Talk:Bindal people

Latest comment: 4 months ago by Nishidani

Compiling material to Expand article edit

  • dugout canoes with outriggers to the north, paperbark (usually single sheet) from eucalptus/acacias ,, ie canoes without outriggers to the south/port dennison aka Bowen ..approx 2.5 meters, can't carry more the 2 people (Brayshaw 1974: 147)
  • woomeras for spear throwing to the north, and west over the range, where there appears to have been a distinct cultural break for the coastal area south of Townsville (ie Bindal area south .. did not seem to use woomeras (Brayshaw: 148)
  • language similar to Nywagi were spoken from the mouth of the herbert to bowen where, over the range, there was a cultural break with people speaking warangu/maric language, from Dixon and Sutton (Brayshaw: 149)


The technical problem here unfortunately is that the two sources do not specifically mention the Bindal people, and therefore any attempt to use the eviction notice for the heirs of the Ayr golf course shed resident, or to infer from Brayshaw that the Bindal are referred to, rather than the generic tribes of the language group they are associated with. There is however one important datum we can retrieve from another article by Brayshaw

William Chatfield of Natal Downs Station south-west of Charters Towers, wrote in 1886

In sandstone caves, which are numerous in their country the Pegulloburra make drawings of emu and kangaroo, and also imprints of their hands daubed with red. These latter are found on the almost inaccessible faces of the white sandstone cliffs.' H. C. Brayshaw, ['Ethnohistory and Archaeology in the Herbert/Burdekin,'] Lectures in North Queensland History 1975 p.11.

These are obviously identical to the Bendalgubber registered here, from Scott, as an alternative name for the Bindal. Scott's language notes were collected from 11 distinct tribal groupings:the —Perenbba, Euronbba, Walmundi, Bendalgubber, Cumarinia, Culbaingella, Cobblebobber, Cartoolounger, Toolkemburra, Carbineyinburra, and Tinguljuller. (Scott in Curr p.492)

As is clear it is Tindale, not Scott, who identified the Bendalgubber as Bindal, so I will correct that immediately.Nishidani (talk) 09:21, 7 January 2024 (UTC)Reply
For the moment therefore I would suggest you add these sources to a See also section/

Regarding the Bindal and James Morrill edit

  • James Morrill (castaway) (February 1846-January 1863) lived among several Aboriginal groups in an area between present day Townsville & Bowen, settling among the Bindal peoples' Mt Elliot families, including a wife whom he left when returning to anglo-Australian society (Australian Encyclopedia of Aboriginal Australia: 718)
  • James Morrill left a short account of his time among the Bindal and other peoples, ie Morrill, James 1863. Sketch of a residence among the Aboriginals of Northern Queensland for seventeen years. (Australian Encyclopedia of Aboriginal Australia: 719) Bruceanthro (talk) 03:38, 14 January 2024 (UTC)Reply
Namely, Edmund Gregory (editor) James Morrill, Sketch of a residence among the Aboriginals of Northern Queensland for seventeen years (1863) , Courier Printing Office Brisbane, 1866
One can cite this together with the secondary source you provide below, Emma Dortens,The Lives of Stories: Three Aboriginal-Settler Friendships, Australian National University Press 2018 ISBN 978-1-760-46240-6 pp.13-39. The only point to be made however is that, as per note 3 on p.14 of Dortens book, Morrill's adoptive people are generically a group of speakers of varieties of the Biri language, and claims have been made for Morrill as adopted into the Birri Gubba or Juru. In short, these things have to be sorted out with an expansion on the use of the Bindal ethnonym. Nishidani (talk) 09:09, 14 January 2024 (UTC)Reply

Sources Used edit