Author: hootiejo

Aboriginal people have lived in the Gold Coast region for thousands of years. The area from Logan River in the north, to Tweed Heads in the south and west to Beaudesert was inhabited by the Yugambeh people. There were 8 clans or tribes that lived on the land of the Yugambeh area.
Indigenous Australians have always had a deep spiritual connection to the land. For them a sacred place could be a river or lake, beaches or bays, hills or mountains. It could be ceremonial grounds, rock art or engraving or places that were used for gathering together to carry out cultural practices. The Yugambeh people were hunters, gathers and fishers and lived off ‘the land’. The basis of their culture was to respect the land, understand the land, honour the land and to belong to the land. Long before European settlers arrived Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people had traditional names that for their sacred places. Many of the current place names on the Gold Coast had their origins in Aboriginal culture.
Few significant traditional sites exist today on the Gold Coast. The Kombumerri people have a burial ground at a site at Broadbeach and there is a bora ring site , the Jebbribillum an area around the headland at Burleigh Heads which is a significant to Kombumerri people and the Yugambeh people. The bora ring is used for initiation ceremonies, corroborees (dance ceremony) and other gatherings. The ring is said to symbolise the fighting waddy (club) of Jabreen, the great creator spirit of the Yugambeh.

Coomera	From the word Kumera meaning blood or vein and refers to the flowing river - the life source of the surrounding lands.
Pimpama	From the word Peempeema meaning place of the Pee Wee bird
Coombabah	Place of Cobra Worm or home of the turtles
Clagiraba	From Kalagareebah which mean’s single men’ ground - a traditional place young aboriginal men were taken to before marriage
Carrara	Meaning Long Flat
Tugun	Meaning sea waves

Yugambeh clan names

The Yugambeh people were made up of 8 clans. Use the map to match the current suburb names to the traditional clan name.
List five places that could be considered sacred by Indigenous Australians. _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________
Why is having a connection to the land so important for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders? ________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________

4. The Yugambeh culture is based on their connection to the land. Based on our understanding of Aboriginal people’s connection to land what do you think they mean by ’respecting the land, understanding the land, honouring the land, and belonging to the land’? __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________
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5. Compare the traditional Aboriginal connection to land to your connection with your home. Explain why the land was important to them and why your home is important to you.

Pimpama	Gugingin
Southport	Birinburra
Woongoolba	Mununjali
Rathdowney	Kombumerri
Numinbah	Bullongin
Bilinga	Wangerriburra
Jimboomba	Minjungbal
Canungra	Migunberri

Aboriginal connection to land	Your connection to your home