Wonnarua
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Language
The origin of the Wonnarua language is unclear; however, linguists group closely related dialects together under the description "language of the Hunter River/Lake Macquarie" (HRLM). That term denotes the geographical location of the closely related dialects rather than the name of the language group. The area extends from north of the Hawkesbury–MacDonald River (HMR) language and south of the Lower North Coast language (LNC). Exact geographical locations of the language groups are, at this stage, speculative.
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Country
Their traditional territory, estimated to comprise an area extending over 2,000 square miles (5,200 km2), spreads from the Upper Hunter River above Maitland, west to the Great Dividing Range, towards Wollombi. The Wonnarua were bounded to the north by the Geawegal people, to the north–east by the Worimi peoples, to the south east by the Awabakal people, to the south by the Darkinung and to the west by the Wiradjuri people. The Wonnarua also had trade and ceremonial links with the Kamilaroi people.
People
The Wonnarua, at the beginning of contact with whites, are estimated to have numbered around 500.
The Gringai were a clan of the Worimi, whose traditional lands are in the Dungog area.
Native title
On behalf of the Plains Clans of the Wonnarua People, Scott Franks and Anor put in a native title claim on 19 August 2013. The document claimed rights over an area of roughly 9,500 square kilometres (3,700 sq mi), embracing the catchment zone within the Great Dividing Range, the Liverpool Range, and the major rivers coming out of the Barringtons, under Yango. The claim included Singleton, Muswellbrook, Dungog, Maitland, and the shire council lands of the Upper Hunter. The claim was registered in January 2015 and referred to the Federal Court to deliberate over the claim and to make a determination. However, it was ultimately discontinued and removed from the register of native title claims on 2 March 2020. The discontinuance appears to have been the result of disputes with other Aboriginal people who claimed native title in the area but in a different way and these disputes led to an independent anthropologist, Dr Lee Sackett, being appointed by the Court to prepare a report to resolve the different views of native title in the area. Dr Sackett's conclusions were to the effect that key details of the claim's structure were not supported by the evidence.
Notable Wonnarua people
- Jackey Jackey – a guide and companion to surveyor Edmund Kennedy.
- Charles Frederick Maynard - an activist
Alternative names
- Wannerawa
- Wonnah
- Wonnuaruah/Wonarua
Source: Tindale 1974, p. 201