Ngambri

Ngambri is an Aboriginal name for a locality in the southeast of Australia, near the centre of what is now Australia's capital city of Canberra. The area is close to Black Mountain along Sullivans Creek down to the Yeelamgigee, now Molonglo River. The extent of recognised Ngambri territory, and of their distinction from the Walgalu, has been the subject of controversy in recent years. Canberra, where Ngambri claims are made, lay close to the tribal boundaries that separated the Ngarigo from the Ngunawal.[2]

Ngambri people
Regions with significant populations
 Australiaover 400[1]
Languages
Walgalu
Related ethnic groups
Other Aboriginal Australians

Locality

The Ngambri Aboriginal family, part of the Nyamudy clan, lived in the area of Sullivan's Creek extending from the Molonglo River to what is now Dickson, and incorporated the east of Black Mountain. This location settled by Europeans in October 1831 when John MacPherson was granted 640 acres (260 ha) of land. The homestead of the property was on the high ground above the river and called Springbank. MacPherson lived at Springbank with his wife Helen and their children, the first European family to live in what is now the Australian Capital Territory. One of their children, John Alexander MacPherson, was probably the first European boy born on the Limestone Plains.

The property to the east of Springbank was the larger Camberry station (Canberry), occupying what now is the suburbs of Acton and Turner.

People

The family who lived in the Ngambri location were part of the Nyamudy/Namadji people who lived on the Limestone Plains and spoke a language similar to Ngarigo spoken on the Monaro Plains. The Nyamudy/Namadgi people, some 500 persons, consisted of at least eight family groupings, those around Queanbeyan (Ngyemutch), Pialligo, Brindabellas, Isabella Plains (Namwitch), Namadgi Range, and Sullivan's Creek (Ngambri). The name used by the early European settlers for these people was the 'Pialligo Mob' and 'Limestone Blacks'. In 1831 the Ngambri area was granted to John McPherson who called it Springbank. By the 1860s the Nyamudy tribe under the pressure of the settlements had either moved up to the Monaro or had merged with the Europeans.

As detailed in the 2013 genealogical report to the ACT Government "Our Kin Our Country", there has been growth in the number of "new tribes" in the context of claims to country and land management in the current legal context. An example is the use of the name of the Ngambri locality to propose the existence of the tribe "Kamberri" or "Canberra" who speak Nyamudy, with a large county, including Canberra, Cooma and Yass. The report concluded that, with "the paucity of the written record it may be assumed that the issue of which groups held traditional association over which areas will remain uncertain".

Language

Research into the vocabularies collected in the 19th century by Mowle, Robinson, Eyre and Curr suggests the language spoken in the Canberra-Queanbeyan region to be a dialect, now called Nyamudy/Namadgi, of the Ngarigu. The family groupings descending from speakers of this dialect included the Nammage, Nammitch, Yammoit and Ngemutch.

Extension of the name to the whole Canberra region

It has been claimed by some people claiming Ngambri descent that the name for Canberra is derived from the name of the "Ngambri" family rather than the name of the location. Hence they claim Canberra district is Ngambri territory.[3] Others state the name Canberra came from Camberry/Canberry Cottage, the name given to the first European dwelling built by the property overseer who came from Cambridge, England. Latter it became the rectory of St John's Church and after some time to make it sound more classical was spelt 'Canberra'

Traditional diet
Yam daisy, a staple in the traditional diet of Ngambri people

Yam daisies, now rare in the ACT due to land development, were a staple in the diet of traditional Ngambri people.[4][5] Ngambri people also ate grass trees,[6] bulrushes, native raspberries, apple berries and native cherries.[7]

For protein, the witchetty grub, Bogong moth,[8] emu, koala, cod, platypus, echidna, brolga and bush turkey were all represented in the traditional Ngambri people diet.[4][7]

Government recognition

In 2005, in response to a question in the ACT Legislative Assembly about the status of the Ngambri people, the Chief Minister at the time, Jon Stanhope, incorrectly stated that "Ngambri is the name of one of a number of family groups that make up the Ngunnawal nation." He went on to say that "the Government recognises members of the Ngunnawal nation as descendants of the original inhabitants of this region:. There is no specific recognition of the Ngambri group outside of this broader acknowledgement."[9] The reason for the recognition of the Ngunnnawal as the traditional first people was due to many European part-Ngunnwal people living in Yass, during the 1920-30s moved to Canberra to obtain work during the development of that city. Much Later in 1996, the ACT Government under the Chief Minister Kate Carnell persuaded all indigenous people living in Canberra to unite to increase their chances of being awarded some native title rights. The outsiders, the part Ngunnawal speaking people, joined the true indigenous descendants to come together to push for land and other rights. However that does not give them the right to claim they were the original owners and the ACT is Ngunnawal country in they formed a Ngunnwal community later referred to as a 'new tribe'

In 2009, Chief Minister Jon Stanhope incorrectly said the Ngunnawal people were the traditional owners of Canberra after five signs on the Canberra border were defaced to include the Ngambri name.[10] Stanhope at the time said that "one family that previously identified as Ngunnawal now identifies as Ngambri" and "this is causing confusion and distress within the community."[11] The reason for the break up of the recently formed 'new tribe' was it had been unsuccessful in obtaining any land rights.

In contrast, the Commonwealth Government correctly recognizes that the Ngambri people were the first people living in the centre of the Canberra area, at such events as the opening of Parliament.

Disputes

Disputes over the traditional ownership of Canberra and the surrounding region

The comprehensive dislocation of Aboriginal populations, intertribal marriage and interracial relationships following European settlement has led to a high proportion of people identifying themselves as Indigenous Australians not knowing their traditional origins.[12] Australian Bureau of Statistics records showed several Aboriginal families in the ACT were affected by the removal of mixed race children from their parents in the Stolen Generation era.[12] Due to the geographical relocation, and intertribal marriages since the 1900s, of indigenous populations there are disputes between people who claim descent from the Ngambri family of the Nyanmudy/Namadgi, Ngarigo and Ngunnawal people, who all claim they are Canberra's traditional owners. A family who originally claimed to be Ngunnawal changed their argument claiming to be from the Ngamri family.[10][13][14][15][16][17] The debate came to a head in April 2009 when five "Welcome to Canberra" signs on the Canberra border were defaced by replacing the words "Ngunnawal Country" with "Ngambri Country".[17][18][19] The signs were quickly restored by the ACT Government, with the Chief Minister Jon Stanhope promising that the signs would be monitored closely in the future.[20] However this action exacerbated the problem, with the result that the Government funded research into Aboriginal family histories. The conclusion was there was insufficient genealogical evidence to conclusively state the Ngambri were the sole traditional owners of the ACT region, and they were possibly just a family group of the Nyamudy/Namedjii tribe.

In 1974 Norman Tindale in his major work on Aboriginal tribal boundaries located the southern boundary of Ngunawal country close to the ACT boundary. Like much of his mapping this was disputed by reference to much earlier evidence. Later research showed this to be incorrect and the boundary was near Sutton on the Yass River. The unsettled dispute as to who were the first people of the Canberra district, is whether the Nyamudy/Namedjii were a separate tribe or part of the Ngarigo nation from the Monaro.

In December 2012, the Ngambri Local Aboriginal Land Council made three applications for native title:

  • McQuoid Street, Queanbeyan, NSW;
  • Karabar, Queanbeyan, NSW; and
  • Erin Street, Queanbeyan, NSW.

For each application, the court determined that native title did not exist.[21][22][23][24]

In 2013, an ACT Government genealogy report entitled Our Kin Our Country was released. The report, researched to settle the dispute of who were the first people, found that the Ngunnawall were not the original inhabitants of the ACT, however they did attend corroborees. The report concluded that evidence gathered from the mid-1700s onward was too scant to exclusively support any present day group's claims. It showed that the ACT land had been either part of the Ngarigo tribe territory, the Nyamudy territory, or split between the Nyamudy and Namadgi people.[25] The question remains unanswered whether the Nyamudy/Namadgi tribe, the settler-named Limestone Blacks, occupied the whole Queanbeyan-Canberra-Namadgi area, or whether the Queanbeyan people were either part of the Ngarigo people of the Monaro.

Aboriginal Tent Embassy

In 2002, a group of Ngambri people burnt down a humpy and dismantled tents at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. At the time, prominent Ngambri elder Matilda House said her people were "cleaning up the site and making it respectable so that when visitors do come here we will be proud".[26] House had been closely involved with the tent embassy since it was founded in 1972 and remembers the four men who founded the embassy as heroes.[27] House had a vision for the future of the tent embassy:

I'd like to see the tent embassy used for a place of education and proper understanding of protocols and the proper understanding of our identity. It could be achieved by looking at a proper way of having a place where Aboriginal people can do what they want and protest. But in a manner that will get the message across and (provide) a really good place for educating the rest of the community. Not this thing where buses will pull up and sometimes people get told the wrong story.[26]

Notes

    Citations
    1. NMoA 2011.
    2. Tindale 1974, p. 198 ?
    3. Ngabri Statement n.d.
    4. Mortimer 2010.
    5. Report of the Grassland Forum 2010.
    6. ACT Territory and Municipal Services 2013.
    7. Dining with the Ngambri.
    8. The Bogong Moth Story 2012.
    9. Hansard (ACTLA) 2005.
    10. Koori Mail 2009, p. 4.
    11. Sydney 2009.
    12. ACT Government Genealogy Project 2012.
    13. Bolt 2009.
    14. Schubert 2008.
    15. Karvelas 2008.
    16. Polimeni 2009.
    17. Ja 2009.
    18. The Post-Courier 2009.
    19. Inman 2009.
    20. ABC News 2009.
    21. NNTT 2012a.
    22. NNTT 2012b.
    23. NNTT 2012c.
    24. AustLII 2012.
    25. Towell 2013.
    26. Metherell 2002.
    27. Kelly 2012.

    Sources

    Further reading
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