Cunnamulla Tank Tops

The Cunnamulla Aboriginal culture includes five different tribes Kunja Aboriginal elders as well as being a place where all members of the community treasure and enjoy as part of the outback culture and everyday life. Including yarning

My Country depicts the country area around Cunnamulla SE QUEENSLAND

For Aboriginal people, "country" does not just mean the creeks, rock outcrops, hills and waterholes. "Country includes all living things. It incorporates people, plants and animals. It embraces the seasons, stories and creation spirits. "country" is both a place of belonging and a way of believing. Through our travels we have sustained and celebrated our knowledge of our "country". It is an experience vividly expressed in our traditional songs, stories, dance and art. We are proud to share many aspects of our land, art and culture with visitors. Indeed there has never been a better time to make your own journey to our "country". From desert dunes to tropical shores, there are astonishing contrasts in the landscape. Aboriginal cultu...

Cunnamulla Aboriginal Culture – Tribes The Cunnamulla Aboriginal culture includes five different tribes that are made up of Kunja people, who are the traditional owners of the Cunnamulla area Kooma, Budjiti, Mardigan, and Kullilli people. The Kunja Aboriginal people are the descendants of Killamunda (including her children Margaret Turner (Granny McKellar), Annie/Nannie Widgell and Jack Brennan), Flora Maranoa, Maria Major (including her children Jack Oliffe, Ron Wyman, Walter Wyman and Lily Lynett) and Jimmy Nyngan. Kunja Aboriginal elders will perform the welcome to country ceremony at the start of Cully Fest on the Warrego. This location was chosen due to its significance to the Aboriginal culture within Cunnamulla as well as bein...

Cunnamulla Aboriginal Culture – Tribes The Cunnamulla Aboriginal culture includes five different tribes that are made up of Kunja people, who are the traditional owners of the Cunnamulla area Kooma, Budjiti, Mardigan, and Kullilli people. The Kunja Aboriginal people are the descendants of Killamunda (including her children Margaret Turner (Granny McKellar), Annie/Nannie Widgell and Jack Brennan), Flora Maranoa, Maria Major (including her children Jack Oliffe, Ron Wyman, Walter Wyman and Lily Lynett) and Jimmy Nyngan. Kunja Aboriginal elders will perform the welcome to country ceremony at the start of Cully Fest on the Warrego. This location was chosen due to its significance to the Aboriginal culture within Cunnamulla as well as bein...

The Indigenous voice of this country is over 65,000 plus years old. They are the first words spoken on this continent. Languages that passed down lore, culture, and knowledge for over millennia. They are precious to our nation. It’s that Indigenous voice that includes know-how, practices, skills, and innovations - found in a wide variety of contexts, such as agricultural, scientific, technical, ecological and medicinal fields, as well as biodiversity-related knowledge. They are words connecting us to country, an understanding of country and of a people who are the oldest continuing culture on the planet. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people want their voice to be heard. First Nations were excluded from the Constitutiona...

Cunnamulla is part of the Paroo Shire and is located on the Warrego River in far west Queensland. The Paroo Shire also includes the townships of Eulo, Wyandra, and Yowah. The word ‘Cunnamulla’ means a long stretch of water’ or ‘big waterhole’ in the language of the Kunja (Koun-yah) people[1]. Historical research indicates that the Kunja people originally occupied this region prior to first contact

Cunnamulla, meaning long stretch of water, gets its name from the picturesque Warrego River which meanders past and is a popular spot for fishing and water sports. The main industries within the Shire are beef, fat lamb and wool production, apiary, grapes, wildlife harvesting, opal mining and the ever increasing Tourism Industry. Cunnamulla is serviced twice a week by Qld Rail from Brisbane and Skytrans from Brisbane and three times a week by Kynoch Coaches from Toowoomba.

The name Warrego is an Australian Aboriginal word from the Bidyara language, believed to mean "bad"and is also an Aboriginal term meaning "river of sand".

The name Warrego is an Australian Aboriginal word from the Bidyara language believed to mean "bad" and is also an Aboriginal term meaning "river of sand". Warrego means 'river of sand' in the Aboriginal language and was designed by the local Indigenous Bidjara people. The pathway is called ‘Wadyanana’ meaning ‘I’ll be walking around somewhere else when he comes.’

Acrylic on canvas, stretched and ready to hang. Signed certificate of authenticity. Kunja lands where I roamed as a child
 Where the red Volcanic Dirt meets with the Yellow Wattle
Cunnamulla ..... Big Waterhole
Eulo ......Montville Of The Outback
Augathella...... Camp on the waterhole

It was formerly common but is now rare to uncommon and patchily distributed over a range that has become markedly reduced. Usually seen in pairs or small flocks, seldom large flocks (up to 200). It has declined due to the destruction of forests and woodlands, also competition for nest hollows with native and exotic species, and the impact of fire. There are three subspecies of Red-tailed Black Cockatoo in Western Australia. Only the south-western population naso is listed as Vulnerable.

The Whale's AwakeningLong before there were men or animals in Australia, the only living things that had eyes to see the vast continent were the flocks of migratory birds. When they returned to their homeland they told the animals of the endless plains, the tree-covered mountains, the wide long rivers and the abundant vegetation of this delectable land. This created such excitement, so they all gathered from near and far and held a corroboree after which it was decided that they would all go to this new place to live. The problem was that the only vessel that was strong enough to hold them all at once was the one that belonged to the Whale and he would not lend his canoe to the animals. The animals decided to take the Whale's canoe by...

In Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, the Rainbow Serpent is associated with rituals of abundance and propagation in the natural world, and of fertility and well-being in human society. It has the power over life and death, bringing conception spirits to the water holes, but also punishing those who break traditional laws. Spirit of the Waterholes For Aboriginal people of the desert, the Rainbow Serpent lives in the waterholes of their country, and travels between them, either under the ground or in the storm clouds when a rainstorm is moving. His presence brings on the rains and if he is offended he can prevent the rains and cause drought or inundations that cause people to perish.

The emu in the sky. At the Elvina Engraving Site in the Kuring-Gai Chase National Park, Sydney, is an engraving of the emu in the sky, a constellation recognised by many Aboriginal groups across Australia, that is formed of dark clouds in the Milky Way, rather than the stars as in most constellations. When the constellation is above the carving in the rock the local Aboriginal People knew it was time to collect emu eggs. The head of the emu is the Coal Sack, the dark area near the Southern Cross, its neck passing through the stars called the pointers and the body is in the constellation of Scorpio. The male emu is of significance to the Aboriginal elders because like the male emu, that hatches its mate's eggs and the cares for the yo...

The emu in the sky. At the Elvina Engraving Site in the Kuring-Gai Chase National Park, Sydney, is an engraving of the emu in the sky, a constellation recognized by many Aboriginal groups across Australia, that is formed of dark clouds in the Milky Way, rather than the stars as in most constellations. When the constellation is above the carving in the rock the local Aboriginal People knew it was time to collect emu eggs. The head of the emu is the Coal Sack, the dark area near the Southern Cross, its neck passing through the stars called the pointers and the body is in the constellation of Scorpio. The male emu is of significance to the Aboriginal elders because like the male emu, that hatches its mate's eggs and the cares for the yo...

“Bohra The Kangaroo” Legend has it that there was a time in blackfellow land when the night came down like a black cloud and veiled the world in darkness letting neither moon nor stars be seen. But as Bohra liked to feed at night, he objected to this darkness. Being a great wirinun, he put an end to it by just rolling the darkness back as if it had been a rug and let it rest on the edge of the world while the stars and moon shone out. Bohra was very pleased with himself as he could now see to feed during the night and he could go about as he pleased on his four legs, for in those days Bohra went on all fours like a dog. One night as he was feeding, Bohra saw a number of fires ahead and heard sounds of many voices singing. As he got c...

Before there were animals there was only people. There was a man named Budgial, a man named Gunual, and they were both in love with a girl named Gugu. The turtle man, Budgial, his totem represented common sense and love. Because he loved Gugu, he brought her flowers and sweet fruits; he watched the sun go down with her, he listened to her talk and he held her. One day the girl was getting teased by a bunch of people. So she asked the Turtle man to go and frighten them. When the turtle went to fight, he befriended them. She wasn't happy with the outcome so she went to see Goanna man. The Goanna man’s totem is strength, power and greed. When she told the goanna man what had happened he went down to the river and he bashed them. T...

A Welcome to Country is a protocol where Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Traditional Owners welcome others to the land of their ancestors. The Welcome to Country ceremony is carried out at significant events and formal functions involving people from other parts of the country or from overseas. This practice shows respect for the Traditional Owners and Elders of a particular area or region.

Long ago back in the Dreamtime there was a very beautiful girl called Brolga. She was very young and the best dancer in the whole land as her dancing was so graceful and her movements so special. Now Brolga hadn't always been such a good dancer. When she was a very little girl she used to get up very early in the morning and creep out of the gunyah and onto the plains around her camp. Once there she would practice swooshing her arms like the Pelican, parading like the Emu and whirling like the wind. But Brolga didn't just do the old dances. She liked to make up new ones about the trees and the wind, dances about the Spirits and the animals. Soon 's dances became so good that other tribes would come from far away just to watch Brolga danc...

Closely associated with the serpent of the earth the water dragons are healers, warriors, and peace gathering clans. The water dragon is said to bring peace and unity where only war was before. Powerful spirit guides with knowledge of mother earth secrets and the wisdom of the ancients in their blood. Water dragons visit during dream time when all is quiet in the mind and the body is no longer a restriction. Dragon will guide you to astral journeys of knowledge and self-growth, protecting your travels and improving your communication with the spirit world.

THE GOANNA (Milbili) The perentie (Nintaka) agreed to decorate the goanna for a ceremony. The perentie was a good artist, who took great care with his work. So he painted the goanna with great care and skill, painting fine lines and dots over the goanna's body. When the paint had dried, he turned the goanna over and using the thinnest of brushes and the greatest of care, painted extremely fine lines on his belly. The Perentie became jealous of the goanna beautiful colours and pattens so the perentie cursed the goanna and said that from now on he must live in the branches of trees and take shelter in the tree hollows, while he would use the rocks as his home and shelter. Today, you can see the two keep to their own habitats, still wea...

ELDERS MEETING OF The Dreaming "The Dreaming" is the belief of many Aboriginal groups that Aboriginal people have been in Australia since the beginning. During this significant period the ancestral spirits came up out of the earth and down from the sky to walk on the land where they created and shaped its land formations, rivers, mountains, forests and deserts. These were created while the ancestors travelled, hunted and fought. They also created all the people, animals and vegetation that were to be a part of the land and laid down the patterns their lives were to follow. It was the spirit ancestors who gave Aboriginal people the lores, customs and codes of conduct, and who are the source of the songs, dances, designs, languages, ...

The Golden-shouldered Parrot is a totem species for the Olkola people of central Cape York Peninsula, with the bird known as ‘Alwal’ in Olkola language. This iconic bird was once seen in large flocks across the Cape, but now there are only around 2,000 individuals left in the wild, Olkola take their cultural responsibility to care for and protect Alwal for all posterity very seriously, with Alwal conservation activities identified as a priority in their Healthy Country Plan