Katherine Cox. 22078016. HUMN1060 Community Case Study

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Western Sydney University *

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CULT1022

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Religion

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Oct 30, 2023

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Student Name: Katherine Cox Student No: 22078016 Total Number of words: 1249 Subject: HUMN1060 Introduction to Indigenous Australia: Peoples, Places and Philosophies Assignment 2: Community Case Study Acknowledgment of Country: I wish to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which I live and work, the Walbunja and Brindja people of the Yuin Nation. I pay my respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. * Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are advised that this paper may contain names, images, and stories of deceased persons. Readers are warned that there may be culturally sensitive words and descriptions which might not normally be used in certain public or community contexts. Student Name: Katherine Cox Student No: 22078016

This case study will investigate Edwin “Guboo” Ted Thomas message for the Wallaga Lake and Mumbulla Mountain area in NSW, by addressing land rights, self- determination, and cultural identity. The Dijiringanj people of the Yuin nation resided in Wallaga Lake which also included Mumbulla Mountain. Finally, it will portray how the Elder, Edwin “Guboo” Ted Thomas dedicated his life to activism for forestry operations on nearby Mumbulla Mountain endangered sacred sites and the importance to the Dijiringanj people. Even though it turned his own people against him, it did not deter him from advocating for the First Nations land rights for generations to come so that the spiritual and cultural connections continue. The Wallaga Lake and Mumbulla Mountain in the Yuin Nation, are significant places, as is the wider Aboriginal community. The Elder Edwin “Guboo” Ted Thomas (29 January 1909 – 19 May 2002) dedicated the obligations handed down to him by his elders after the 1967 referendum modified the Australian Constitution to ensure that Aboriginal people were to be recognised in the Australian census and therefore subject to Commonwealth laws instead of state laws (Guboo Ted Thomas 2023). Guboo grew up on the Wallaga Lake Reserve near Narooma. His father was a Yuin man and his mother was of Chinese descent. Guboo submitted the Aboriginal land rights claim paperwork presented to the NSW Parliament in the 1970s (We and the land are one - Guboo Ted Thomas - ABC (none) - Australian Broadcasting Corporation n.d.). The documents depict the current state of dispossession and increasing Aboriginal activism for forestry operations on nearby Mumbulla Mountain endangered sacred sites. They are also the important declarations that resulted in the Yuin people of the Wallaga Lake Reserve receiving title and Mumbulla Mountain being recognised as an Aboriginal Place in 1983 (We and the land are one - Guboo Ted Thomas - ABC (none) - Australian Broadcasting Corporation n.d.). Mumbuller Mountain, which is also known as Biamanga National Park, is important to the Yuin People, the land's ancient guardians who maintain deep traditional ties to it now. The park was co-managed by the Aboriginal community and the National Park and Wildlife Service (NPWS) in 2006. Biamanga (Mumbulla Mountain) is the central feature of Biamanga Aboriginal Place, which is part of a large ceremonial and cultural pathway on the south coast (Biamanga National Park 2021) . There are several cultural sites in the area that have spiritual value for the Yuin. Mumbulla Creek Falls, where descriptive plaques indicate the region's Aboriginal history, is the ideal spot to learn about these. The Yuin people of the south coast staged initiation rites at a variety of sacred sites atop Mumbuller mountain, the last of which was held in 1918 (Biamanga National Park 2021) . Student Name: Katherine Cox Student No: 22078016

As Guboo campaigned against logging on Mumbulla Mountain ( Biamanga NPWS) and for recognition of its cultural significance; then NSW Premier Neville Wran ordered logging to cease and it was declared as an Aboriginal Place in 1984 (Gubbo Thomas, 1909 n.d.). Land rights, self-determination, and cultural identity was Guboo’s arguing mantra. Guboo was a notable Yuin leader who became a recognised elder that battled for the protection of sacred sites on the South Coast. Budoo imagined Australia could put internal conflict between white and black People behind it in favour of a truly cohesive Australian identity founded on respect for Aboriginal culture and a love of the land (Egloff, n.d.) as Guboo would take people up to the sacred mountains and demonstrate the mountains power. These journeys planted the seeds of healing in the hearts of many political leaders, environmentalists, and advocates (Egloff, n.d.). While Guboo struggled unrelentingly to bring Indigenous and non – Indigenous people in tandem, the people of his own culture went onto disapproved of Guboo for the rest of his life. Guboo passed (in Moruya) into the dreaming, at 93 years of age on the 19 th May 2002 just before Reconciliation Week (Guboo Ted Thomas 2023). Guboo Ted Thomas's contributions to understanding and respect for one another, as well as the recovery of the Spirit and the Dreaming, were numerous and enduring as Guboo’s expressed in his words below as record by Hessey and Newstead: The Earth is our Mother. When I die I'm going down there. When you die you're going there too. But what are you doing for the Earth? (Hessey and Newstead, 2014 ) Many Yuin people recall family Elders who were initiated on the mountain who passed on customary information about the mountain's sacred locations to them. At sacred sites on the mountain, initiated men were to sit in meditation and talk with the spirits. The fight to keep sacred locations from being logged reinvigorated traditional knowledge in the local Aboriginal community, and cultural knowledge that was intensely spiritual and personal is retained by people, Elders, and community. My mother-in-law Shirley Pender nee Mason, daughter of Patricia (known as Trixie) Thomas would often tell stories of memories and past ancestors. She inherited the ability and knowledge of bush tucker and bush medicine from her mother Trixie Thomas. Student Name: Katherine Cox Student No: 22078016

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My fondest memories were sitting around the campfire and listening to stories of old ways, traditions, and stories. Here is one that Shirley Pender Mason’s brother Uncle Ronnie Mason would tell: “Ronnie’s (Uncle Ronnie to my family) paternal grandmother ‘Nanna Bella’ Mabel Simms spent years at Wallaga Lake she was 102 when she died. She brought his father down the coast when they were born. His father went to school at Wallaga Lake. His grandparents were from Orbost and would visit the Thomas family at Wallaga Lake, travelling in a horse and cart. His mother Trixie Thomas was “guggada’, ‘fixed up’ by the feather foot, the clever fellas. “They put a bowenge into her, they caught her near Mucken’s Point near Mosquito Point, the lad walked passed and Mum fell over. They got old “Gunarl’ Rosy Mumbler, to pull out her heal it fixed up by a traditional healer, Mum’s mother was traditional with her medicine too” [Ronnie Mason 5.1.2006], Wallaga Lake, Wallaga Beach and Dignams Creek n.d . Edwin “Guboo” Ted Thomas Yuin Tribal Elder (Guboo, man with a dream 2002) Biamanga National Park, also known as Mumbulla Mountain, is sacred to the Yuin people, custodians of this land, who maintain their strong traditional ties to this day. (Biamanga Cultural area | Learn more n.d.) Student Name: Katherine Cox Student No: 22078016

This map covers northern and southern Yuin country. Trisha Ellis, Mary Duroux and Waine Donovan assisted with this map. ( Coastal Custodians, 3(5):7) Living Knowledge - Koori Coast n.d. Reference: Biamanga Cultural area / Learn more n.d., NSW National Parks, viewed 26 June 2023 , https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/things-to- do/picnic-areas/biamanga-cultural-area/learn- more#A6F94008EA70444B9D6C706C6463DA18 . Egloff, BJ n.d., ‘Egloff, et al Biamanga 2005’ , www.academia.edu , viewed 26 June 2023, < https://www.academia.edu/10092089/egloff-et-al-Biamanga_2005 >. Guboo, man with a dream 2002, The Sydney Morning Herald, viewed 26 June 2023, https://www.smh.com.au/national/guboo-man-with-a-dream-20020608-gdfcjm.html . Guboo Ted Thomas 2023, Wikipedia, viewed 26 June 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Guboo_Ted_Thomas&oldid=1148601492 . Gubbo Thomas, b. 1909 n.d., National Portrait Gallery people, viewed 26 June 2023, <https://www.portrait.gov.au/people/guboo-ted-thomas-1909>. Hessey, R. and Newstead, A., 2014. The Dealer is the Devil: An Insider's History of the Aboriginal Art Trade , Brandl and Schlesinger, p. 82. Living Knowledge – Koori Coast n.d., 2008. Livingknowledge.anu.edu.au, viewed 26 June 2023, https://livingknowledge.anu.edu.au/learningsites/kooricoast/05_map.htm Wallaga Lake, Wallaga Beach and Dignams Creek n.d., Moruya Community, viewed 26 June 2023, < https://moruya.storylines.com.au/2016/10/12/goals-goal-setting-108/ >. We and the land are one – Guboo Ted Thomas - ABC (none) – Australian Broadcasting Corporation n.d., www.abc.net.au , viewed 27 June 2023, https://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2013/05/28/3769251.htm . Student Name: Katherine Cox Student No: 22078016