Culture on Country
Wailwan and Gamilaroi people are strong and determined, surviving many challenges of European settlement.
We take pride in caring for family and our community, celebrating our strengths as we support one another through hardships.
We have a strong spiritual connection to this land. This connection to Country is our identity and our belonging.
Our ancestors taught us the way of living on Country, leaving a library of knowledge for future generations. When we touch the ground we can hear and feel their presence, connecting us with them.
This land where we live, hunt and gather on is our home. It is teeming with Dreaming and archaeological sites, waterholes, burial sites, carved and scarred trees, artifacts, Bora and ceremonial grounds, Baiame and Sky Stories, and many natural resources like bush tucker and bush medicines.
We are the oldest living culture on the earth. We pay our respects to our Elders past and present as we look to the future.
Coonamble and its surrounding districts are home to many culturally significant items, such as scarred trees, bora grounds, artefacts, and burial grounds. Many of these items can be found along the Castlereagh River. These places and items hold significant value to the local community.
Artistic Traditions
A Cultural Practice
The Wailwan people have a unique and particular style of art. The powerful designs were used in cultural ceremonies, carved into tree trunks or sculpted into sand and hard clay.
Modern Connection
The linework design featured on the bird sculptures and town entrance signs at Coonamble, Gulargambone and Quambone, are contemporary representations of traditional Wailwan designs. It is the work of Coonamble-born, internationally acclaimed artist Kevin 'Sooty' Welsh.
Tin Town
Aboriginal people lived in Tin Town/The Island during the ‘protectionist’ era in Coonamble.
As the name implies, most people lived in makeshift huts or gunyahs that were constructed from sheets of corrugated iron, bark, wood, and leaves.
Tin Town existed from the early 1900s until the last family left The Island in 1978.
Sharing a Wailwan Story
Sharing a Wailwan Story is an education kit that provides a rare insight into the culture of the Wailwan people.
This education kit accompanies an exhibition at Quambone that is made up of six graphic panels, two albums of 31 photos and a short video of Wailwan songs. The stories and songs can be heard at the Coonamble Visitor Information and Exhibition Centre.
The focus of the exhibition is the photos of Aboriginal people taken in 1898 on Wailwan land, near the Macquarie River. They are on land near Quambone, at a camp and a bora (ceremonial) ground.
The original glass-plate negatives, from which the photos were printed, became part of the Powerhouse Museum collection in 1984. In 1995, the Powerhouse initiated a project of consultation about this cultural material with both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities in the region.
Bora ceremonies were very important for trading, and to pass on cultural knowledge. Many of the ceremonies included neighbouring tribes, often involving the Gamilaroi and Wiradjuri people. The Quambone area is still home to bora grounds, burials, and many artefacts. It was also home to Billie, King of the Macquarie. The Macquarie Mashes are still considered an important and significant site for Indigenous culture.
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Coonamble Information & Exhibition Centre
120 Castlereagh St, Coonamble NSW 2829
