A DALUNGBARA PERSPECTIVE continued

5Photo 29: Taken aboard the Endeavour replica in Brisbane, 1995.
Captain Chris Blake on left with Master Mariner John Dalungdalee Jones who is presenting a Dalung or Nautilus shell pendant to the ships 'Headman' as a token of Reconciliation.

The original Endeavour sailed northward along the coast of Noosa to Fraser Island in 1770. This giant 'canoe' drew our Dalungbara people to watch all along the coast. Each family group living inland and on the coast was notified by smoke signals, day and night. This phenomenon was recorded in the Endeavour's logbook. The event was recorded in a Yarua or song and performed many miles inland. The Yarua was passed on to other family members and descendants, finally to be recorded by Edward Armitage J.P., a Bunda of the Dalunbara.

It is important to note that at the time of composition of the Yarua in 1770, our people were in occupation and possession of our traditional lands and seas. This was 18 years before British Sovereignty was declared in 1788 when our ancestors became British Subjects and entitled to possessory Title to their traditional lands and seas. We, the Dalungbara and the Ngulungbara can show irrefutable proof of our bloodline genealogy thereby establishing our legal rights to our properties.

5Photo 30: Taken in Brisbane, 1995.
John Dalungdalee Jones, Trustee of the Aboriginal University of Australia, Dalungbara Trust on left with William M. Nichols of Columbia University.
The topic of several meetings was the acknowledgment of indigenous land rights in Canada and Australia. Canada is moving a lot faster on the road to conciliation.

5Photo 31: Taken at Cairns, 1979.
Naomi Therese Jones nee Anderson (1939-1980), the late wife of John Dalungdalee Jones.

Naomi preferred to be known as Terry. She won a scholarship for violin and piano in the newly founded Queensland Conservatorium of Music in Brisbane, 1958. Terry was aware of my Aboriginality, referring to two passages of Scripture at our wedding, Ruth, Chapter 1, verse 16,
"And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for wither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy GOD my GOD".
And Gen. 28-15,
"Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me."
This was part of the marriage vows and stood us in good stead for our entire married life. Terry and I moved to Cairns after I bought a 52' cruiser, the Sweetheart, from a bankrupt pearling company, Bowdens of Thursday Island in 1960. With the help of Mr George Abenego of Banks Island the Sweetheart was taken to Cairns. Terry continued her violin performances with the Cairns Classical Music Society. The people of North Queensland are very enthusiastic towards the Arts, producing many first class musicians. The Cairns Brass Band regularly won Australian championships. Terry and I helped combine players from Townsville, the Atherton Tablelands and Cairns to form the North Queensland Symphony Orchestra (N.Q.S.O.). Their premier performance of the 21st of September 1974 attracted favourable comment from the Cairns Post, which reported that, the 'Concert was magnificent'. Highlights of the night's program were compositions by Terry who was Leader of the Orchestra. Conducting were both the resident Doug Schofield and visiting Conductor, David Warwick. Mr Warwick became a long time family friend and godfather to our daughter, Sara Therese Jones. His experience included conducting for the Rambert Ballet Company and St Martins in the Fields at Glynbourne. David also conducted Terry's Ballet, the Pearl Diver, which premiered at the Innisfail Opera Festival of 1976.

While Terry was Leader and I was President of the N.Q.S.O. we were appointed violin and piano teacher and manager respectively.

Newspapers of North Queensland acclaimed the formation of the N.Q.S.O. and agreed that it had a most important impact on and was a milestone for music in North Queensland. Terry and I were pleasantly suprised to be named in the Cairns Post 1976 Honours List for our contribution toward the Arts in the community.

5Photo 32: Taken in Brisbane, 1993.
John Dalungdalee Jones performs the Yaruar Warrai, song and dance of the Dalungbara and Ngulungbara, which describes the passing of the Endeavour along the Noosa and Fraser Island coast.

Smoke signals told the inland and other family groups of this 'giant canoe' that was sailing northwards. Cook recorded in his logbook the smoke signal fires along the coast and the large number of 'Indians' at the rocky cliff, which is now known as Indian Head. Our people knew the place as Cowwoi, Walarr and Tukkee. Indian Head is the men's area where stone implements were made, Walarr means Basalt and Tukkee means stone.

Following is the Yaruar with English translation:

Gavryn woondoola yarneen areeram?
These strangers, where are they going?
Anyoongyne wein komvy yil vong?
Where are they trying to steer?
Oonda wvnyamba dhalu thoor ening bva gaveer barine?
Going to that place Thoorvour (Sandy Spit) can you believe that (a dangerous sand spit)?
Mummo gumbling bunder vuree oora thaan marangya?
See the smoke (mist of crashing waves) coming in from the sea?
Yooin yungo mummo gumbee billing unda.
Burrying themselves like sand crabs (the ship being awash with waves).
Tikgera thunda kungmung aleen moonya.
Disappearing like smoke over the horizon.

This is very descriptive of the Endeavour crashing through the waves. The observers were familiar with the dangerous Sandy Spit known as Thoorvour. When using our language it is common to stretch out a word by using extra syllables. In fact even in the late 1940's and early 1950's when playing cards at Elley Bennett's home at Doggett St, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, we would use this technique of stretching out the word so as to makes entertaining rhymes. The language spoken by men and women was different to that spoken by the men's Dora. They made their own words and sometimes used them in Yaruar. Historians often could not understand that the language spoken by all the tribe was different to that spoken by the Dora or Bora. The Dora had their secret language, which enabled them, if necessary to converse in public without women or other peoples understanding them.

These photographs were taken on Australia Day, 1993 in Brisbane as part of the Aboriginal University of Australia, Dalungdalee Trust's policy of bringing understanding of our ancient culture to other Australians. This Yaruar further draws attention to the fact that 18 years before British Sovereignty was declared in 1788 we were in occupation and possession of our territories, witnessing the travails of the Endeavour as it sailed along our coasts.

PORTUGESE MAPPED THE QUEENSLAND COAST IN EARLY 1500.

In 1521, Christado De Mendonca, a Portuguese explorer spent some time mapping the coast of Queensland. Fraser Island or Kgari is easily recognisable. Sailors would have gone ashore for food and water, no doubt leaving their genetic imprints along the way. Coastal Aboriginals were constantly in contact with foreign sailors. For a thousand years Chinese sent sanpans to fish for Trepang or Beche de mer on the Great Barrier Reef and as far south as Fraser Island. They made agreements with our people to supply divers, many of whom were women.

It is false for historians to claim that Captain Cook discovered Australia. It was the first time that he saw the place but in fact the Chinese had known of this land for over a thousand years. There were Portuguese and Spanish explorers that predated him as well as the Dutch who were interested in the potential for trading opportunities in the southern land. Several Dutch-made clay pipes were found in middens. My grandmother had a Dutch design clay pipe which she used all of her adult life to smoke tobacco.

One reason for performing the Endeavour Yaruar at night before a fire is that many corroborees were sung and danced at this time to give a more spectacular effect. This particular time I wanted to perform some of the Geera Corroboree, the Fire Dance. This inspired David Jones to paint 8 panels, each 2.4m x 1.8m, which contributed to the large Rainbow Serpent Mural, approximately 2.4m x 90m. Both artworks were contributions toward the 1994 International Year of the Indigenous People.

The Queensland Museum made the Walk through, where the full-size whales are situated available for the Murals installation and display. This unique mural was painted by over 200 artists from universities and schools, with many professional artists making contributions as well. The mural remained at the museum a few years and is now being shifted to Noosa for a permanent home.

Terry and I lived aboard the motor vessel, Sweetheart for several years, in Cairns harbour with their first son Lee. We were engaged in the tourist industry, taking people on scuba diving trips and fishing. On several occasions we were chartered by the famous aviator, Tom McDonald, who was the personal friend of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith. Mr McDonald had a chain of jewellery shops in North Queensland and required a considerable amount of coral for the making of articles for sale to tourists. Today it would be unthinkable, but in 1960 Tom McDonald had the only lease over a large coral reef at Sudbury Reef just north east of Fitzroy Island.

It is also of interest that I made acquaintance with some Aborigines from Yarrabah whose forebears came from Fraser Island. I met Mr Alf Mandruby, who lived on the banks of Hills Ck just south of the Yarrabah reserve. Hill Ck entered Cairns Inlet where we were anchored. Permission was needed from Mr Mandruby for us to set mud crab pots in his creek that I first met him. He accompanied me on several charters for Tom McDonald and helped obtain samples of Trepang locally as it had not been fished since before WWII and there was an abundant supply. Mr Mandruby knew how to process the fish for the Chinese market.

I also met a Torres Strait Islander, Mr White, known as Ganai. I told him that Ganai meant spear in our language. He said it was the same along the coast. In the fishing communities along the coast some words and names would be interchangeable. In the same way that when Aborigines saw a horse for the first time, Yarraman was the nearest to Kooramon or kangaroo and the word travelled through tribal language groups.

5Photo 33: Taken at Hervey Bay, 1993.
The late Leslie James Williams, JP (1927-1999) was a Trustee for the Aboriginal University of Australia Dalungdalee Trust and held many responsible positions in the Central Aboriginal Legal Service. He worked many unpaid hours dealing with Aboriginal alcohol related problems and mediating with police to safeguard rights of Aboriginal offenders in a program known as Cellwatch of the Korra winga Aboriginal Corporation. He also worked with Fraser Coast Community Housing and assisted Jeanie Bell with the Language Revival Project, which produced the Batchala and Gubbi Gubbi Dictionary, a valuable insight into the culture of our people.

Mr Williams organised the first nationwide meeting on the Easter weekend, 1992 at Urangan that brought together descendants of the Dalungbara, Ngulungbara and Batchala to discuss the future mediation with the Queensland Government to acknowledge our property rights to Fraser Island and the Great Sandy Region. The reason for the meeting, Fraser Island had just been declared as World Heritage as a result of comprehensive information submitted to the UN World Heritage Commission. The information provided, clearly indicated that there are living descendants of the original Aboriginal owners of the region. More importantly, the Queensland Government provided the legal assessment as to our rights, which was included in the comprehensive Commission of Inquiry into Fraser Island and the Great Sandy Region, 1990, Justice Fitsgerald making the report.

The meeting was chaired by myself, John Dalungdalee Jones who, as a result of the meeting, began negotiations with Mr Williams and the State of Queensland to no avail. We were then forced into protracted litigation, which still continues and will no doubt end in the United Nations after exhausting all appeals in the courts of Australia, a very costly exercise.

In the year 2001, after a century of Federation, it is time for reconciliation. The State and Commonwealth must reconcile with the fact that it was the Federated Australia that implemented the now infamous White Australia Policy, which only further suppressed the rights of Aborigines. Now is the time to uphold the decision of the High Court of Australia in the Murray Island case, which now recognises property rights of the Dalungbara, Ngulungbara and Batchala.

Mr Williams, JP made an enormous contribution to this cause.

5Photo 34: Taken in Brisbane, 1993.
Lee James Jones, son of John Dalungdalee Jones.
Lee James Jones, a computer programmer and designer, is a Trustee of the Aboriginal University of Australia Dalunbara Trust. During the years associated with Mr Williams, known as Tundy, he gained an insight into the contemporary lifestyle of our relatives living in Hervey Bay.

5Photo 35: Taken at Tewantin, early 1999.
From left Lyn Robe, Sara Jones, David Jones, Barry Robe and the late Kevin Robe at the Residence of Graeme Stace at Cedeleigh Dr, Tewantin.

Graeme Stace is the executive director of Dolphin Dreaming Pty Ltd of which Lyn and Barry are directors. Dolphin Dreaming is actively involved in setting up tourist activities with the involvement our people.

This was a meeting of the Dalungbara and Ngulungbara land councils to witness both John Dalungdalee Jones and Leslie James Williams, JP signing the Supreme Court Writ No 169, 1999.

5Photo 36: Taken at Tinbeerwah reserve, Tewantin in 1998.
From left is Graeme Stace and John Jones inspecting an ancient cave discovered by Robin Wells, field research officer for the A.U.A.. We are in the process of arranging an archaeological dig.

5Photo 37: Taken at Noosa Hospital, 2000.
From left, Imran Appo, Brian Little, Kevin Wimbus, Stirling Egmolesse, Robin Wells, David Jones and John Dalungdalee Jones.

A public event in which the Serpent rock formation was realigned after being disturbed during the building of the hospital. Fortunately Robin Wells was alerted to the site and that the hospital would be built nearby. He mapped the rock formation and marked the location of the stones. After the building was completed it was decided to conduct a public ceremony to realign the stones. Robin Wells explained to the large number of interested public the type of rock to be searched for and everyone joined in to search for the stones. The head was located which had a distinct serpentine shape and following the map made previously by Robin Wells the formation was re-established, with the help of the public.

Brian Little and Kevin Wimbus have been instructing Aboriginal youth in traditional skills such as hunting, fishing and the making of artefacts. They together with Stirling Egmolesse and Imran Appo prepared traditional foods, such as kangaroo, emu, turtle and dugong in the traditional manner, earth oven and served the public. They also provided some bush tucker plants that they had cultivated in their Bundaberg nursery and were planted around the site. Some bunya nuts were given to the public to plant as well. The public witnessed a most simple and moving, spiritual ceremony. Imran, an expert didgeridoo player provided the music and John Jones explained to the public what was happening. As it happened, Imran played the kookaburra song to close, Robin remembered hearing a kookaburra on finding the site as if the bird were telling him that this was an important place.

During the music a feeling of the colours of the rainbow settled on the stones. David Jones placed some ochre on the head stone's eyes that gave it a spiritual effect. The ceremony took a couple of hours and was a valuable insight on the culture of the Dalungbara for the general public and fulfilled our tenet, bvrun gaman, moru behman or learn together, live together. It is also symbolic that the serpent is also associated with western medicine.

5Photo 38: Taken at Noosa Hospital, 2000.
From left is Brian Little, John Dalungdalee Jones, Kevin Wimbus and Imran Appo who are planting bush tucker plants on site of the Serpent Rocks.

Why Brian Little is associated with any of the Dalungdalee activities is that the last wife of Elley Bennett was Shiela Little, the aunty of the Little family. So the Little family is kin to the Dalungbara and can share in our hunting and fishing rights within our lands and seas.

In April 2000 there was an unfortunate event, that of the death of 8 year old Clinton Gage. There being no trackers at Hervey Bay, Assistant Police Commissioner, Ron Pickering sought our assistance in tracking the offending dingoes and we promptly responded. Both Brian and Neil Little were immediately taken to the area, Brian flying by helicopter to Waddy Point, in order to track the dingoes responsible. On arrival Parks Officer Fishburn told Brian that the two dingoes had been shot. Brian asked how sure they were of shooting the right dingoes and was told that they were 99.9% sure. He replied that 0.1% may make you 100% wrong. As it was Brian tracked the two dingoes pointing out where the attack took place, pointing out the blood spots that were sampled by forensic officers. We are still awaiting the Coroners finding.

The Ngulungbara people were gravely concerned that the extermination process at Waddy Point or Kguri Wangari (Fraser Island dingo) was implemented. Although we Aboriginals would certainly kill a killer dingo, we would not kill the whole population. If a savage domestic dog attacks someone, a Court Order is required to destroy the animal. All the dogs in the area would not be destroyed. The eventual killing of 35 dingoes was not subject to a Court Order and this is why the Dalungbara and the Ngulungbara sought two Federal Court hearings to stop the killing. At the time of the hearing there were presented sworn statements by Parks Rangers that the killing had ceased. This is doubtful, as the Minister has approved mainland baiting in the Cooloola National Park, which is a sanctuary for dingoes and is within our Dalungbara territory. Further investigations are proceeding.

THE IMPORTANCE OF OUR LIVING CULTURE.

Hunting and fishing, the living Flora and Fauna are all a part of our living culture. Our people fish in much the same way as done by our ancestors, thousands of years ago. We still assert our cultural rights by hunting and fishing.

5Photo 39: Taken at Noosa Hospital, 2000.
From left are Brian Little, Kevin Wimbus and Imran Appo. Preparing and cooking traditional foods in earth oven.

5Photo 40: Taken at Bundaberg, 2000. At centre is Neil Little with spear or wop, teaching his son and family how to butcher the dugong.
Neil and his family have been hunting and fishing all of their lives and well before the declaration by the Commonwealth of sovereignty over offshore seas beyond low water mark in 1973. Most Australians assumed that they legally had rights beyond the low water mark prior to 1973 when this was not actually the case. Aboriginals however did assert their fishing rights well before 1973.

5Photo 41: Taken at Hervey Bay, 1980. The late Herbert Tannar was an elder brother of Leslie James Williams, JP.
Herbert Tannar was born at Hervey Bay and later moved to Palm Island in the 1950s. His son Herbert (Paddy) Tannar still lives on Palm Island. Paddy Tannar made a cultural contribution to the Commission of Inquiry into Fraser Island, 1990.

As a young boy, living at Pialba I learnt fishing skills and cultural stories from my grandmother Susie Lock nee Dow, there was also much to learn about hunting and fishing and making spears and boomerangs from Herbert Tannar and his older brother John Gala. Ben Gala made his living by fishing and crabbing. His older kids and myself accompanied him many times walking through the mangroves and along the mud banks at low water to get fat mud crabs from the holes in the banks. He had his 'farm' of regular mud holes, which after a few tides always contained the fat crabs, which were the ones to enter the holes.

Herbert Tannar was an extremely competent fighter. Weighing in as a lightweight, he often overcame much larger adversaries. He taught Elley Bennett some of the tricks of the gruelling fight trade.

After coming back to Hervey Bay, he worked for many years in the State Forestry on Fraser Island and kept a close watch on sand mining activities, which continually uncovered bones of our ancestors. He was instrumental in having the miners rebury the bones. Unfortunately the coastal sandmining did untold damage to burial sites and middens.

5Photo 42: Taken at Bundaberg, 1980.
The late George Tannar was an older brother of Leslie James Williams, JP.

George Tannar also went under the name of Williams, the reason being that his mother Mary Gala had several husbands, hence the different names of the brothers. George was an exceptionally good fighter-boxer. He travelled around the country with the famous Jimmy Sharman Troupe of tent fighters. They visited all the city and country shows taking on all comers. Elley Bennett accompanied him in his early career where he learnt the 'rough and tumble' of tent fighting.

During the mid 1940s I witnessed many tent fights by George Tanner otherwise known as 'Flash' after Flash Gordon of the comic strips. He was always getting out of trouble in the boxing ring. Both Herb and George were good horsemen. A notable event occurred when there were a few horses to be broken in. George had the right equipment including wide brimmed hat. The event attracted a large crowd of both black and white spectators. The bucking of the Fraser Island horses was always exiting to watch. Getting out of trouble in the boxing ring and on horseback earned him the title of Flash.

5Photo 43: Taken in Adelaide, 1980's. The photograph shows the late Roger Bennett Junior, son of Elliott Bennett.
Although Roger as a youth was always in and out of gaol, despite this adversity he educated himself and was encouraged to write plays. His play Funerals and circuses won acclaim at the Adelaide Festival. At that time, the Inquiry into deaths in custody was being carried out.

As I pointed out in Court referring to the life of Elley Bennett, his life was completely controlled and governed by all the Aboriginal Protection Acts, which was a socially degrading. Living in custody is far worse than dying in custody. The last 100 years of Federation saw the degradation of the Aboriginal race. We look forward to better, future centenaries.

This comprehensive documentive evidence clearly shows that we, the Dalungbara and Ngulungbara, are the property holders of the lands and seas from Fraser Island to Noosa, that we inherit this property ownership from our forebears.