Traditional Owners
The information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people contained in this site is based on material sourced from the websites and publications listed on the links and references page.
Who are the Traditional Owners of the Great Barrier Reef?
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are the two Indigenous groups of Australia. There are more than 70 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Traditional Owner groups that have long continuing relationships with the Great Barrier Reef region and its natural resources. The groups that express connections to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park are situated along the Queensland coast from the eastern Torres Strait Islands in the north to near Bundaberg in the south.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history
Aboriginal people are the first Australians and are widely recognised as the oldest civilisation in the world. Archaeological evidence of their presence across the continent dates back many thousands of years before the European colonisation of Australia, which occurred in 1788. As hunter-gatherers, Aboriginal people relied on plants, animals and the environment for their survival and so have a well developed knowledge about the natural world.
Torres Strait Islander people are sea-faring people who are related to the Melanesians of the south-west Pacific. Their homelands lie in the Torres Strait, which is located between the tip of Cape York Peninsula in northern Australia and Papua New Guinea to the north. It is here, north-east of Murray Island (Mer) in the Torres Strait, that the Great Barrier Reef begins. Traditional life on the islands involved hunting, fishing, gardening and trading. Food from the sea is still a valuable part of the economy, culture and diet of Torres Strait Islander people whose seafood consumption per person is amongst the highest in the world. In the past, Torres Strait Islander people traditionally sailed south along the Great Barrier Reef and Cape York Peninsula coastline and made contact with Aboriginal groups to exchange tools, culture and goods. More recently, Torres Strait Islander people have moved south to settle in towns near the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
Connections with the Great Barrier Reef
There are both similarities and differences between the ways Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups use the sea in their customary practices. Each group has their own distinctive culture and identity, and often within groups there are many more clans and kinship groups whose discrete characteristics further distinguish one from the other. Ancestors, languages and ceremonies can provide a link between coastal clan groups and their particular areas of land and sea country. Today trade networks, beliefs, music, art, laws and creation stories maintain a living culture. Published information about the connections that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have with the Great Barrier Reef can be found in Story Place.
Search Story Place
Groups with connections to the Great Barrier Reef
| Name | Region |
|---|---|
| Darnley Island groups | Eastern Torres Strait Islands and Northern Great Barrier Reef region |
| Murray Island groups | Eastern Torres Strait Islands and Northern Great Barrier Reef region |
| Gudang | Newcastle Bay region |
| Yadhaigana | Captain Billy Landing region |
| Wuthathi | Cape Grenville region |
| Kuuku Ya'u | Portland Road region |
| Kanthanumpun | Claude River region |
| Night Islands group | Night Island region |
| Umpila | Cape Sidmouth region |
| Lama Lama | Princess Charlotte Bay region |
| Ngulan people | Starke River region |
| Thiltharr clan | Hopevale region |
| Kuku Yalanji | Bloomfield/Daintree region |
| Yirrijandji people | Palm Cove region |
| Gimuy Yidinji | Cairns/Trinity Inlet region |
| Gurabana Gunggandji | Kings Beach region |
| Guru Gulu Gunggandji | Yarrabah region |
| Mandingalbai Yidinji | Cooper Point region |
| Lower Coastal Yidinji | Russell River region |
| Mamu people | Innisfail region |
| Djiru | Mission Beach region |
| Gulnay | Tully region |
| Girramay | Cardwell region |
| Bandjin | Hinchinbrook region |
| Warrgamay | Lucinda region |
| Nywaigi | Forest Beach region |
| Manbarra | Palm Island region |
| Wulgurukaba | Magnetic Island/Townsville region |
| Juru | Ayr region |
| Gia | Cape Upstart region |
| Ngaro | Whitsunday region |
| Wiri people | Mackay region |
| Yuibera people | Mackay region |
| Birri peoples | Mackay region |
| Barada Barna Kabalbara Yetimarla people | Sarina region |
| Koinjimal people | Broadsound region (as at March 2008 the Native Title land claim had been withdrawn and the Group is no longer a viable entity) |
| Dharumbal | Shoalwater Bay region |
| Woppaburra | Yeppoon region |
| Taribelang Bunda | Bundaberg region |
| Bailai | Gladstone region |
| Gurang Gurang | Town of 1770 region |
Related Links
- Learn more about the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority's (GBRMPA) research into the connections of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with the Great Barrier Reef
