Gugu Badhun People

Gugu Badhun people are the original inhabitants of the area known as the Upper Burdekin region of North Queensland. Our oral histories link us to ancient geological events which western scientists estimate to have occurred approximately 7000 years ago.

The Gugu Badhun people have maintained an ongoing connection to the land known as yarygugubadhungu (Gugu Badhun country). Gugu Badhun people have experienced colonisation and dispossession from land, but their story is a story of achievement in the face of adversity.

The first European contact with Gugu Badhun people was Ludwig Leichhardt's exploratory party in 1845, making Gugu Badhun the first inland Aboriginal nations in Northern Australia to encounter Europeans. The explorers were followed, in the 1860s, by Native Police who attempted to violently "clear out" Gugu Badhun country to make way for settlers. The scrubby landscape meant that Gugu Badhun were able to resist these incursions for approximately 20 years. Eventually though,whilst many Gugu Badhun people were removed off country to reserves and missions under Queensland’s Aboriginal Protection Act [1897] many Gugu Badhun people "came in" and worked on cattle stations. Contemporary Gugu Badhun people maintain strong relationships with pastoral families in the region.

In the 1940s, many Gugu Badhun people who had remained on country decided to move to the nearby towns and cities for education and employment opportunities.

Today, members of the Gugu Badhun community live on Gugu Badhun country and the surrounding regional towns and cities. Gugu Badhun people gather on country annually for a Culture Camp which reinforces community ties, connection to country, and cultural values. Like all identities, the Gugu Badhun identity has evolved since before contact with Europeans, but Gugu Badhun people strongly identify with their culture, country, and community.

Language

Gugu Badhun is considered, alongside our southern neighbours Gudjal and northern neighbours Warrangu, to be a dialect of the Warrongo subgroup of Greater Maric.

Warrongo (or War(r)ungu) is an Australian Aboriginal language, one of the dozen languages of the Maric branch of the Pama–Nyungan family. Gugu Badhun meaning in itself ‘proper speech, is the language of the Gugu Badhun people of the Valley of Lagoons and Upper Burdekin Region of North Queensland.

Linguists Peter Sutton and Tasuku Tsunoda have worked with native speakers to preserve the Gugu Badhun language. Thanks to their efforts of Gugu Badhun people, the language is beginning to be revived as Gugu Badhun people are engaged in a number of language revitalisation projects.