Butchulla People

The Butchulla people (aka Badtjala) are the indigenous people of Fraser Island. Documented early history of the people of Fraser Island is incomplete and open to debate and discussion. Aboriginal people closely guard many of their traditions, legends and laws and after European settlement much of the evidence of the Fraser Island people's way of life was destroyed either intentionally or through ignorance.
The Butchulla people were governed by standards established by the Council of Elders and generations of tradition. A Council of Elders comprised a number of mature men with only the eldest being afforded voting rights. The Council of Elders oversaw visitors to the tribal lands, giving travellers permission to enter and telling them when to leave.

The Council ensured both social and environmental laws were adhered to and was responsible for governing the totem system. Each member of the tribe was allocated a totem which represented a plant or animal. People were not allowed to hunt, eat or harm their totem or their family's totem except during war, special ceremonies or when crossing non-tribal lands.

Totems were seldom vital food sources and the totem system helped protect resources that were scarce in the area. Ceremonies, such as initiation ceremonies and corroborees, were important to the Butchulla people and their clans.

During corroborees, traditions and legends were kept alive through story telling, singing, dancing and music. The Fraser Island people did not play the didgeridoo as favoured by northern Aboriginal tribes. An instrument called a bull roarer was commonly used and women would often accompany singing and music by clapping their hands on their thighs.
Colonisation by Europeans caused great conflicts with the Aboriginal people. Clans in the area attempted to resist early European settlement by throwing spears, rocks and other weapons at settlers. Occasionally shepherds and flocks were attacked and killed.

The local settlers became wary and in 1850 police patrols were organised. Spears quickly proved to be no match against rifles and the Aborigines were forced to retreat to Fraser Island where patrols, who had limited bush skills, found it difficult to capture them.
Conflict and disease took their toll and by 1872 Aboriginal numbers were down to 435, falling to only 230 by 1880.The last Aborigines left the island in 1904 when the Aboriginal mission at Bogimbah was closed. They were transported to Yarrabah near Cairns and Durundur near Caboolture.

There are now only a handful of surviving descendants of the Fraser Island Butchulla people. Their history is an important part of Fraser Island and today efforts are being made to find, recognise and manage cultural sites so that future generations can learn, understand and respect the Butchulla way of life.

This is a good source:-
http://www.fraserisland.net/aboriginal-history.html

Gubbi Gubbi (Kabi Kabi)

http://www.glasshouseecolodge.com/glasshouse-legend.html

Gubbi Gubbi is the name of the actual language spoken by the local Aboriginal people. Gubbi Gubbi means “NO”.
Gubbi Gubbi lands stretched from the Pine River in the south, to Burrum River in the north, and west to the Conondale ranges. Their territories were bordered by mountain ranges and river systems. There were many “clans” within this vast area, approximately 20, each numbering from 150 to 500 strong. All of these family groups shared this language, and would come together on a regular basis for special ceremonies, such as marriage, initiation, and especially festivals.
One Festival that held great significance was the Bunya gathering, held every three years in the Bunya Mountains. People would come from far and wide to be involved in these important meetings; from Bundaberg in the north, to Bourke in the south, and Taroom in the west. Naturally only the fittest and strongest would make the long journey from those distant places.
The Bunya Mountains gathering was quite a large scale event and there was also a smaller bunya gathering held every year in the Blackall Range on the Sunshine Coast, at a place now called Baroon Pocket Dam.
Gubbi lands were very popular for many people, not only for the Gubbi Gubbi people, but also for all those living in the surrounding areas.
Traditionally Gubbi Gubbi people believed that every animal, bird and rock that belonged to their group's totem species was in fact the actual living spirit of an ancestor. As a result each member felt a definite kinship with that species. The totem, if it were a bird or animal, was never hunted or killed for food by the person whose totem it was.
The dyungungoo, or territory of the Gubbi Gubbi, is a typically-sized area for the south coast. The seasonal nature of food resources meant that groups travelled over, what seemed to non-indigenous people, as a vast area. Weather and seasonal variations affected shellfish supplies, and land-based resources needed to be used to supplement these temporary supplies. The seasonal availability of fruits, grasses and vegetables meant that groups travelled to these locations when the food was in season. This seasonal migration was a form of conservation.
By varying their diet to include everything in the area that was at all edible at that time, the Gubbi Gubbi ensured that the one or two favoured food items would not cease to exist.

References

• Cooroora Historical Society
• Gubbi Gubbi Dance

Kabi Kabi people

From Wikipedia;-

The Kabi (or Kabi Kabi or Gubbi Gubbi) people are an Aboriginal Goori people of Australia, and corresponding language group of the South East Queensland coast, stretching from Brisbane up to Bundaberg. In their language, "Kabi" means "No".
Recently smaller clan groups separated into sub-groups, and do not identify as Kabi, therefore the term Kabi now refers to a smaller group. Kabi were previously designated the main anthropological group identified in the South East Queensland region.
Buroinjin was a game played by the Kabi. Spectators called out 'Ei, ei' to applaud. Buroinjin was the name of the ball made from kangaroo skin.
The ancestral god of the Kabi people has a name that cannot be mentioned "in ordinary conversation", though a form of their god is the Djakkahn (the rainbow serpent), which is a part-fish part-snake ancestral spirit residing in deep water holes.

Giraffe - Animal Totem

Quote

Giraffe: symbol of intuition, flexibility

Giraffes are most notable for their long legs and necks. They often wrap their necks around each other in order to test their strength. Because the giraffe is so flexible, it is able to sleep kneeling down with neck and head wrapped around them placed in a joint of their leg. The strength and flexibility of the giraffe can teach us to master the physical body while improving our spiritual awareness.
His height and flexible neck enable the giraffe to see what's behind, alongside, and in front of him. Intuition is the ability to know the future, the past, and walk in the present moment. Learn the lesson of intuitive vision from the giraffe totem.

http://crystal-cure.com/protection-giraffe.html

Australian Bush flowers

Australian Bush Flowers

Acrylic on Canvas

46cm x 62cm

by Kerrie Thomsen