The Gunai or Kurnai nation is one of the Aboriginal nations of Australia.
It is made up of five major clans:
- Bratowooloong people in South Gippsland. From Cape Liptrap and Tarwin Meadows east to mouth of Merriman Creek; inland to about Mirboo; at Port Albert and Wilson's Promontory.
- Brayakuloong people around the current site of Sale. Providence Ponds, Avon and Latrobe rivers; west of Lake Wellington to Mounts Baw Baw and Howitt.
- Brabuwooloong people in Central Gippsland. Mitchell, Nicholson, and Tambo rivers; south to about Bairnsdale and Bruthen.
- Tatungoloong people near Lakes Entrance on the coast. Along Ninety Mile Beach and about Lakes Victoria and Wellington from Lakes Entrance southwest to mouth of Merriman Creek, also on Raymond Island in Lake King.
- Krauatungalung people near Snowy River. Cape Everard (Point Hicks) to Lakes Entrance; on Cann, Brodribb, Buchan, and Snowy rivers; inland to about Black Mountain.
The Gunai/Kurnai nation bordered on the lands of the Bidawal people to the east around Cann River and Mallacoota. The Kulin Nation occupied lands to the west, where Melbourne now stands.
Evidence of human occupation at Cloggs Cave, near Buchan , has been dated at up to 17,000 years, although human occupation may extend for up to 40,000 years.
Creation Story
It is told that the first Gunai came down from the north west mountains, with his canoe on his head. He was known as Borun, the pelican. He crossed the Tribal River (where Sale now stands) and walked on into the west to Tarra Warackel (Port Albert). He heard a constant tapping sound, as he walked, but could not identify it. At the deep water of the inlets Borun put down his canoe and discovered, much to his surprise, there was a woman in it. She was Tuk, the musk duck. He was very happy to see her and she became his wife and the mother of the Gunai people.
Resistance to European settlement
The Gunai people resisted the European invasion of their land. It is extremely difficult to ascertain the numbers killed in the guerilla warfare undertaken, or the numbers who died in the massacres that were inflicted upon the Gunai by the superior weaponry of the Europeans. A partial list from letters and diaries for an exhibition called Koorie, mounted by the Museum of Victoria in 1991, included:
- 1840 - Nuntin- unknown number killed by Angus McMillan 's men
- 1840 - Boney Point - "Angus McMillan and his men took a heavy toll of Aboriginal lives"
- 1841 - Butchers Creek - 30-35 shot by Angus McMillan's men
- 1841 - Maffra - unknown number shot by Angus McMillan's men
- 1842 - Skull Creek - unknown number killed
- 1842 - Bruthen Creek - "hundreds killed"
- 1843 - Warrigal Creek - between 60 and 180 shot by Angus McMillan and his men
- 1844 - Maffra - unknown number killed
- 1846 - South Gippsland - 14 killed
- 1846 - Snowy River - 8 killed by Captain Dana and the Aboriginal Police
- 1846-47 - Central Gippsland - 50 or more shot by armed party hunting for a white woman supposedly held by Aborigines; no such woman was ever found
- 1850 - East Gippsland - 15-20 killed
- 1850 - Murrindal - 16 poisoned
- 1850 - Brodribb River - 15-20 killed
In 1863 Rev Friedrich Hagenauer established Rahahyuck Mission on the banks of the Avon River near Lake Wellington to house the Gunai survivors from west and central Gippsland. The mission sought to discourage all tribal ritual and culture. The Mission closed in 1908 and the few remaining residents were moved to Lake Tyers.
References
- Gippsland Massacres: The Destruction of the Kurnai tribes 1800-1860 by P.D. Gardiner, 2001, Ngarak Press, ISBN 1875254110
- Our Founding Murdering Father: Angus McMillan and the Kurnai tribe by P.D. Gardiner, 1990, Ngarak Press, ISBN 1875254013
- Through Foreign Eyes: European perceptions of the Kurnai Tribes of Gippsland by P.D. Gardiner, 1994, Ngarak Press, ISBN 1875254137
- The language of the Kurnai Tribes of Gippsland by P.D. Gardiner, 1996, Ngarak Press, ISBN 1875254196
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