Yandina's first inhabitants

First Inhabitants

Aborigines have lived in Australia for more than 60 000 years.

Aborigines living in Yandina and district belonged to the Kabi language group which consisted of a number of tribes including the Nalbo, Kabi, Dallambara and Undanbi.

The Aborigines had a great wealth of knowledge about plants, animals, marine life and the seasonal changes in their area. Some of the animals that they hunted for food were the kangaroo, koala, echidna,wombat,snake, goanna, lizard and the many birds found in this region. There were many different kinds of insects as well as the fish, and shell fish found at the coast. Yams, nuts, seeds roots berries, water lily bulbs and stems added to the abundant food supplies found around the Yandina area. Every three years they would travel to the Blackall Range, to the Bunya Mountains to have a great feast and corroboree when the bunya nuts were in plentiful abundance. Exchanging of goods and information, initiations and corroborees took place.
For weapons , axes, spears, clubs, and boomerangs were used. Digging sticks were used as household items as were woven shoulder bags used to carry stones, knives, shells or fishing nets, fish traps, grinding stones and ropes.
Records show that the Aborigines helped the early timbergetters to find particular types of trees and they also showed the early explorers their own pathways used in their travelling from place to place. By doing this they did not realise that the early explorers would use these same path ways in the building of roadways and railways as the land was opened up to new settlers. Although there were some savage encounters with the new arrivals realtionships with the Aborigines and Europeans in this region were mostly good. However under 1897 Government Legislation Aborigines were sent to reserves on Stradbroke and Fraser Island.
There is the remains of a bora ring at Yandina Creek and many Aboriginal artifacts have been found in the area. There is also evidence of middens on the banks of the Maroochy River where the Aborigines had great feasts of shellfish.
There are many Aboriginal place names in this region as there are in many parts of Australia. Yandina means to go on foot - (yan go- dinna on foot) perhaps it was named when the tribal groups travelled to the Yandina Creek area on foot.

Back to Home Page

Go to Early Days