{"id":109,"date":"2023-05-05T10:58:31","date_gmt":"2023-05-05T10:58:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/?page_id=109"},"modified":"2023-11-12T06:32:56","modified_gmt":"2023-11-12T06:32:56","slug":"yergamban-yilgamba","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/?page_id=109","title":{"rendered":"Yergamban &#8211; Yilgamba"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color wp-block-paragraph\">Yilgamba comes from our Mirning language <em>yer<\/em>, place and <em>gamban<\/em>, warm and is a warm camping or sleeping place by the fire, sheltered from the winds among the <em>youlbari<\/em>, sandhills. It is a great place of gathering for ceremonies and fishing is abundant. For <em>gabbie<\/em>, drinking water this is the main <em>gowie<\/em>, large water soak, though this is now covered by the drifting sands. Our word <em>Goonminyerra<\/em> is the base of our law given by <em>Jeedara<\/em> and means <em>goo-mera<\/em>, one <em>min<\/em>, Mirning friendly, caring people of this <em>yerra<\/em>, place of our dwelling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-9164a92c57c8b803a2bb668b7a19c785 wp-block-paragraph\">This is the heart of our Country for our Yerkala Mirning clan family who are the Whale and Dingo totem bloodline, the <em>Jeedara Djalyi<\/em>, Seafoam People of the <em>Billia<\/em>, Sea. A hundred years ago, it was Mickey Free Lawrie who continued this bloodline from Creation times and he was a great Marban Bai, Whale Songman and grandfather to our Senior Elders. He was known as <em>Thootha<\/em>, which means the boss dingo, and his main plant totem was <em>wanyiri<\/em>, which is the native currant or small <em>ngoora<\/em>, native grape. Both native grape and smaller native current grow together among the <em>youlbari<\/em>, sandhills of our coast and carry the salty-sweet taste of our Country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Aunty Dorcas Miller 2022\" width=\"950\" height=\"534\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mzNKjCXpU7A?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Please join Aunty Dorcas, visiting her home where she was born in 1938 at White Well near Yilgamba.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-a10af51da53927a9e3006d178e415da2 wp-block-paragraph\">Mickey Free Lawrie was a <em>Karajia<\/em>, a keeper of our ancient stories, which includes the great whale <em>Jeedara\u2019s<\/em> Creation of our Country. Mickey Free inherited this bloodline from his mother, Tabilya and followed in his learning lineage from his Uncle Jimmy, who was also known as Koolbiri and Jimmy Mailman. Uncle Jimmy is pictured here at White Well, our winter camp for Yilgamba. In turn, Mickey Free\u2019s son, Albert Lawrie, lived at White Well and this is where our oldest Elder, Aunty Dorcas Miller, was born in 1938. She holds the stories for our Women\u2019s Country to the East of Yilgamba. To the West, is Men\u2019s Country, where <em>Jeedara<\/em> continued on his Creation journey and these stories are held by Uncle Bunna Lawrie, our current <em>Karajia<\/em>, <em>Marban Bai<\/em> and Whale Songman. It is from Aunty Dorcas Miller and Uncle Bunna Lawrie that these Whale Dreaming stories are shared today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:35% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"646\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Koolbari-Uncle-Jimmy.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-187 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Koolbari-Uncle-Jimmy.jpeg 646w, https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Koolbari-Uncle-Jimmy-189x300.jpeg 189w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 646px) 100vw, 646px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-874925ddfdca949ee7e28ec02207522d wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:clamp(14px, 0.875rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.417), 18px);\">In his lifetime, Koolbari was recorded as an &#8220;Unhonoured Hero&#8221; in an article from 1912 and, when he passed, the Saturday Journal reported on 25 August 1923:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-8ebba027c201bb0cf418e56cb1885f94 wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:clamp(14px, 0.875rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.417), 18px);\"> &#8220;He was the Royal Mail between Fowlers Bay and Eucla for many years. He ran with the mail bags every fortnight from the Bay to Eucla, a distance of 280 miles, and returned during the following fortnight. He could do the journey in faster time than a man on horseback, owing, I presume, to his superior bushcraft, and his knowledge of reliable water supplies.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n<p><strong>Historical Records of our Family at Yilgamba<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>John Edward Eyre travelled through our Country in the early 1840\u2019s. Several of his diary entries have been given to us, as records about our ancestors and Country. For example, here he recorded our name <em>Yeer Kumban Kauwe<\/em> (Chapter XIII, 7 January 1841) and our name <em>gum-me-ra<\/em>, one, which also connects with our word <em>Goonminyerra<\/em> (Chapter VII, Dialects for The Head of the Great Australian Bight)<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:post-content --><!-- wp:paragraph -->Daisy Bates\u2019 fieldnotes include our <em>dhalyi<\/em> (<em>djalyi<\/em> ) family at Yilgamba (<em>Yergamban<\/em>) and Mickey Free Lawrie is recorded under his tribal name, <em>Thootha<\/em>. (Series 12 Section V 3b, Totems: Notes from the Eucla district, p.22.)<\/p>\n<p>Daisy Bates\u2019 archive includes an article called &#8220;<i>An unhonoured hero: Mailman Jimmy of the west coast<\/i>&#8221; in The Eyres Peninsula Methodist, Feb-April 1912. Including how \u201cin 1874 that Mounted-Constable Richards, then stationed at Fowler\u2019s Bay, persuaded two aboriginals to attempt the journey on foot, carrying the mailbags\u201d to and return from Eucla. The diaries of Mounted-Constable Richard\u2019s wife record the locals of Fowlers Bay, including Mailman Jimmy.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph -->There is a photograph of Uncle Jimmy, also known as Koolbiri and an article about him called <em>Mailman Jimmy <\/em>(Saturday Journal, 25 August 1923, p.17. 25)\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph -->Ernest Giles recorded that \u201cOld Jimmy\u2019s native name, by-the-way, was Nanthona\u201d, which is a European rendering of <em>Ngandatha<\/em>, a traditional name for the Mirning of the Nullarbor Plains. (Australia Twice Traversed, Book 3, Chapter 1.)<\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:image {\"id\":454,\"sizeSlug\":\"large\",\"linkDestination\":\"custom\"} --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wilderness.org.au\/environment-award-for-childrens-literature\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"419\" src=\"https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Karajia-Award-1024x419.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-454\" srcset=\"https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Karajia-Award-1024x419.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Karajia-Award-300x123.jpg 300w, https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Karajia-Award-768x314.jpg 768w, https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Karajia-Award-1536x629.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Karajia-Award-2048x838.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Karajia-Award-2000x819.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Click to read about the award and hear Uncle Bunna Lawrie announcing the 2022 winners.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><!-- \/wp:image --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Karajia Award for Children&#8217;s Literature<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>Today the Mirning Karajia are honoured through the naming of the <em>Karajia Award for Children\u2019s Literature<\/em>, which is awarded annually by the Wilderness Society during Book Week. The Karajia Award for Children\u2019s Literature celebrates excellence in children&#8217;s literature by Aboriginal or Torres Strait Island authors and\/or illustrators, who honour Connection to Country and tell stories exploring land, community, culture and language.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:buttons --><\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons\"><!-- wp:button {\"backgroundColor\":\"pale-cyan-blue\",\"className\":\"is-style-outline\"} --><\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-outline\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-pale-cyan-blue-background-color has-background wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/?page_id=31\">Back to Map<\/a><\/div>\n<p><!-- \/wp:button --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:button {\"backgroundColor\":\"pale-cyan-blue\",\"className\":\"is-style-outline\"} --><\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-outline\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-pale-cyan-blue-background-color has-background wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/?page_id=113\">Listen to Manarn<\/a><\/div>\n<p><!-- \/wp:button --><\/div>\n<p><!-- \/wp:buttons --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:image {\"id\":737,\"sizeSlug\":\"large\",\"linkDestination\":\"none\"} --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"324\" src=\"https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Small-Whale-Tail-1024x324.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-737\" srcset=\"https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Small-Whale-Tail-1024x324.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Small-Whale-Tail-300x95.jpg 300w, https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Small-Whale-Tail-768x243.jpg 768w, https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Small-Whale-Tail-1536x486.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Small-Whale-Tail-2048x649.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Small-Whale-Tail-2000x633.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<p><!-- \/wp:image --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:image {\"id\":335,\"sizeSlug\":\"large\",\"linkDestination\":\"none\"} --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Yilgamba-Sandhills-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-335\" srcset=\"https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Yilgamba-Sandhills-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Yilgamba-Sandhills-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Yilgamba-Sandhills-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Yilgamba-Sandhills-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Yilgamba-Sandhills-2048x1152.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Yilgamba-Sandhills-2000x1125.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<p><!-- \/wp:image --><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:image {\"id\":454,\"sizeSlug\":\"large\",\"linkDestination\":\"custom\"} --><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:image --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:image {\"id\":335,\"sizeSlug\":\"large\",\"linkDestination\":\"none\"} --><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:image --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:image {\"id\":737,\"sizeSlug\":\"large\",\"linkDestination\":\"none\"} --><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:image --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:image {\"id\":335,\"sizeSlug\":\"large\",\"linkDestination\":\"none\"} --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><\/figure>\n<p><!-- \/wp:image --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:buttons --><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:image --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:image {\"id\":737,\"sizeSlug\":\"large\",\"linkDestination\":\"none\"} --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><\/figure>\n<p><!-- \/wp:image --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:image {\"id\":335,\"sizeSlug\":\"large\",\"linkDestination\":\"none\"} --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><\/figure>\n<p><!-- \/wp:image --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yilgamba comes from our Mirning language yer, place and gamban, warm and is a warm camping or sleeping place by the fire, sheltered from the winds among the youlbari, sandhills. It is a great place of gathering for ceremonies and fishing is abundant. For gabbie, drinking water this is the main gowie, large water soak, &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/?page_id=109\" class=\"more-link\">Read more<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Yergamban &#8211; Yilgamba&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":110,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-109","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=109"}],"version-history":[{"count":47,"href":"https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1115,"href":"https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/109\/revisions\/1115"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whaledreaming.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}