History
Clement Hodgkinson was the first European to make contact with the local Aboriginal community when he explored the upper reaches of the Nambucca and Bellinger Rivers in March 1841. Three decades later, loggers began to work their way up through the Orara River cedar stands in the 1870s. Over c.1873-1874, J.W. Lindt produced photographs of local indigenous people both in their environment and conducting actual traditional ceremonies in the Clarence River district,[1][2] and made portraits in his studio.[3] Contemporary commentary records them as "the first successful attempt at representing the native blacks truthfully as well as artistically."[4] The Sydney Morning Herald, of 24 November 1874 expanded on what made the photographs attractive to Europeans:
There is no settled portion of our colony which affords a better field for the study of aboriginal bush life than that presented by our northern rivers, for there – although decreasing yearly in numbers as their territories become more settled upon by white population – the local original inhabitants preserve their customs and traditions, adhering more closely to true aboriginal life than tribes in other districts of New South Wales, and Mr Lindt can be complimented upon the artistic use he has made of the rugged subjects he has had at his disposal.[5]
The report clearly sets out a cynical nostalgia for the traditional ways of these people made sentimental by noting their 'decreasing numbers', expressing a common attitude amongst the colonists that the Indigenous populations were doomed.[6] However, the individuals in Lindt's group portraits and their clans and languages (Gumbaynggirr and Bandjalung),[6] are not named, the 'scenery' is generic, and the accessories not those of the people depicted.[7][8]
In clearing the land, the loggers opened up the prospect of selectors to squat on the tribal territories in the early 1880s.[9][10] Soon after, in that same decade, a shepherd was murdered in the area and a hunting party was dispatched to exact revenge, resulting in the Red Rock Massacre.[11] The slaughter started at Blackadder Creek where the Gumbaynggirr were camping. Mounted troopers entered the camp and began shooting. Those who fled were tracked down to the Corindi Creek where more were shot. Those who survived were driven to the headland and herded off the rocks into the sea. The hunters kept shooting at the swimmers, but some hid in a cave and made their way to Corindi Lake further south.[12][13] One of the survivors was the present day elder Tony Perkins' grandmother, who crouched down in a thicket of bulrushes with a child in her arms.[12]
After a court battle lasting two decades, the Gumbaynggirr claim to much of the reserve around the site in 2014 was confirmed by the New South Wales Land and Environment Court.[14]
Many Aboriginal reserves and missions were established in NSW by the Aboriginal Protection Board. This resulted in relocation of Aboriginal people from their ancestral homes, only to be returned later after years of trauma (the Stolen Generations)[citation needed]
The Gumbaynggirr have the largest midden-shell deposit in the Southern Hemisphere.[citation needed]
