TIDE TURNING THE

WORDS BY LARINE STATHAM-BLAIR

There are about 5000 Aboriginal people in the Bundaberg Region today whose ancestors were the first people to inhabit the lands between Bundaberg and Port Curtis. For tens of thousands of years different tribes moved freely between these regions, sharing country. The tribes had close song lines and traded tools and food.

When you consider Bundaberg’s dark history, it’s remarkable we have any Aboriginal people left in our community today to share their beautiful culture and valuable knowledge. People were walked off country and taken to missions. They were massacred. Whole language groups were wiped out. Disease outbreaks also devastated the Aboriginal population.

These atrocities separated Aboriginal people from their country and culture, and caused great harm to the Gooreng Gooreng, Gurang, Taribelang Bunda and Bailai tribes. In 2011 the Native Title process brought them back together again; sharing land peacefully just as their ancestors once did.

Sadly, Aboriginal people continue to die much younger than non-indigenous people. In 2021, only 7.4 per cent of Aboriginal Bundaberg residents were over the age of 65, compared to 27.1 per cent of non-indigenous Bundaberg residents. Locally, 29.6 per cent of Aboriginal families have just one parent compared to 10.2 per cent in non-indigenous families, impacting the household income.

That’s what local organisations like Port Curtis Coral Coast Aboriginal Peoples Charitable Trust (PCCC) are working to change. In partnership with local Aboriginal elders and the business community, they’re creating opportunities for indigenous people to be strong, proud and empowered through cultural knowledge, quality education and economic participation.

Read more on pages 28 & 29.