Jumbulla
Kembla's shared Dharawal History
And that high place, Jumbullah,
that high, hunting place,
running with wallaby, fat possum,
quick, head back turkey.
That talking place, Jumbullah,
reedsong, honey song,
peewit and stone gecko,
tree frog and bright currawong...
Conal Fitzpatrick in KEMBLA THE BOOK OF VOICES 2002
YULUNGA (Welcome)
Mt Kembla and Mt Keira, pictured above in this 2016 Kevin Butler mural at Mt Kembla Public School, are important landmarks within the Illawarra landscape. The Illawarra is a coastal region within Dharawal country (sometimes spelt Tharawal), this country lies south and southwest of Sydney NSW, extending from the southern shores of Botany Bay (Kamay) to the northern bank of the Shoalhaven River and from the east coast, westward toward the eastern shores of the Wollondilly river system. The Illawarra or (Allowrie) region is bounded by a semi circular mountain range with a rich coastal plain, several lagoons, the most prominent of which is now known as Lake Illawarra, and the five islands just off the coast. Each family group or clan within Dharawal country identifies as: salt water people from the coastal areas; fresh water people of the local rivers; or bitter water people of the swamps and lagoons. Dharawal people have lived in the Illawarra for thousands of years and continue to do so, the Dreaming or "Alcheringa" explains the creation of the landscape, the plants and animals and the arrival of people to the area. These stories have been handed down for generations, and some of these were written by colonial visitors. The Alcheringa and songs contain the lessons of Dharawal society, how to behave in relation to each other and the environment. The people watch for signs from the plants, animals, land and sky observing six seasons (Bodkin, Bodkin Andrews: n.d.) and move throughout Dharawal country depending on these signs for harvesting seasonal foods, trading with neighbouring groups and gathering for ceremony.
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Kembla is believed to be derived from the word "Jum-bulla" or "Djenbella" which is how colonial Europeans recorded the name local people used to refer to the mountain. It is thought to mean a place of good hunting where the wallaby or "Djembla" can be hunted. Mt Keira is believed to come from the Dharawal word Djeera meaning wild turkey. Mt Kembla is the Dharawal men's mountain, a place of good hunting and initiation. "The face, hair and beard of an old Aboriginal man can be seen on Mount Kembla" (Rita Timbery-Bennett 2004:46). Mt Keria is known as the women's mountain, a teaching place. In Alcheringa Mt Kembla (Djenbella) and Mt Keira (Djeera) are sisters. Aboriginal artist Julie Freeman captures the sisters and the landscape in her superb woodblock print "Ghera and Kembla' 2009 in the collections of the Art Gallery of NSW.
Another story associated with the mountain is that a Doolagah (or bigfoot) family live in the mountain. The Doolagah could be a menace to the people and would warn them telepathically that they were in the wrong area (Illawarra Mercury 14.3.2009 Jodie Duffy).
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Captain Cook described Mt Kembla as looking like the crown of a hat and so it was known by early Europeans as Hat Hill. Since they first observed the area from the sea, they referred to the Illawarra as The Five Islands and subsequently the Dharawal people that lived here as the Five Islands Tribe. The first contact in 1770 between Europeans on the Endevour and the Dharawal people of Botany Bay was unwelcome. The Aboriginal people made their intentions clear, their first recorded words were “Wirra, Wirra, wai” [Go away!]". There can be no mistake that they were misunderstood as Captain Cook recorded "all they seem'd to want was us to be gone" (Organ 2014). The English came back though in 1788, this time with boats full of convicts dismissing Aboriginal people as wildlife and affording no respect in terms of treaty or permission to settle on country. The invaders simply took and occupied. Any resistance on the part of the the traditional owners was met with swift, cruel and indiscriminate punishment (Organ 2014). This time in Australia's history has come to be known as the Australian Frontier Wars (Connor 2002).
Escaped convicts and explorers soon made their way from Sydney to the Illawarra following ancient Aboriginal tracks. Timber getters in search of valuable Red Cedar arrived circa 1810, and Charles Throsby looking for feed for his cattle was led to the Illawarra by Aboriginal guides. These were followed by land hungry men and the Illawarra began to be carved up in lots by the colonial rulers. No thought whatever was given to the original occupants of this land. By the 1830s to 40s Dharawal country at the foothills of Mt Kembla was reached, occupied and converted into farms. One of Mt Kemba's earliest white residents, Robert James (b 1834 in Berkley) who arrived as a nine year old at American Creek circa 1843 recalled a Dharawal camp at Mount Kembla. The ninety year old's recollections were recorded in the local newspaper: "Mr. James remembers well when the blacks were in considerable numbers at Mount Kembla. A camp of about 100 of the race was situated on the banks of American Creek, near the bottom of the present Mount Kembla incline" (Illawarra Mercury 16.5.1924). The area could today be identified as at the bottom of Benjamin Road along Kirkwood Place, Mount Kembla.
In the Cordeaux River area Europeans settled from the 1850s. Another Dharawal camp ground site handed down in early pioneer stories to Cordeaux River resident Jack McNamara (1922 - 2004) was said to have been located at the "sandbanks at the junction of the Goondarin Creek and Cordueax River". This camp now lies beneath the waters of Cordeaux dam. McNamara believed it to have been a stop over camp on the ancient Aboriginal routes connecting the coast through the Cordeaux River valley to the inland Bargo area (McNamara 2007:10). John McNamara lived his whole life in the Cordeaux River Valley and composed beautiful poetry about his home, in a stanza of one entitled "At the Old Camping Ground" he writes:
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"... Despoiled are the lands, dispersed are the bands,
And new creeds their custom replace,
Yet, though reality fades, still a thousand decades
will never their footprints efface."
John Leo McNamara OAM (Post) in LIFE AT CORDEAUX RIVER 2007
To Dharawal people the whale (burri burri) is a sacred totem and features in the Alcheringa along with the starfish (coonagong) and the koala (currillwa). Robert Hamilton Mathews published the story he called "Arrival of the Thurrawal Tribe in Australia" which is known locally as the Gan-man-gang or Billen Billen story about the creation of Windang Island and the arrival of the first people (Folklore of the Australian Aborigines 1899). W.B. Clarke notes in his 1840 diary that "many of them go so far as to address a whale or other great fish as their Uncle, Father, etc., and call them to come on shore with them" (Organ 2016). Whale Cave at the back of Mt Kembla in the Cordeaux River area is a sacred site with a large depiction of the whale along with 200 other motifs and animals in black, white, yellow and red ochre. The cave with its art gallery became a favourite picnic and camping spot of the early pioneering families. Jack McNamara tells that in the early days this cave was known as "Andrews Cave" as it was near the Andrews family home. Others knew the cave as "the cave with a whale in it" or "the cave of the Big Fish" (McNamara 2002:31). Tragically, Europeans have had a negative impact on this sacred place, firstly by souveniring all the artefacts still present when pioneers first took possession of these lands; then McNamara reports that the installation of a high tension Power Transmission Line over the cave cleared the site and exposed it to the elements in the 1960s; and finally mining subsidence in the late 1970s cracked the shelf allowing water to ingress eroding the ancient pigments. The cave was fenced off and props added to try to support the roof from collapsing. Today the cave is within the Sydney Water Catchment (SWC) special area, a no go zone with hefty fines for trespass. As it is a sacred Aboriginal site, apart from permission from SWC, all people must first also seek the permission of Dharawal elders to visit the area. "No human effort could possibly restore this priceless piece of native art to its former grandeur" (McNamara 2007:31).
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At the foothills of Mt Kembla, on the banks of the American Creek stood an ancient fig tree, a lone remnant of the rain forest. This tree gave the present day suburb of Figtree, NSW its name as it was considered a landmark and freak of nature by early visitors to the Illawarra (Illawarra Mercury 16.10.1867). The tree was highly significant to Dharawal people as it was one of several birthing trees used by the women of the Illawarra. The newborn baby would be placed in the folds of the roots, the creek provided clean fresh water to wash the baby and the new mother would sing the welcome song while breast feeding. Queen Emma Timbery (c. 1842-1916) is said to have given birth to some of her children under this tree. "No man would ever go there" said Rita Timbery-Bennett. The Rev. W. B. Clarke on his visit the Illawarra in January 1840 writes in his diary "The road leaves that over Keira to the right, then descends to country much like the coal district of England - through a woody region to Charcoal Creek, which is bridged by palm trees, passing an enormous fig-tree, at the foot of which old Timbery, a black, was born, and which his people venerate" (Organ 2016). The tree features in many early photos of the 1900s and survived almost to the end of the century. Attempts were made to cut out diseased areas and support the tree with brick and concrete, but it slowly died, the last traces removed in 1996. A cutting was taken from the old tree and replanted in the same area where it is growing today.
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In the intervening years, the First Nations people of the Illawarra and Australia have faced many more trials and injustices: from the heartbreak caused by the Stolen Generations, to being forcibly moved from place to place and subjected to discriminatory laws, to the vandalism and continued disrespect shown to sacred sites, and witnessing the destruction of their beloved country. Today First Nations people continue to advocate to right the wrongs of the past and present, to be legally acknowledged as Australia's first people and for sovereignty of their country, in short to be considered and part of the conversations at all levels.
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Reference and suggested reading:
Kembla Jottings Dharawal Album
Aboriginal women's heritage - Wollongong June 2004
BODKIN, Frances and BODKIN ANDREWS, Gawaian, D'harawal Perpetual Calendar, no date
BODKIN Frances Bitterwater Woman, D'harawal dreaming stories - Stories my mother told me
BOM Indigenous Weather Knowledge - Dharawal Calendar
BURSILL, Les, A Collection of Dharawal Words Phrases, Tree fern and Tree Names, 2014
CONNOR, John, The Australian frontier wars 1788-1838, University of New South Wales Press, Sydney, 2002
DAVIS, Joe Who came down with Dr Charles Throsby 2006
Dendrobium Area 3 Archaeological and Cultural Heritage Assessment 2007
Submission on the strategic review of the impacts of underground mining in the Southern Coalfield 30 July 2007 Department of Environment and Climate Change
DHARAWAL - The story of the Dharawal Speaking People of Southern Sydney
McNAMARA, John Leo, 'Life at Cordeaux River' 2nd Ed. 2007
MATHEWS, Robert Hamilton, Folklore of the Australian Aborigines, 1899
ORGAN, Michael, Illawarra and South Coast Aborigines 1770-1850 1990
ORGAN, Michael, Illawarra and South Coast Aborigines 1770-1900 1993
ORGAN Michael, The Rev. W.B. Clarek's visit to Wollongong 1839-1840, 2016
ORGAN Michael, Landscape Art of the Illawarra Region of New South Wales 1770-1990, 2006
ORGAN Micahel, Secret Service: Governor Macquarie’s Aboriginal War of 1816, 2014
The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser Sat 4 Jan 1817 - Cheifs declared at Parramatta by Governor Macquarie
Signs in situ at Morton Bay Figtree Park, NSW
Wollongong City Council Mt Kembla Suburb Profile, 2016
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Dharawal country history in pictures
 Mt Kembla and Mt Keira with Dharawal people on the shores of Tom Thumb's Lagoon, 9th of July 1835, drawn by Conrad Martens. By this stage Europeans had been in the Illawarra for 20-25 years and began claiming lands further west into the escarpment and foothills of Mt Kembla. From the collection of the State Library of NSW. |  Tom Thumb Lagoon landscape with Dharawal people in a canoe in the foreground circa 1817-1840, Watercolour, attributed to Edward Charles Close (1790-1866), a soldier, engineer, magistrate, member of the Legislative Council, and settler in Morpeth, though there is currently some doubt as to if he visited the Illawarra at all (Dr. Joseph Davis 2017 p.c.). From the collections of the State Library of NSW. |  Europeans used long established Aboriginal traveling routes to penetrate the Illawarra. One of these traversed the Cordeaux River Valley to reach the inland areas of Bargo. Augustus Earle's Daybreak on the Illawarra Mountains was painted in 1827. From the collections of the National Library of Australia |
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 This beautiful watercolour "Entrance to Illawarra Lake from the sea" with Mt Kembla in the distance was painted between 1840 & 1846 by Robert Marsh Westmacott. From the collection of the National Library of Australia. |  The Dharawal people used possum skin cloaks (Wollungar) for warmth and bedding. The use and manufacture of these was replaced with government issued blankets by the late 1800s. This led to many deaths through influenza as the blankets were not wind and water proof nor as warm as the possum skins. "Moureet Five Islands" John Rae - portraits of Australian Aborigines, 1842. Pencil drawing and watercolour mounted on card. From the collection of the State Library of NSW |  Mt Keira from Tom Thumb Lagoon NSW circa 1847 - a watercolour by John Skinner Prout based on a pencil sketch he made on the 1st of January 1844. The Dharawal woman looks like she is wearing a government issued blanket instead of a possum skin cloak. From the collection of the National Library of Australia. |
 Natangle/Menangle who was given the English name of William Darby was recorded in colonial government blanket returns. He is listed on the very first return dated 1834 as 25 years old with one wife. In 1838 he is 30 years old and living in Dapto, the last we hear of him is in the 1842 list (Organ 1990) and this portrait dated that same year. The portrait by John Rae, depicts him as "Chief of the Illawarra". From the collections of the Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW. |  "At Illawarra, their huts were made by setting two forked sticks upright, on which another was laid horizontally ; on the latter, one end of pieces of bark, taken from the nearest gum tree, is laid, while the other end rests upon the ground. A fire is built on the open side, which not only warms them, but keeps off the myriads of mosquitoes and other insects. As many as can enter such a hut take shelter in it, lying upon the soft bark of the ti tree." American Exploration Expedition 1840. |  "The performers are seen advancing in the guise of skeletons. This effect is produced by means of pipe-clay...The music consists of beating time on their shields, and singing, and to it the movements of the dancers conform... This action continues... and then the skeletons suddenly seem to vanish and reappear. The disappearance is effected by merely turning round, for the figures are only painted on the front. The trees illuminated by the fire". Drawn by American artist A.T. Agate January 1840 |
 On the banks of American Creek, at the foothills of Mt Kembla, in the suburb of Figtree stood an ancient fig tree, that was a remnant of the rainforest. This tree was an Aboriginal birthing place. Timbery is said to have been born under this tree and his daughter-in-law Queen Emma Timbery gave birth to several of her children there also. The place where the tree stood has been marked by a mosaic at the Morton Bay Figtree Park. Hall & Co image c. 1900 from the State Library of NSW |  Timbery was born under the ancient fig tree circa 1784. He is part of the first generation of Dharawal making contact with the invaders. He is named in government blanket returns for the Illawarra and in Rev W.B. Clarke's diary in 1840. This portrait was taken by French artist Jacques Arago in 1819 while the vessel Uranie was in Sydney. His descendants continue to live on Dharawal land to this day. Image from the collections of the Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW. |  Timbery (1784-1840) was given this breastplate at a gathering of Aboriginal people in Parramatta by Governor Macquarie in 1816. It declared Timbery to be "Chief of the Five Islands". The gorget was later lost in the sand dunes of La Perouse and not rediscovered until 1921. Is it any wonder it was lost when Timbery received this gift just months after Macquarie waged a secret war against Aboriginal people, ordering their death or capture. From the Collections of the Australian Museum |
 'Throwing the spear' by John Heaviside Clark 1786-1808 From the collections of the National Library of Australia |  This boomerang was found 60 cm below ground at Cudgee Crescent, Mount Kembla by Timothy Bates in 1998. The boomerang is 60 cm long with a width of 5.6 cm. It was described by University of Wollongong archaeologist Diana Wood Conroy on the 27th of July 2009 and handed to Elder Reuben Brown at a Welcome to Country ceremony later in 2009. It is now displayed at the NPWS Minnamurra Falls reserve. Image courtesy of Graham Bartholomew |  Mount Kembla, the Dharawal people's hunting ground was abundant with game such as possums, Wonga pigeons, bush turkey and wallaby (dejembla). Shy wallabies can still be found on Mount Kembla if you are quiet enough. Photo by G. Element 2015. |
 Long after the Dharawal's lands were occupied by Europeans, remnants of Aboriginal lives remained: sharpening and grinding groves on rock faces, shelters with rock art and artifacts left behind. When John Benjamin purchased his 33 acres on the south side of Mt Kembla in 1905, he was shown to this special Aboriginal shelter. Sadly it was disturbed by Army bulldozers building a tank trap in 1942. In the wreckage, John Benjamin discovered a stone axe. Image & information courtesy of Noel Murray |  Stone tools found by John Benjamin on his property on the southern slopes of Mount Kembla near a rock shelter. The smaller one was found in 1908, the larger one after disturbance to the shelter by the army in 1942. Image and information courtesy of Noel Murray (grandson of John Benjamin). |
Page last updated 15.3.2019