Kooma
TheKoomaare a contemporary aggregation ofIndigenous Australianpeoples descending from tribes living in the border region ofQueenslandandNew South Wales.They are descendants of theKoamu.
Country
[edit]Contemporary Kooma people state their forebears lived upstream from, and to the east of, theKunja,along parts ofNebine Creekand theCulgoa River.[1]They call this areayumba,literally "camp"[2]but now bearing the broader sense of "home",[3]and theMurra murra stationis of particular importance to them. Other tribes in this area, which more broadly encompasses the area beyond the middle reaches of the Nebine to take in theWarrego,Paroo,BullooandWilsonrivers, were theBitjara,Kalili,WangkumaraKunggariandMuruwari.[2]
A special remote sitting of theFederal Court of Australiaon Kooma country, at the Shire Hall inBollon,south-west Queensland, marked the successful resolution of the Kooma people's claim for native title with a consent determination hearing.
The Kooma People's determination spans an area approximately 2,950 square kilometres in the south-west region of Queensland, and falls within the Maranoa, Balonne, Murweh and Paroo local government regions. This country includes the Bendee Downs and Murra Murra pastoral properties; and also includes other areas around Bollon. Bordering the town to of Wyandra at the north-west, spanning south to the Culgoa River, and east-west from Wideegoara Creek to Belingra. The area is of strong cultural, spiritual and historical significance for the Kooma People, and has been the focus of the Kooma People’s struggle for native title recognition.[4]
People
[edit]According to one Kooma tradition, there was one group among them, taller and of lighter skin, who appeared to have an Asiatic appearance.[1]According to folk traditions, in the 1880s a German scientist was fascinated by a group of Kooma who were hairless, and wished to collect from them skin samples for examination. The clan refused, and yet a Kooma corpse was later reported to have been shipped back to Berlin.[5]
Mythology
[edit]Thedreamtimein Kooma lore was calledMatya Mundu.One tale relates how the rainbow serpent as it slithered along the Warrego River, dug out waterholes and populated them withyellow-belly,catfish,and cod.[5]
Notes
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^abWharton 2011,p. 129.
- ^abMemmott 2007,p. 250.
- ^Horwitz 2010,p. 42.
- ^"Native Title Determination Details".
- ^abHorwitz 2010,p. 44.
Sources
[edit]- Horwitz, Tony (2010).One for the Road.Knopf Doubleday.ISBN978-0-307-76302-0.
- "Kooma People's Native Title Consent Determination"(PDF).2014.
- Memmott, Paul (2007).Gunyah, Goondie + Wurley: The Aboriginal Architecture of Australia.University of Queensland Press.ISBN978-0-702-23245-9.
- Wharton, Herb (2011).Yumba Days.University of Queensland Press.ISBN978-0-702-24471-1.