Towns with Aboriginal Names

[edz]

Close to the QLD and NSW border is Murwillumbah " Place of many possums " or " good camp site ' being two meanings that was gained from the Bundjalung people of the area .
A link for you to look at TJ   http://landrightslstephens.blogspot.com.au/p/kingsclifffingalmurwillumbah-tweed.html

[Tjupurula]

Close to the QLD and NSW border is Murwillumbah " Place of many possums " or " good camp site ' being two meanings that was gained from the Bundjalung people of the area .

I wouldn't be too concerned about that too much edz.  Many words in many languages have different meanings, and often what we (men) call a place has a different name to the women.  This is intentional, as we give places women's areas a name to let us know that it is a "no go" area for us, and the same for the women.
Regards
Tjupurula

[Garry H]

I grew up in the Mallee in SA and went to school at " Karoonda " which means " winter camp "

[gclan]

There must be thousands upon thousands of towns with Aboriginal names Australia wide. Here are some according to Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Australian_place_names_of_Aboriginal_origin

If you're in my neck of the woods and you're heading out to the Hunter Valley vineyards, you'll come across Kurri Kurri (meaning the first or the beginning), Nulkaba, Congewai, Laguna(unfortunately I don't know the meaning of these) and Wollombi (which means meeting place of the waters).

I grew up in Alyangula on Groote Eylandt, NT. I know Alyangula is from the Anindilyakwa language, but I don't know the meaning of it (I probably did at some stage, but the old memory isn't what it used to be )
I would love to hear from anyone who does know it's meaning. Anyone up there at the moment

Cheers
Karen

[Tjupurula]

Close to the QLD and NSW border is Murwillumbah " Place of many possums " or " good camp site ' being two meanings that was gained from the Bundjalung people of the area .
A link for you to look at TJ   http://landrightslstephens.blogspot.com.au/p/kingsclifffingalmurwillumbah-tweed.html

Having met quite a few Bundjalung people in a massive meeting several years ago, I had been told about a lot of what is in that link.  Thankyou for the wonderful memories that you brought beck for me Edz.
Regards
Tjupurula

[Tjupurula]

Hi Karen
The curent CEO of Mulan spent a long time on Groote Eylandt, and he has nothing but to say about the place.  His name is Stewart, he has a South African wife, and five chjildren that have had no problems mixing with the kids here.  I do not undestand the languages from that area, so cannot help with any definitions there.
Regards
Tjupurula

[Tjupurula]

As I expected, there are a lot of placves which have "water" and "meeting" definitions.  Naturally tiowns and settlements would not have survived without the presence of water, and traditionally meetings would never happen unless there was a relaible source of water nearby, it is the most important thing to anyones existence.
Regards
Tjupurula

[Tjupurula]

There is, I have found out, a suburb of Perth called Mullaloo, which is the nme we have for a boy who is going to be initiated into manhood.
Tjupurula

[Tjupurula]

You don't need my consent TJ ... I'm a white sheila so the story doesn't belong to me ... and it's freely available for all to share off the internet.     I'll bet your grandkids would love it, so do share it with them!  I googled the legend of the Glasshouse Mountains for you too ... they'd love that one.

Kit_e

You may be a white shiela (to use your words), but you were stillkind enough to share what you had learned.  I would not pretend to have known that Dreaming before you shared it, so I have no problems telling my grandcildren that a woman on tyhe computer site shared this Dreaming with me.  I believe therefore to tell them such I should have your consent.
Obviously it is not your Dreaming, but you are Australian, therefore I see it as part of your culture too.
Regards
Tjupurula

[fuji]

Don't quote me on this, but I think it was the Wiradjuri people? as they are the original inhabitants of the wagga wagga area. From memory they were the largest tribe in NSW.
Being that Kapooka is so close to Wagga Wagga, and that it was named from the local dialect then that would be my guess. I have racked my brain but I can't say for certain if that was right or not.

Cheers
Evo

Would that be Wurrundjeri, which are the people from Melbourne or is it another group with a similar name?
No maybe not.
We are in the electorate of jagajaga which is named after three principal elders who signed a treaty with John Batman for some land.

[Tjupurula]

Would that be Wurrundjeri, which are the people from Melbourne or is it another group with a similar name?
No maybe not.
We are in the electorate of jagajaga which is named after three principal elders who signed a treaty with John Batman for some land.

Hi Wayne
The Wiradjuri people and the Wurrundjeri people are two different tribes, and your history regarding the Elders and John Batman is quite accurate,  I had to check that through a black fella website though.  The actual families are apparently interlinked through tribal promises (arranged marriages years ago), but that again is not uncommon, we are linked with the Warlpiri in the NT and the Pitjatjantjara people in Sa the same way, and here we are in the Tanami / Great Sandy Deserts.
Regards
Tjupurula

[KingBilly]

I had to check that through a black fella website though

Hi Tjupurula

Are you able to share that website with us?  I am interested to learn more.

KB

[Hairs]

Good morning Tjupurula,
I grow up as a kid in Ballina, And believe it or not, the Nuns at primary school( St Francis Xavier)  taught us where the word came from and about the local Bundjalung people.
When I saw your thread, I said I know where the town I grow up got it's name.
Here is a quote from Wikipedia of the origins of the Name Ballina.

Some believe it was named directly after the Irish town of Ballina, although a more likely source is a Bundjalung word, "bullinah", meaning "place of many oysters". One possibility is that the Aboriginal name reminded the predominantly Irish settlers of "Ballina", so the name's origin could be an accidental or deliberate corruption of the Aboriginal form.

Then again in high school( Marist Brothers 1982) in Lismore, we visited a Bora Ring at Tucki Tucki.

We were taught about the Bundjalung people and their culture, their way of life. and their country. My appreciation for the country that I live in has stayed with me over the years and I love exploring and learning about the land where I live.
By the way, a great topic you have started here Tjupurula, Thanks for starting it.
 

[Nomad]

Noosa means shade or shadows.

The Kabi Kabi tribe belonged to the area stretching from Redcliffe in the south to the Mary River in the north.

I have often imagined what it would have been like exploring the coastline around the Sunshine Coast pre development and white settlement. It must have been amazing.

Cheers Nomad.

[Tjupurula]

Hi Tjupurula

Are you able to share that website with us?  I am interested to learn more.

KB

Hi KB
I will contact the relevant people, as it is a specific website that tribal communities use to locate each other, and they ask questions such as your language group, your clan and family names, which was all collated quite a few years ago.  I guess you would call it a black fella database run by a couple of black fellas in a University, free for community people needing the help, but I will ask and message you if they say yes.
Regards
Tjupurula

[Jeepers Creepers]

Many words in many languages have different meanings, and often what we (men) call a place has a different name to the women.  This is intentional,

Good example here i guess of one phrase meaning more than one thing?

Tin Can Bay, situated on the western shore of a mainland inlet south of Fraser Island, is 200 km north of central Brisbane. It is thought that the name came from the anglicisation of tin-kun, an Aboriginal expression describing a narrow-leafed coastal vine, or of similar sounding expressions meaning dugong, big fish or mangroves.

[Tjupurula]

Good example here i guess of one phrase meaning more than one thing?

Tin Can Bay, situated on the western shore of a mainland inlet south of Fraser Island, is 200 km north of central Brisbane. It is thought that the name came from the anglicisation of tin-kun, an Aboriginal expression describing a narrow-leafed coastal vine, or of similar sounding expressions meaning dugong, big fish or mangroves.

Oh how right you are Jeepers.  There are so many words, places and names that seem to be adaptations of English words, in both directions.  Our word for white people is gardia, and it seems to have come from "Guardian", where there was guardian for all black people, called the Protector of Native Affairs.  The job was better known for taking fair skinned kids away to be "humanised" (given religion and made to wear clothes and shoes), and "controlled", which meant being locked upo until the blac fella did what he was told.  I am not being negative, it is just how things were.
The amount of English and Irish family names in communities is astounding.
Regards
Tjupurula

[Tjupurula]

Good morning Tjupurula,
I grow up as a kid in Ballina, And believe it or not, the Nuns at primary school( St Francis Xavier)  taught us where the word came from and about the local Bundjalung people.
When I saw your thread, I said I know where the town I grow up got it's name.
Here is a quote from Wikipedia of the origins of the Name Ballina.Then again in high school( Marist Brothers 1982) in Lismore, we visited a Bora Ring at Tucki Tucki.

We were taught about the Bundjalung people and their culture, their way of life. and their country. My appreciation for the country that I live in has stayed with me over the years and I love exploring and learning about the land where I live.
By the way, a great topic you have started here Tjupurula, Thanks for starting it.
 

Oh yes, the beloved Irish, they have so many Irish surnames in various communities one starts to wonder.
Tjupurula

[austastar]

Hi,
   Taroona


From the name for a local sea shell





in the dialect of some  Aboriginal Tribes of Tasmania.


Ref: Page II, Taroona 1808-1986.  ISBN - 0 - 7316 - 3091 - 2


cheers

[noel_w]

Hi, not so much an aboriginal name but I grew up on a property near a place that has huge aboriginal significance to the Kamilaroi people. The place is call Terry Hie Hie (near Moree in northern NSW) where there was a Corroboree ground and rocks with grinding grooves in them where I would say tools were sharpened. When I was young the ground was called a bora ring though I do not know if this is correct and I cannot confirm this. I believe the area was part of of a land rights claim and is managed by the local people. It is declared an "Aboriginal Place"
Interestingly when I grew up there were no aboriginal people in the local area, they had been moved to Moree many years before.
Closer to where I lived was the site of a very sad piece of Australia's history http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterloo_Creek_massacre and it is interesting that no aboriginal people will live in that area. It is known locally as Slaughterhouse Creek which was about 5 K's from our house as the crow flies and I crossed the creek every day going to school.
The closest town that I knew of with an Aboriginal name was Warialda which means "Place of wild honey"

[MDS69]

I grew up in a place called Budgewoi but apparently that wasn't its original spelling. I have copied below some info from wikipedia

Some sources give the original name as Pudgeway (Aboriginal term for young grass) but this is open to conjecture with local historian (Bruce Russell, "From Pudgeway to Budgewoi", 1984) stating the aboriginal name for the area as Budjeri, which meant "good conditions" and described the abundance of wallabies, birds, fish, prawns, trees, shrubs and plants they could use to sustain a healthy tribe. The early colonists named the area Pudgewoy but over the years it has been know by many other names: Budgeway, Possum's Fence, Sinking, Sandy Point, Halekulani and the present name of Budgewoi which was made official in July 1978.

[tossie]

I grew up in Millmerran which means lookout. Strange given the town and it's surrounds are fairly flat! Have since learned it is because of a nearby mountain which was used as lookout

Cheers Shaun

[edz]

Found a new non stressfull job for yourself  now TJ  " Communictor and Educator " thanks for sharing the knowledge everyone ..

[Footy Shorts Shane]

Thought I'd google Caloundra. Ended up with various different meanings, but did find this though about the Sunshine Coast.

http://www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/library/documents/heritage/sunshine_coast_place_name_origins.pdf

Shane.

[Foo]

My contribution for Ningi just 2mins away. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ningi,_Queensland

Foo