a property called The Willows. They had help from the NSW Aboriginal Land Council. Marlow Hill is located on The Willows. Later, three more properties were added: Rosemont, Canoon, and Boorabee. These areas became part of an Indigenous protected area.

Nine important Ngarabal cultural sites have been found in this area. It is now known as Willows and Boorabee. Since 2010, this area has been managed as a protected space. This means people can use its natural resources in a way that protects them for the future. Ngarabal people can still gather traditional foods like witchetty grubs, black orchids, and mookrum berries.

Other Names for Ngarabal

The Ngarabal people are also known by a few other names:

• Marbul (This name might be a mistake in hearing or spelling).
• Narbul
• Ngarrabul
• Ngoorabul