1.
Indigenous Australians
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Indigenous Australians are the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia, descended from groups that existed in Australia and surrounding islands prior to European colonisation. In present-day Australia these groups are divided into local communities. At the time of initial European settlement, over 250 languages were spoken, it is estimated that 120 to 145 of these remain in use. Aboriginal people today mostly speak English, with Aboriginal phrases and words being added to create Australian Aboriginal English, a population collapse following European settlement, and a smallpox epidemic spreading three years after the arrival of Europeans may have caused a massive and early depopulation. Since 1995, the Australian Aboriginal Flag and the Torres Strait Islander Flag have been among the flags of Australia. The word aboriginal has been in the English language since at least the 16th century, to mean, first or earliest known and it comes from the Latin word aborigines, derived from ab and origo. The word was used in Australia to describe its indigenous peoples as early as 1789 and it soon became capitalised and employed as the common name to refer to all Indigenous Australians. Strictly speaking, Aborigine is the noun and Aboriginal the adjectival form, however, use of either Aborigine or Aboriginal to refer to individuals has acquired negative connotations in some sectors of the community, and it is generally regarded as insensitive and even offensive. The more acceptable and correct expression is Aboriginal Australians or Aboriginal people, the term Indigenous Australians, which also includes Torres Strait Islander peoples, has found increasing acceptance, particularly since the 1980s. The broad term Aboriginal Australians includes many groups that often identify under names from local Indigenous languages. Anindilyakwa on Groote Eylandt off Arnhem Land, Palawah in Tasmania and these larger groups may be further subdivided, for example, Anangu recognises localised subdivisions such as Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara, Ngaanyatjarra, Luritja and Antikirinya. It is estimated that prior to the arrival of British settlers, the Torres Strait Islanders possess a heritage and cultural history distinct from Aboriginal traditions. The eastern Torres Strait Islanders in particular are related to the Papuan peoples of New Guinea, accordingly, they are not generally included under the designation Aboriginal Australians. This has been another factor in the promotion of the inclusive term Indigenous Australians. Six percent of Indigenous Australians identify themselves fully as Torres Strait Islanders, a further 4% of Indigenous Australians identify themselves as having both Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal heritage. The Torres Strait Islands comprise over 100 islands which were annexed by Queensland in 1879, eddie Mabo was from Mer or Murray Island in the Torres Strait, which the famous Mabo decision of 1992 involved. The term blacks has been used to refer to Indigenous Australians since European settlement, while originally related to skin colour, the term is used today to indicate Aboriginal heritage or culture in general and refers to people of any skin pigmentation. In the 1970s, many Aboriginal activists, such as Gary Foley, proudly embraced the term black, the book included interviews with several members of the Aboriginal community including Robert Jabanungga reflecting on contemporary Aboriginal culture
2.
New South Wales
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New South Wales is a state on the east coast of Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south and it has a coast line with the Tasman Sea on its east side. The Australian Capital Territory is an enclave within the state, New South Wales state capital is Sydney, which is also Australias most populous city. In March 2014, the population of New South Wales was 7.5 million. Just under two-thirds of the population,4.67 million. Inhabitants of New South Wales are referred to as New South Welshmen, the Colony of New South Wales was founded as a penal colony in 1788. It originally comprised a more than half of the Australian mainland with its western boundary set at 129th meridian east in 1825, in addition, the colony also included the island territories of New Zealand, Van Diemens Land, Lord Howe Island, and Norfolk Island. During the 19th century, most of the area was detached to form separate British colonies that eventually became New Zealand. However, the Swan River Colony has never administered as part of New South Wales. Lord Howe Island remains part of New South Wales, while Norfolk Island has become a federal Territory, as have the now known as the Australian Capital Territory. The prior inhabitants of New South Wales were the Aboriginal tribes who arrived in Australia about 40,000 to 60,000 years ago, before European settlement there were an estimated 250,000 Aboriginal people in the region. The Wodi Wodi people are the custodians of the Illawarra region of South Sydney. The Bundjalung people are the custodians of parts of the northern coastal areas. The European discovery of New South Wales was made by Captain James Cook during his 1770 survey along the eastern coast of the Dutch-named continent of New Holland. In his original journal covering the survey, in triplicate to satisfy Admiralty Orders, Cook first named the land New Wales, however, in the copy held by the Admiralty, he revised the wording to New South Wales. After years of chaos and anarchy after the overthrow of Governor William Bligh, macquaries legacy is still evident today. During the 19th century, large areas were separated to form the British colonies of Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria. Responsible government was granted to the New South Wales colony in 1855, following the Treaty of Waitangi, William Hobson declared British sovereignty over New Zealand in 1840
3.
Clarence River (New South Wales)
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The Clarence River, a mature wave dominated, barrier estuary, is situated in the Northern Rivers district of New South Wales, Australia. The river reaches its mouth at its confluence with the Coral Sea in the South Pacific Ocean, on its journey it passes through the towns of Tabulam and Copmanhurst, the city of Grafton, and the towns of Ulmarra, and Maclean. The river features many large islands, including Woodford, Chatsworth, Ashby, Warregah and Harwood islands. The river supports a large prawn trawling and fishing industry, the Clarence River system is an extensive east coast drainage with many tributaries of differing size. Apart from the Murray River, it is the largest river in mainland Australia south of the Tropic of Capricorn and its basin is, together with the very similarly-sized Hawkesbury, Australias largest Pacific watershed south of Bundaberg. The climate of most of the basin is subtropical, though the highest areas with cooler weather are of the temperate Cfb type, annual rainfall ranges from 1,600 millimetres on the coast at Yamba down to 1,080 millimetres in the shielded valley at Grafton. At higher altitudes, rainfall may reach 2,000 millimetres on exposed slopes, most of the high areas actually receive no more rain than Grafton though variability from year to year is less. Temperatures are generally warm, with maxima in lower area ranging from 27 °C in January to 19 °C in July. In the highlands, however, temperatures are cooler and in July range from lows of around 2 °C to maxima around 13 °C - though in January days remain very warm at around 25 °C. At Grafton, the peaked at a new record height of 8.1 metres. Two years earlier, the river peaked 7.6 metres, on both occasions, the citys levee was credited with preventing more severe flooding. The local historical society has published an account of newspaper reports documenting flooding of the river from the late 1800s to 2011, tourism is also a significant industry in the Clarence Valley generating around A$457million per annum and employing around 2500 people. Most of the Clarence basin is forested, with important areas of remnant subtropical. Only in alluvial areas where soils are less leached is there major agricultural development, in areas the chief industries are cattle rearing. Of particular interest is the island town of Harwood, where a Sperry New Holland factory. Harwood is also the location of the sugar mill, the Harwood Sugar Mill built in 1873 and is the oldest Australian mill still operational. The sugar mill is situated on the due to its importance in transporting sugar cane from farms in the surrounding area in previous times. Harwood is just after the Harwood Bridge on part of Australias National Highway from Sydney, Port Macquarie, the Aboriginal people of the lower reaches call the river Breimba or Berrinbah
4.
Pacific Ocean
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The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of the Earths oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south and is bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, the Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres. Both the center of the Water Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere are in the Pacific Ocean, the oceans current name was coined by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the Spanish circumnavigation of the world in 1521, as he encountered favourable winds on reaching the ocean. He called it Mar Pacífico, which in both Portuguese and Spanish means peaceful sea, important human migrations occurred in the Pacific in prehistoric times. Long-distance trade developed all along the coast from Mozambique to Japan, trade, and therefore knowledge, extended to the Indonesian islands but apparently not Australia. By at least 878 when there was a significant Islamic settlement in Canton much of trade was controlled by Arabs or Muslims. In 219 BC Xu Fu sailed out into the Pacific searching for the elixir of immortality, from 1404 to 1433 Zheng He led expeditions into the Indian Ocean. The east side of the ocean was discovered by Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513 after his expedition crossed the Isthmus of Panama and he named it Mar del Sur because the ocean was to the south of the coast of the isthmus where he first observed the Pacific. Later, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan sailed the Pacific East to West on a Castilian expedition of world circumnavigation starting in 1519, Magellan called the ocean Pacífico because, after sailing through the stormy seas off Cape Horn, the expedition found calm waters. The ocean was often called the Sea of Magellan in his honor until the eighteenth century, sailing around and east of the Moluccas, between 1525 and 1527, Portuguese expeditions discovered the Caroline Islands, the Aru Islands, and Papua New Guinea. In 1542–43 the Portuguese also reached Japan, in 1564, five Spanish ships consisting of 379 explorers crossed the ocean from Mexico led by Miguel López de Legazpi and sailed to the Philippines and Mariana Islands. The Manila galleons operated for two and a half centuries linking Manila and Acapulco, in one of the longest trade routes in history, Spanish expeditions also discovered Tuvalu, the Marquesas, the Cook Islands, the Solomon Islands, and the Admiralty Islands in the South Pacific. In the 16th and 17th century Spain considered the Pacific Ocean a Mare clausum—a sea closed to other naval powers, as the only known entrance from the Atlantic the Strait of Magellan was at times patrolled by fleets sent to prevent entrance of non-Spanish ships. On the western end of the Pacific Ocean the Dutch threatened the Spanish Philippines, Spain also sent expeditions to the Pacific Northwest reaching Vancouver Island in southern Canada, and Alaska. The French explored and settled Polynesia, and the British made three voyages with James Cook to the South Pacific and Australia, Hawaii, and the North American Pacific Northwest, one of the earliest voyages of scientific exploration was organized by Spain in the Malaspina Expedition of 1789–1794. It sailed vast areas of the Pacific, from Cape Horn to Alaska, Guam and the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, and the South Pacific. Growing imperialism during the 19th century resulted in the occupation of much of Oceania by other European powers, and later, Japan, in Oceania, France got a leading position as imperial power after making Tahiti and New Caledonia protectorates in 1842 and 1853 respectively. After navy visits to Easter Island in 1875 and 1887, Chilean navy officer Policarpo Toro managed to negotiate an incorporation of the island into Chile with native Rapanui in 1888, by occupying Easter Island, Chile joined the imperial nations
5.
Urunga, New South Wales
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Urunga is a small town on in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, in Bellingen Shire. It is famous for its surf spots, at the 2011 census, Urunga had a population of 3,020. The town is south of Coffs Harbour and Sawtell and north of Nambucca Heads, the place name, Urunga, is derived from the Gumbaynggir word Yurūnga, which is derived from the word for long yurūn in reference to long white sands. There are two streets, and both a bowling club and a golf club. A weekly 6-a-side soccer competition is held on Thursdays at the Oval on Morgo Street, Urunga is a fishing ground, with bream being the main sport fish. The Urunga boardwalk, leading over the tidal Urunga Lagoon then out to the beach, was rebuilt in 1988, the full boardwalk was completed in 2007. In November 2010, a section of boardwalk was completed. This extension finishes at the mouth of the river and has taken the length of the boardwalk to almost 1 kilometre, hungry Head,4 km to the south is the only patrolled beach in Urunga. Urunga railway station opened on the North Coast line in 1923, Urunga celebrates with a small annual festival called Toast Urunga in September. Urunga Public School Bellinger Magic - the official guide to the Bellinger region VISITNSW. com - Urunga
6.
Coffs Harbour
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Coffs Harbour, in Australia, is a coastal city located on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales about 540 km north of Sydney, and 390 km south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres in the North Coast region, Coffs Harbour won an international Bloom award for population 20, 001–75,000 in 2002. In addition an Enhancement of the Landscape in 2004 from the same organisation, Coffs Harbours economy was once based mainly on bananas, now being superseded by blueberries as well as tourism and fishing. The wider region is known as the Bananacoast, the city has a campus of Southern Cross University, a public and a private hospital, several radio stations, and three major shopping centres. Coffs Harbour is near numerous national parks, including a national park. There are regular passenger flights each day to Sydney and Melbourne departing from Coffs Harbour Airport, Coffs Harbour is also accessible by road, by NSW TrainLink trains, and by regular bus services. Coffs Harbour is a city along the Pacific Highway between Newcastle and The Gold Coast. It has become a service centre for those living between South West Rocks in the south and Grafton to the north. Sawtell,10 km south along Hogbin Drive from the city has become a suburb of Coffs Harbour. The surrounding region is dominated by resorts and apartments with hinterland hills and mountains covered by forests, banana plantations. It is the place in New South Wales where the Great Dividing Range meets the Pacific Ocean. The Bananacoast Community Credit Union is headquartered in Coffs Harbour, the city is relatively sunny, receiving 122.1 clear days annually, higher than Brisbane and Cairns. Summers are warm, wet and humid, winters are mild, pleasant and drier. By the early 1900s, the Coffs Harbour area had become an important timber production centre, before the opening of the North Coast Railway Line, the only way to transport large items of heavy but low value, such as timber, was by coastal shipping. This meant sawmillers on the North Coast were dependent on jetties either in rivers or off beaches for exporting their timber, timber tramways were constructed to connect the timber-getting areas, the sawmills and jetties built into the ocean at Coffs Harbour. Coffs Harbour owes its name to John Korff, who named the area Korffs Harbour when he was forced to shelter from storm in the area in 1847. Its name was changed by the surveyor for the crown when he reserved land in the area during 1861. Coffs Harbour was the hub for a thriving banana industry, one of the biggest attractions is the Big Banana, one of the first of Australias Big Things, with the Worlds Largest Banana celebrating the regions best known export
7.
Armidale, New South Wales
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Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had an population of 23,674 as at 30 June 2015. It is the centre for the Northern Tablelands region. It is approximately halfway between Sydney and Brisbane at the junction of the New England Highway and Waterfall Way, Armidale traditional owners are Anaiwan people. Many Gumbaynggirr people have settled in Armidale since colonisation, a short distance to the east of Armidale are heavily forested steep gorges dropping down to the eastern coastal plain. Large parts of the highlands are covered by Palaeozoic aged metamorphosed sedimentary rocks, intruding into these meta-sediments are granite plutons which decompose to form sandy soil, slightly deficient in nutrients. There are also basalt flows which are fertile for the soil substrates. Those areas away from the deep gorge country tend to display gently undulating terrain mainly used for pastures, to the west is Mount Yarrowyck Nature Reserve. The coastal plain can be reached directly at Coffs Harbour via Waterfall Way to Dorrigo and Bellingen on the Bellinger River, Armidale has a noted problem with air pollution caused by the use of solid fuel domestic wood heaters during the winter months. A local retired doctor said he is so concerned by the wood smoke situation, Armidale has a subtropical highland climate influence. Armidales elevation gives it a climate, but the summers are still very warm. Winters are long and cool, with frosty nights. Snowfall is extremely rare, on only one day in every three years. The presence of four seasons, unlike most of the rest of Australia, is the reason for the New England moniker. Summers are characterised by warm to very warm days followed almost always by cool, sometimes cold, thunderstorms often produce heavy falls of rain and occasionally hail in the afternoons and early evenings, also bringing a sudden drop in temperature. Unlike nearby coastal areas, Armidale does not usually high humidity levels making most of the summer days quite comfortable. Temperatures exceed 30 °C on average of 13 days per year, the highest temperature recorded at Armidale Airport was 37.0 °C, recorded in January 2014. As the leaves turn yellow and fall, day temperatures are still warm, particularly in March
8.
Squatting
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Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential—that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. Author Robert Neuwirth suggested in 2004 that there were one billion squatters globally and he forecasts there will be two billion by 2030 and three billion by 2050. Yet, according to Kesia Reeve, squatting is largely absent from policy and academic debate and is rarely conceptualised, as a problem, as a symptom, Squatting can be related to political movements, such as anarchist, autonomist, or socialist. It can be a means to conserve buildings or to provide housing, while these settlements may, in time, grow to become both legalised and indistinguishable from normal residential neighbourhoods, they start off as squats with minimal basic infrastructure. Thus, there is no sewage system, drinking water must be bought from vendors or carried from a nearby tap, besides being residences, some squats are used as social centres or host give-away shops, pirate radio stations or cafés. In Spanish-speaking countries, squatters receive several names, such as okupas in Spain, Chile or Argentina, Squatting by necessity is in itself a political issue, therefore also a statement or rather a response to the political system causing it. During the period of recession and increased housing foreclosures in the 2000s, squatting became far more prevalent in Western. In some cases, need-based and politically motivated squatting go hand in hand, conservational – i. e. preserving monuments because the authorities have let them decay Political – e. g. Property law and the state have traditionally favored the property owner, however, in many cases where squatters had de facto ownership, laws have been changed to legitimize their status. Anarchist Colin Ward comments, Squatting is the oldest mode of tenure in the world and this is as true of the Queen with her 176,000 acres as it is of the 54 percent of householders in Britain who are owner-occupiers. They are all the recipients of stolen land, for to regard our planet as a commodity offends every conceivable principle of natural rights. U. K. police official Sue Williams, for example, has stated that Squatting is linked to Anti-Social Behaviour and can cause a great deal of nuisance, in some cases there may also be criminal activities involved. The public attitude toward squatting varies, depending on legal aspects, socioeconomic conditions, in particular, while squatting of municipal buildings may be treated leniently, squatting of private property often leads to strong negative reaction on the part of the public and authorities. Adverse possession is a method of acquiring title to property through possession for a period under certain conditions. Countries where this principle exists include England and the United States, however, some non-common law jurisdictions have laws similar to adverse possession. For example, Louisiana has a doctrine called acquisitive prescription. There are large communities in Kenya, such as Kibera in Nairobi. An estimated 1,000 people live in the Grande Hotel Beira in Mozambique, the Zabbaleen settlement and the City of the Dead are both well-known squatter communities in Cairo
9.
Summit
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A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. Mathematically, a summit is a maximum in elevation. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak, and zenith are synonymous, the UIAA definition is that a summit is independent if it has a prominence of 30 metres or more, it is a mountain if it has a prominence of at least 300 metres. This can be summarised as follows, A pyramidal peak is an exaggerated form produced by ice erosion of a mountain top, Summit may also refer to the highest point along a line, trail, or route. In many parts of the western United States, the term refers to the highest point along a road, highway. For example, the highest point along Interstate 80 in California is referred to as Donner Summit while the highest point on Interstate 5 is Siskiyou Mountain Summit, geoid Hill List of highest mountains Maxima and minima Nadir Summit accordance Peak finder
10.
Canberra
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Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of 381,488, it is Australias largest inland city, the city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory,280 km south-west of Sydney, and 660 km north-east of Melbourne. A resident of Canberra is known as a Canberran, the site of Canberra was selected for the location of the nations capital in 1908 as a compromise between rivals Sydney and Melbourne, Australias two largest cities. It is unusual among Australian cities, being a planned city outside of any state, similar to Washington, D. C. in the United States. Following an international contest for the design, a blueprint by American architects Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin was selected. The Griffins plan featured geometric motifs such as circles, hexagons and triangles, the citys design was influenced by the garden city movement and incorporates significant areas of natural vegetation that have earned Canberra the title of the bush capital. Although the Australian Capital Territory is now self-governing, the Commonwealth Government retains some influence through the National Capital Authority, the Australian Armys officer corps is trained at the Royal Military College, Duntroon and the Australian Defence Force Academy is also located in the capital. The ACT is independent of any state to prevent any one state from gaining an advantage by hosting the seat of Commonwealth power, the ACT has voting representation in the Commonwealth Parliament, and has its own independent Legislative Assembly and government, similar to the states. Compared to the averages, the unemployment rate is lower. Property prices are high, in part due to comparatively restrictive development regulations. An 1830s map of the region by Major Mitchell indeed does mark the Sullivans Creek floodplain between two mountains as Nganbra. Nganbra or Nganbira could readily have been anglicised to the name Canberry, survey plans of the district dated 1837 refer to the area as the Canberry Plain. Although popularly pronounced /ˈkænbərə/ or /ˈkænbɛrə/, the pronunciation at its official naming in 1913 was /ˈkæn. brə/. Before white settlement, the area in which Canberra would eventually be constructed was seasonally inhabited by Indigenous Australians, archaeological evidence of settlement in the region includes inhabited rock shelters, rock paintings and engravings, burial places, camps and quarry sites, and stone tools and arrangements. Artefacts suggests early human activity occurred at some point in the area 21,000 years previously, European exploration and settlement started in the Canberra area as early as the 1820s. There were four expeditions between 1820 and 1824, white settlement of the area probably dates from 1823, when a homestead or station was built on what is now the Acton peninsula by stockmen employed by Joshua John Moore. He formally applied to purchase the site on 16 December 1826, on 30 April 1827, Moore was told by letter that he could retain possession of 1,000 acres at Canberry. The European population in the Canberra area continued to grow throughout the 19th century
11.
Aboriginal Tent Embassy
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The Aboriginal Tent Embassy is a semi-permanent assemblage where residing activists claim to represent the political rights of Aboriginal Australians. It is made up of signs and tents on the lawn opposite Old Parliament House in Canberra and it is not considered an official embassy by the Australian Government. On 26 January 1972, four Aboriginal men arrived in Canberra from Sydney to establish the Aboriginal Embassy by planting a beach umbrella on the lawn in front of Parliament House, the Embassy was established in response to the McMahon Coalition Governments refusal to recognise Aboriginal land rights. The beach umbrella was soon replaced by tents and Aboriginal people. Legal title and mining rights to all other presently existing reserve lands, the preservation of all sacred sites throughout Australia. Legal title and mining rights to areas in and around all Australian capital cities, compensation money for lands not returnable to take the form of a down-payment of six billion dollars and an annual percentage of the gross national income. The demands were rejected, and in July 1972, following an amendment to the relevant ordinance, police moved in, removed the tents, in October 1973, around 70 Aboriginal protesters staged a sit-in on the steps of Parliament House and the Tent Embassy was re-established. The sit-in ended when Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam agreed to meet with protesters, in May 1974 the embassy was destroyed in a storm but was re-established in October. In February 1975 Aboriginal activist Charles Perkins negotiated the removal of the embassy with the Government. The Fraser Government subsequently enacted the Aboriginal Land Rights Act in 1976, in March 1976, the Aboriginal Embassy was established in a house in the nearby Canberra suburb of Red Hill, however, this closed in 1977. For a short period in 1979, the embassy was re-established as the National Aboriginal Government on Capital Hill, on the twentieth anniversary of its founding, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy was re-established on the lawns of Old Parliament House. Despite being a source of controversy, with many calls for its removal. As well as pressure, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy has also been under attack from criminal elements. Some local Aboriginal Ngunnawal people have called for the eviction of residents of the tent embassy. This sacred fire was made by Kevin Buzzacott and lit by Wiradjuri man Paul Coe at the Canberra Tent Embassy in 1998. There have been a number of fires at the site. In August 2005, the Federal Government announced a review into Canberras Aboriginal tent embassy and they consulted with the Aboriginal communities around Australia to determine what shape the tent embassy should take in future. The group was headed by Minister Jim Lloyd and contained a number of Aboriginal Elders from around Australia, professional mediators Callum Campbell and Tom Stodulka were called in to facilitate the process and consult with indigenous and non-indigenous Australians, to obtain and represent their views
12.
Gamilaraay
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The Kamilaroi is one of the four largest indigenous nations in Australia. The Kamilaroi language is classified in the Pama–Nyungan family of Australian languages, the Kamilaroi Highway, Sydney Ferries Limiteds vehicular ferry Kamilaroi, and a cultivar of Durum wheat have all been named after the Kamilaroi people. The language is no longer spoken, though parts have bneen reconstructed by late field work. Robert M. W. Dixon and his student Peter Austin recorded some around Moree, while Corinne Williams wrote a thesis on the Yuwaaliyaay dialect spoken at Walgett, the Gamilaroi were hunters and gatherers with a band-level social organization. Important vegetable foods were yams and other roots, as well as a sterculia grain, insect larvae, frogs, and eggs of several different animals were also gathered. Various birds, kangaroos, emus, iguanas, possums, echidnas, dingo pups were regarded as a delicacy. Fish were also consumed, as were crayfish, mussels, men typically hunted, cleaned, and prepared the game for cooking. Women did the cooking, in addition to fishing and gathering. Individual Kamilaroi did not eat animals that were their totems, the Gamilaroi or Gomilaroi from the word Kamil or Gamil meaning no, are a large nation of Aborigines consisting of many tribes. The Gamilaroi are the second largest Aboriginal nation on the side of Australia. The nation was made up of smaller family groups who had their own parcels of land to sustain them. One of the great Kings of this tribe was Red Chief, the last link with tribal law and custom in Mungindi would be the forebear of the present Cubby family, who was the last known Respected Elder in the tribe. The Kamilaroi were regarded as fierce warriors and there is evidence of intertribal warfare. The Northern Gamilaroi people have a cultural connection with the Bigambul people. Kamilaroi tradition includes Baiame, the ancestor or patron god, the Baiame story tells how Baiame came down from the sky to the land, and created rivers, mountains, and forests. He then gave the people their laws of life, traditions, songs and he also created the first initiation site. This is known as a bora, a place where boys were initiated into manhood, when he had finished, he returned to the sky, and people called him the Sky Hero or All Father or Sky Father. He is said to be married to Birrahgnooloo, who is identified as an emu
