| Bigambul people | |
|---|---|
| aka:Bigabul,Pikambul,Bigambal,Preagalgh,Wigal-wollumbul,Wee-n' gul-la-m' bul[1] | |
| Hierarchy[2] | |
| Language family: | Pama–Nyungan |
| Language branch: | Wiradhuric |
| Language group: | |
| Group dialects: | |
| Area (approx. 26,500 sq. km) | |
| Bioregion: | Northern Tablelands andBorder Rivers |
| Location: | New South Wales – Queensland border |
| Coordinates: | 28°10′S150°10′E / 28.167°S 150.167°E /-28.167; 150.167[1] |
| Rivers | |
| Other geological: | |
| Notable individuals | |
| Chris Sandow | |
TheBigambul people are anAboriginal Australian people of theNorthern Tablelands andBorder Rivers regions ofNew South Wales andQueensland.
In the traditional language, the name of this group is derived from the Bigambul wordbiga orpika which translates in English toyes. The Bigambul are bounded to the south–east by theNgarabal, theKamilaroi to the south, theKooma to the west, theMandandanji andKabi to the north, and theBaruŋgam to the north–east.
Norman Tindale ascribed to the Bigambul a traditional territory spreading over 26,500 square kilometres (10,200 sq mi) east ofNindigully, on theWeir andMoonie rivers, north toTara; atTalwood; on theMacintyre River from east ofBoomi toTexas; atYetman,Boggabilla, and atMiddle Creek.[1]
Source:Tindale 1974, p. 166
The Bigambul have acultural connection with the northern Kamilaroi people and these people regularly participated in joint ceremonies atBoobera Lagoon.[3]
TheAustralian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies states that theBigambul language was used by the Bigambul people, withGambuwal andKwiambal (or Gujambal) known dialects.[2]However, it is more likely that theGamilaraay (or Yuwaaliyaay) language was used by those peoples living in southern Bigambul territory.[5]
The Bigambul people actively opposed Europeancolonisation of their territory. From the early 1840s they mounted a 14–yearguerrilla campaign to expel the settlers. The Bigambul leadership understood the importance of economics in warfare and they specifically targeted horses and cattle rather than just the settlers themselves. The campaign was initially successful with 17 selections being abandoned in Macintyre region in 1843, of which only 13 were re-occupied when Europeans returned 3 years later. The economic war was so successful that it is recorded that one selection was making a loss of £150 per year until 1849. The tide of the campaign turned in 1848 when the Governor set aside £1000 to form theNative Police and appointedFrederick Walker to command them. Walker took the battle to the Bigambul, attacking them in their camps with his stated objective being their annihilation. By 1851 the economic war was effectively over, land values in the area doubled and the wages paid by settlers to employees were halved. Most of the work done on selections in the area was performed by Aborigines in return for food rations. By 1854 only 100 of the Bigambul people were left alive.[6]
On 23 February 2001 the Bigambul people lodged a successfulnative title claim over 24,188 square kilometres (9,339 sq mi) in South Western Queensland.[7]