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Journey to the Bunya Mountains

This is the story of how different people came together for the Bunya Nut Festival in South East Queensland.

Please be advised that this representation contains images of deceased persons.

A ceremonial place

is often

a sacred space where important life events occur.

Bunya Mountains

SEQ

Pathways connect each site in the landscape, with journeys undertaken on specific paths with a variety of important sites along the way. Each site is not simply a solitary place, but a part of a wider interconnected landscape.

Before the journey to the Bunya Mountains could be undertaken, the boys had to participate in initation rituals at important ceremonial places. For those in the southern region of South East Queensland and northern New South Wales, this place was Gummingurru.

The Jarowair people are the custodians of Gummingurru. They are part of the Wakka Wakka nation.

Brisbane

Gummingurru is an important ceremonial site in the Bunya Mountains landscape.

There are many stone arrangements on the site and some of these arrangements or motifs are of common yurees.

When everyone had completed their rituals, they all met up together again and went to the Bunya Mountains for the festival.

Dalby

The Bunya Mountains Festival occured in January of each year, when the bunya nuts fell from the trees to be collected for roasting. The importance of the festival cannot be overstated. As many as 15 different groups travelled from far away to attend for social interactions, marriages, trades, dispute resolution and initiations.

The Bunya Mountains are important to South East Queensland and northern New South Wales and the site of Gummingurru is a very important part of that landscape. Please enjoy your visit to the site and remember: it is all a part of something bigger.

cultural landscape

Bunya Mountains

in the

- Gummingurru.

ceremonial places

of the important

This is the story of one

People came from all over South East Queensland and Northern New South Wales to the festival. But before they went, they

visited a range

of ceremonial

places.

When the boys had been invited into the

initation ring, they entered via a path. Inside the ring, the initiation ceremony took place. When the boys walked out the path on the other side of the ring, they were men.

These five stones represented

the unborn children of the people.

They waited here until it wat time to enter the initation ring.

An aerial view of the site.

Waterhole

Whincop et al. 2012 "Bunya Mountains, Queensland - Identification, Assessment and Management of Indigenous Cultural Heritage Values" p. 52

The painted lines visible at the top of the rock shelter are associated with the Carpet Snake, an important yuree to the Barunggam and the Wakka Wakka peoples.

Maidenwell

From the north, Wakka Wakka, Gubbi Gubbi, and Badtjala peoples went to Maidenwell before travelling to the Bunya Mountains.

You may have seen trees with a shape like this near where you live.

The next time you are out for a walk, look up! You may find

some Bunya Pines.

The Bunya Mountains are a place with many resources, including the Bunya Nut Pine tree.

These trees produce huge 'cones' full of large edible nuts. These nuts resemble chestnuts and are full of proteins and starch. They can be eaten raw, boiled or roasted. The 'cones' are about the size of a basketball and fall from great heights when they are ripe.

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Scarred trees tell people that there is

an important place ahead. They sometimes

warn that it is a dangerous place.

Where the Men went

The men and boys went to Gummingurru to undertake initiation rituals.

Everyone camped here and then went to their different ceremonial sites to undergo initiations and other rituals.

This campsite is by a river, with several bunya nut pines along a bank.

Scarred trees served as a warning as you approached a sacred place. As you walked towards it, the scarred tree would tell you that there is danger ahead.

Bunya nuts were brought back from the Bunya Mountains to be planted. These new plantings would help provide food for the campsites in the Summer months.

From the west, people went to Dalby before travelling to the Bunya Mountains.

Grindstone for ochre.

A major campsite...

Gummingurru

originate

this campsite

in the

Bunya

Many creeks around

Mountains.

Warmga

Young men were initiated into adulthood at Gummingurru. They learned their rights and responsibilities as adults, before beginning their formal training as men. After their initiation, they were assigned to their yuree (also known as a totem animal or plant) and would learn of their responsibilities to their yuree and the management of the habitat belonging to that yuree.

They would later be custodians of these places, managing the resources and access by other people.

Gummingurru also acted as a men's meeting place to discuss trade and conflict resolution. Men from other groups were invited by the Jarowair-Wakka Wakka elders to attend.

...on the way to the Bunya Mountains.

They used the ochre from the ochre pits in their rituals.

Archaeologists have mapped the 9368 stones on the 5 hectare site.

Here are some of the motifs that have been mapped.

Children and partners of the white settlers in the region remember times when the women were chased away from their ceremonial sites. They ran down the hill and hid in the trees near a small creek.

... and the Turtle's footprints.

The Turtle...

The women and girls went to their ceremonial site for initation rituals.

The Initiation Ring, via a pathway.

Example of scars received at Initiation

at places like Gummingurru.

The Catfish...

... and his whiskers.

The Emu.

There are many important sites in this cultural landscape that are related to Gummingurru.

Starbursts.

The Carpet Snake.

Toowoomba

Gatton

The New Starburst.

The motifs on the site were identified by their Jarowair custodian, but during the archaeological

mapping process, this previously unknown starburst was identified and called the New Starburst.

The view from the Information Centre over the site.

A photograph of King Billy and King Johnny Tarampa and their

families near Gatton in 1885. This photo shows the adaptations

in dress that were made at the time.

The Chullawong rock shelter at Gatton has a unique art style. The pecking, abrading and carving of the shelter wall forms shapes and grooves that are not recognisable as pictures. These carvings may be related to a frog dreaming or perhaps tells the stories of marriages and kinship relationships.

People from Brisbane and the Gold Coast travelled via Gatton towards the Darling Downs and Gummingurru.

There are many different cultural and language groups in Australia. Even in this small part of the country, there are many different peoples.

Bunya Mountains

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