Ngadjonji LandsLocation of Ngadjonji lands around Malanda in far north Queensland, Australia AntquityAncient history of the Ngadjonji Quest for Food Finding food in the tropical rainforest, plants, animals, eels... Languagea glossary of Ngadjonji wordsTechnology weapons, baskets, fire and trap technology Tree Climbingdemonstration of Ngadjonji method of tree climbing Old Photosthe Ngadjonji continued their traditional culture in the rainforest until the 1930's and keep a contunuous link to the rainforest to this day Old Storiestwo stories from the Elders Ngadjonji TodayNgadjonji culture continues today Acknowledgementsdedicated to "Dulubul" Earth Science Australia Return to the main page of Earth Science Australia - no advertising, no spyware

ngadjonji...today

Ngadjonji Today

 

  Ngadjonji History of the Rainforest People

  Note: this site contains images of aboriginal people now deceased

Reclaiming Buluba Burrgana 
History Display
Reconciliation Day
NAIDOC Week
Picnic in the Park
Awards
Art
Guide Service

Buluba Burrgana the Top Camp

Reclaiming Buluba Burrgana the Top Camp

Emotions flow at signing
Article by Tablelands Reporter Steve Gray, published in The Cairns Post, 3 March 2003.
 

Ngadjon-Jii elders on Friday, the 28th February 2003, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Ngadjonji and Murramba dancers perform the smoking ceremony, welcoming participants and guests to the Malanda Showgrounds for the historic signing of the Memorandum of Understanding by the Ngadjonji people and representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Wet Tropics Management Authority. Wet Tropics Management Authority which will, among other initiatives, give them control over access to a culturally significant area, about the size of a football field, known to them as Buluba Burrgana and more recently Top Camp. Families hugged and tears flowed as the signing ceremony took place, both for the occasion and in memory of elders who had died before the agreement could be completed. Top Camp, in Wooroonooran National Park, has been significant to local Aborigines since time immemorial and has been a birth place, a home and a burial area for the Ngandjon-Jii. About 200 people attended the ceremony which was opened with a prayer for all to have "open ears and listening hearts" for each other's needs. Master of Ceremonies Yvonne Canendo called for a Minute's Silence "for the elders we have lost since we took up this native title process". Ngadjonji elders from left to right Mr Henry Robinson, Miss Jesse Callico, Mrs Grace Kidner and Mrs May Morta assisted by Ngadjonji Arnold Murray and Nadja Mack from the North Queensland Land Council, sign the land agreement which gives them access once more to the heart of their homeland. The Ngadjon-Jii and Murramba dancers held a "smoking" or fire-making ceremony and traditional dances in the Malanda Showgrounds Hall, decorated for the occasion in the yellow, red and black of the aboriginal flag. Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service regional director Clive Cook said the signing moved forward the cause of reconciliation. Mr Cook and others pointed out the Memorandum of Understanding was not a Land Rights agreement (these are adjudicated by the Federal Court). Russell Watkinson, executive director of the Wet Tropics Management Agency said the agreement required that the agency work closely with aboriginal people to ensure the area's cultural values were kept "for our children's children". Ngadjon-Jii spokesman Thomas Gertz said his people were proud and pleased with the outcome. "The restricted access declaration will once again see our old people involved in the management of a very significant site within our traditional lands," he said.

history display

The Ngadjonji History Display
at the Malanda Environment Centre

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Through the very considerable efforts of Margaret Huxley and Ngadjonji Elders Emma Johnston and Jessie Calico, among others, a collection of old photographs and other historical materials which tell something of the story of the Ngadjonji was assembled and put on public display at the Malanda Environment Centre.

The exhibit was completed in July 1998.
It is the basis for these web pages.

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Photograph by Kevin Mackay

Photograph by D. McColl

Pictured in front of the main display board of the Ngadjonji Exhibit at the Malanda Environment Centre are (back) Margaret Huxley and Ngadjonji Elders Emma Johnston (right),daughter of Molly Raymont, and Jessie Calico (front). The Exhibit is the result of their efforts.

reconciliation day

Reconciliation Day Picnic Jack May Park, Malanda. 14 June 1998 All photos by K.Mackay unless otherwise credited.
Ngadjonji Ernie Raymont speaking to the gathering	Photo - D. Wellington (L-R) Ngadjonji Warren Canendo, local Reconciliation Group members Ann Jensen and Edith Crowther with Reconciliation Council Chairperson Evelyn Scott.	Terry, Brenda and Ayden Murray at the picnic. Terry is the Local Justice Co-ordinator based in Atherton.
Ernie Raymont, Robbie Majors (Mamu) & elder Henry Robinson at the picnic	Dr Digby Hoyal speaking to the gathering	Trevor Johnston & daughter Billie-Jean

 

NAIDOC Week

at Malanda State High School
7 July 1999

The flag-raising at the school gates

On Wednesdsay 7 July 1999, the Malanda State High School began a continuing program to celebrate and raise awareness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures at the school. The NAIDOC Celebration started with a simple flag-raising ceremony. Ngadjonji elders and their children and friends were in attendance at the historic raising of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags.

Chris Zilm, Headmaster of the Junior School, welcoming guests

Driven from their homeland forcibly over fifty years ago, the elders were honoured and deeply moved by the respect shown for their survival and their preservation of their culture.

Celebrations continued with a variety of events. A video on the quest for justice for Aboriginal people was presented by Malcolm Mabo. Local elders shared their stories of this country with the students. Lorraine Peters, herself a stolen child, and her granddaughter Serina, presented the video Bringing Them Home, which was made in response to the National Inquiry into the separation of Aboriginal and Islander children from their families. A basket-weaving workshop showed us all how it was done. Torres Strait Islanders provided a cultural display and the school looked wonderful with artworks contributed by Aboriginal people and pavement art by the students. The TAFE band from Cairns was probably the favourite with the students, combining musicality, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories and a sassy style.

The basket-making workshop	Explaining Aboriginal symbols	The Cairns TAFE band

PICNIC IN THE PARK 

"Picnic in the park 2000" celebrated reconciliation in Malanda on June the 8th, 2000.

Hosted by the Ngadjonji elders and the Tablelands Reconciliation Group and opened by Mayor Mary Lyle, the emphasis was on finding community solutions to the problems of reconciliation.

Ngadjonji elder Miss Jessie Calico, pictured, welcomed guests. In her speech Aunty Jessie said that while aboriginal people had learnt much from white people, she hoped that white people would learn from aboriginal culture, because Aborigines had a lot to offer if given a chance.

Entertainment was provided by the Jiddigirri Dancers from Ravenshoe, pictured, the Unity Theatre Group, The Cherie Quinn Dance School and the Cairns TAFE Band, all wonderful, and the warmth and friendliness of the day created a sense of hope for reconciliation.

awards

Ernie Raymont receives Cassowary Award

Cairns, 24 August 2002

Mr Ernie Raymont recieving a Wet Tropics Cassowary award on behalf of himself and the Ngadjonji elders from the State Member for Leichardt, Dr. Lesley Clarke on 24.8.2002. The award, in the catagory of Rainforest Aboriginal Culture, was for their work with Wet Tropics, their display at the Malanda Visitor's Centre and their success in communicating and preserving Ngadjonji culture.

Photo courtesy Wet Tropics Management Authority

Yvonne Canendo and Ernie Raymont (representing the Ngadjonji)
and Liam Taylor (representing his mother, Margaret Huxley )
receive their Reconciliation Award certificates from
Queensland Premier, Peter Beattie . 27 October 2004.

This website is the result of the efforts of Margaret Huxley (Margi). Margi passed away on 26 August 2004. Two months later, she, together with the Ngadjonji Elders and her friend Julian Hartley (who did the actual site construction) received a Queensland Government Reconciliation Award for the site. Representatives of the Ngadjonji and of Margi's family were flown to Brisbane as guests of the Government and received their Awards from Qld Premier Peter Beattie at a ceremony on 27 October 2004.

art

         

The work of Ngadjonji artist Warren Canendo, whose tribal name, Wundajilla, means "green possum" in Ngadjon, is represented here by four paintings inspired by stories about his country that he remembers hearing from the old people when he was a child.

All the stories illustrate the Ngadjonji connection with their country. They warn children of the dangers in the forests, celebrate the cycles that link the People and their Spirits with the Land and tell of the shaping of the hills.

Yamani, the Rainbow Serpent who features in two of these paintings, is both the force that formed the natural world and the giver and keeper of tribal law.

Artwork © Warren Canendo, 1999
Warren can be contacted on (07) 4096 6317

Bajinjilla Arts and Crafts Shop is owned and operated by families from the Ngadjon and Dyirrbal (Jirrbal) people. Sharing their unique rainforest cultural heritage with the community and visitors, the shop celebrates and promotes local indigenous writers, poets and artists.

Bajinjilla is the Dyirrbal name for the drongo bird, sacred to both Ngadjonji and Dyirrbal for its heroic role in the dreamtime story "The Origin of Fire". The Ngadjon name is Bajinjillajilla

Illustrated here are examples of work by local indigenous artists Nancy
Lifu and Margaret Go Sam.

Vanessa Gertz (Goonja Goonja) was born in Atherton; she is one of seven children.

Her mother is a descendent of the Ngadjonji tribe; her father is a descendent of the Gugu Bahdun tribe.

Vanessa has always had an interest in art since a child. The elements of traditional art are still within her, developed with a more stylised use of colour and technique.

Vanessa is a young aboriginal artist who draws from her cultural ancestors, relying on her instincts, dreams and experiences.

Her work has many forms, from murals on masonry walls and conventional canvas work through to T-shirt screen printing and even rock and shell decoration.

She can be contacted by phone on (07) 4091 2940.

Two examples of Vanessa's work decorating the Office of the Nyletta ATSI Corporation where she works.

Vanessa in front of a mural she created at Tolga State School.

guide service

Ngadjonji elder, Ernie Raymont, grandson of Molly Raymont, conducts guided walking tours in the Malanda Falls Rainforest explaining many of the traditional Ngadjonji relationships to the rainforest environment.

Ernie Raymont demonstrating features of the
rainforest to a group of visitors Tours depart from the Malanda Falls Environmental Centre.

Contact the Centre (phone 07 40966957) for availibility and booking information.
Ernie Raymont
Photos - K.Mackay