EUROBODALLA ABORIGINAL CULTURAL HERITAGE STUDY South Coast NSW Goulding Heritage Consulting Pty Ltd 22
EUROBODALLA ABORIGINAL CULTURAL HERITAGE STUDY South Coast NSW Aboriginal History in the <strong>Eurobodalla</strong> Region Yuin Country The <strong>Eurobodalla</strong> area is generally accepted as lying within Yuin country. The Yuin cultural area is generally stated to extend from the Shoalhaven River in the north, to the Victorian border in the south and to the eastern edge of the tablelands in the west. Throughout the region there were complex patterns of intermarriage and group movements. The mapping of the smaller groups within Yuin country is problematic for a range of reasons. Two of the major factors are the contradictory nature of the documentary sources and the fact that the documentation occurred many decades after European intrusion and the consequent disruption of group boundaries. 6 In the case of two of the major anthropological sources for the south coast area, Howitt and Mathews, their writings were based on work done in the area in the 1880s and later, after more than five decades of European impact. 7 Within the broader context of the south coast it is clear that the Aboriginal people of the region travelled throughout the coastal zone and west into the Monaro tablelands for a variety of reasons. These reasons included resource sharing (e.g. whale meat, fish flushes, bogong moths) and ceremonial purposes, including initiation and warfare. Patterns of movement along the coast and between the coast and the Monaro hinterlands existed long before European arrival in the area. 8 Such patterns of movement have persisted to the present day although the form and ostensible reasons for the movement have altered over time. Although this history is confined to the area of the <strong>Eurobodalla</strong> <strong>Shire</strong> it should be remembered that such boundaries are the product of European institutions and do not relate to the patterns of Aboriginal life. Aboriginal people and communities within the <strong>Eurobodalla</strong> area continue to operate today, as they did in the past, as part of a broad network of community and kinship extending south and north along the coast and inland to the tablelands. First European Intrusions There was no permanent European settlement impacting directly on the lives of the Aboriginal people of the <strong>Eurobodalla</strong> area until the late 1820s. However, there was a considerable amount of interaction with Europeans travelling along the coast for a variety of reasons in the preceding decades. Some of these encounters have been recorded in the documentary record and they are discussed below. It is undoubtedly 6 Within the Aboriginal communities of the south coast area there are individuals who hold detailed knowledge regarding the nature, extent and naming of the smaller groupings within the area here broadly termed as Yuin. It is envisaged that this information will be collected during the next stage of this project focussing on the gathering of oral histories. 7 For Howitt see for example A.W. Howitt, The native tribes of south-east Australia, Macmillan & Co., London, 1904 and in addition his articles produced in the preceding years. R.H. Mathews wrote a number of relevant articles including: Mathews, ‘Initiation ceremonies of Australian tribes’, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, No.37, 1898, pp.54-73; Mathews, ‘Languages of some native tribes of Queensland, New South Wales and Victories’, Journal of the Royal Society of New South Wales, Vol.36, 1902, pp.71-106; Mathews, ‘The Thoorga (and Yookumbill) languages’, Queensland Geographical Journal, Vol.17, 1902, pp.49-73. 8 Valerie Attenbrow, Aboriginal Subsistence Economy on the Far South Coast of New South Wales, Australia, BA (Honours) Thesis, University of Sydney, 1976, pp.50-69. Goulding Heritage Consulting Pty Ltd 23