Wiradjuri Nation: Beginning to Early Settlement, P.1

Caves at Hands on the Rocks, an Aboriginal sacred place near Mudgee.

Sacred Country
Wiradjuri Country  

Aboriginal tribes in Mudgee belonged to the Wiradjuri Nation, which extended from the Blue Mountain eastern ranges to the Lachlan and Murrumbidgee rivers in the west, with the Murray River forming the southern border and the Wellington plains and hills the northern border. About 7,000 Wiradjuri people lived in the Bathurst region, when it became the European ruling area and the first town settled west of the Blue Mountains.
 
At Bathurst in 1824, Governor Macquarie found the Wiradjuri a handsome people, truly ‘noble savages’ unaffected by civilized settlement. The governor found them peace loving, content, shy, gracious and having a certain uncivilized innocence as well as being inoffensive and clean in their person. He described the Wiradjuri people as being clothed in mantles made from the skins of opossums, neatly sewn together and the outside of the skin decorated with carvings.
 
The Wiradjuri nation was split and sub-split into many tribes. In Mudgee, the Mowgee clan extended over a 50km radius. The Mowgee women’s totem was the wedge tail eagle (Mullian) and the men’s totem the crow (Waggan). They settled around the Cudgegong River, using its resources for food, and water.
 
The Mudgee district holds many sacred Aboriginal sites and cave painting, some sites with evidence of tool making. Some of the better known and accessible sites include Hands on the Rocks; The Drip; Babyfoot Cave (more information following).
 
Many Mudgee districts were named after the local Wiradjuri tribal areas, including Mudgee itself (nest in the hills), Lue (Loowee, a chain of waterholes), Gulgong (a gully), Wollar (a rock water hole), Menah (flat country), Eurunderee (a local tree), Guntawang (a peaceful place), Cooyal (dry country), Wilbertree (a long switch), Gooree (native chasing live animal), Burrendong (darker than usual) The Aboriginal name of the Rylstone area was Combamolang.
 
Aboriginal people known to the explorer William Lawson, based in the Bathurst settlement, told him there was a fine country towards the north-west of Bathurst, which later became described as the ‘land of milk and honey’.
 
In 1821, James Blackman jnr and an Aboriginal guide called Aaron (Aaron’s Pass near Mudgee is named after this Aboriginal man), travelled

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Sources for The Wiradjuri Nation:

Healing the Land: A closer look at the needs of the Australian reconciliation movement   Vol 1 by Judith Monticone.  Published by Healing the Land 1999.

The Mudgee Guardian  January  25, 2001
Centenary of Federation feature  by Diane Simmonds, plus unpublished research. 

Historical information given  to author by local historian Laura Wallis and local resident Doug Rochester.

Apple Tree Flat: A Gateway to Mudgee
by Bob Pauling
for Mudgee Historical Society.
 
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