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Nation, not tribe

Bundjalung clans and groups

Bundjalung is usually described as a nation or language group rather than a single tribe: many clan groups with their own country, their own dialect and their own organisations, sharing a closely related language. These are the names you will run into, and where to go for each.

  • Guide 2 of 7
  • About 6 minutes to read
  • Sources linked in the text

Nation, clan, tribe — what the words mean here

Nation and people are the terms most commonly used for Bundjalung as a whole. Tribe turns up constantly in search results and in nineteenth-century sources, but it is a colonial-era word that community members rarely use about themselves — if you are writing something, "Bundjalung people" or "Bundjalung nation" will almost always be the safer choice.

Clan group usually means one of the family-based groups within that nation, each with its own estate and its own dialect. Those are the names below. A person is normally both: Arakwal and Bundjalung, Githabul and Bundjalung. They are not alternatives, and one does not override the other.

Spelling varies enormously, because these words were first written down by English speakers using English spelling. Bundjalung, Bundjalang, Bandjalang and Banjalang are the same word; so are Githabul, Gidhabal and Kitabal. Different spellings are not different peoples. Where a group has its own organisation, use that organisation’s spelling.

Groups you will see named

Arakwal

Byron Bay, Cape Byron and Broken Head

The Bundjalung of Byron Bay Aboriginal Corporation (Arakwal) signed an Indigenous Land Use Agreement with the NSW Government in August 2001 that led to Arakwal National Park, gazetted that October and the first national park in Australia created under such an agreement. Native title was recognised by the Federal Court in 2019 after a process running more than two decades. The corporation jointly manages Arakwal National Park and parts of the Cape Byron State Conservation Area with NSW National Parks. Arakwal Country and culture

Byron Bay page

Bandjalang

Evans Head, Woodburn, Coraki and the coastal park

The Bandjalang People hold native title determinations over areas around Evans Head and the coast south of the Richmond, including land in and around Bundjalung National Park, recognised by the Federal Court in 2013, with a further determination over 52 parcels, including land at Evans Head, Bora Ridge and Lawrence, in 2021.

Evans Head page

Yugambeh

Logan, Albert, Coomera and Nerang catchments, south-east Queensland

The northern group of the Bundjalung language family, covering Beaudesert, Logan, Beenleigh and the Gold Coast hinterland. The Yugambeh Museum Language and Heritage Research Centre at Beenleigh holds language, family history and archival collections. Yugambeh Museum The Jellurgal Aboriginal Cultural Centre is a locally Aboriginal-owned and operated Gold Coast cultural centre connected with local Traditional Custodians of the wider Yugambeh language-speaking group.

Other names that appear in the published literature — Galibal, Dinggabal, Birihn, Baryulgil, Ngarahkwal and others — are recorded with varying reliability and varying agreement. Their absence or presence in a list like this one means nothing about anyone’s standing.

Language codes in AustLang

Researchers searching archives will find AIATSIS’s AustLang codes more reliable than spellings. Codes for names on this page include Bundjalung (E12), Gidhabal (E14), Galibal (E15), Wiyabal (E16), Dinggabal (E16.1), Wahlubal (E16.2), Yugambeh (E17), Minyangbal (E18), Birihn (E72), Nyangbal (E75), Nganduwal (E78) and Ngarahgwal (E79). AustLang also has a second record for Wiyabal (E15.1), and its codes for the Baryulgil-area varieties are not consistent. It is a reference database for language names: it does not settle who belongs to which group or where boundaries run.

Native title bodies and health services

Where the Federal Court has recognised native title, a registered native title body corporate (RNTBC, also called a prescribed body corporate or PBC) holds or manages it for the native title holders. These are the RNTBCs for the determinations listed on the map guide, as named by NTSCORP and the native title register.

Registered native title bodies corporate, Bundjalung Country and the Yaegl border
Native title holdersDeterminationsRegistered native title body corporate
Githabul People2007Githabul Nation Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC
Bandjalang People2013, 2021Bandjalang Aboriginal Corporation Prescribed Body Corporate RNTBC
Western Bundjalung People2017, 2018Ngullingah Jugun (Our Country) Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC
Bundjalung People of Byron Bay (Arakwal)2019Bundjalung of Byron Bay Aboriginal Corporation (Arakwal) RNTBC
Widjabul Wia-bal2022Widjabul Wia-bal Gurrumbil Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC
Yaegl People (neighbouring Country)2015, 2017Yaegl Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC

Corporation names, contacts and office holders change. The Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations keeps the current register. An RNTBC speaks for native title in its determination area; it is not the only body that speaks for a group, and Local Aboriginal Land Councils, Elders and other corporations all have their own roles.

Bulgarr Ngaru Medical Aboriginal Corporation is a community-controlled Aboriginal health service with clinics in Grafton, Casino and Tweed Heads South, serving communities including Baryulgil, Malabugilmah, Box Ridge, Muli Muli and Tabulam. For the history of those communities, see reserves, stations and land rights.

Where this information comes from

Every name, area and date on this page is drawn from public records: Federal Court native title determinations, the National Native Title Tribunal register, Local Aboriginal Land Council names and areas, published linguistic work, and the organisations’ own websites. Nothing here comes from community knowledge that was shared privately, and nothing here is a cultural authority’s account.

Treat it as a starting point for your own search, not a ruling. Groups define themselves, boundaries between them are not this website’s to draw, and questions about belonging, membership or family connection go to the organisations and to Elders — never to a website. If something here is wrong or out of date, the contact form below goes straight to a person and corrections are welcome, or email info@bundjalung.au directly.

Frequently asked questions

Is Bundjalung a tribe or a nation?

Bundjalung is most often described as a nation or a language group rather than a tribe. “Tribe” is a colonial-era term that is rarely used by community members about themselves; you will more often hear nation, people, mob, clan group or language group. Bundjalung covers many distinct clan groups who share closely related dialects.

How many Bundjalung clan groups are there?

There is no agreed number. Published linguistic and historical sources name somewhere between about a dozen and twenty groups, but they disagree with each other and with community usage, and some names in the older literature are variant spellings of the same group. Counting groups from a book is not how belonging works.

Are Arakwal people Bundjalung?

Yes. Arakwal is the group whose Country takes in Byron Bay and Cape Byron, and the corporation that holds native title there is named the Bundjalung of Byron Bay Aboriginal Corporation (Arakwal). Being Arakwal and being Bundjalung are not alternatives.

Are Yugambeh people Bundjalung?

Yugambeh is generally described as the northern part of the wider Bundjalung language group, covering the Logan, Albert, Coomera and Nerang catchments in south-east Queensland. How closely Yugambeh people identify with the wider Bundjalung grouping is for Yugambeh people to say, and the Yugambeh Museum at Beenleigh is the place to ask.

Why is the same group spelled so many different ways?

Bundjalung words were first written down by English speakers using English spelling conventions, and different recorders heard the same sounds differently. Bundjalung, Bundjalang, Bandjalang and Banjalang are the same word. When you are writing about a group, use the spelling that group's own organisation uses.

Keep learning

Or jump to another guide:

Bundjalung Country map

Where Bundjalung Country runs, why no single map is official, and who holds the boundaries.

Bundjalung language

Dialects, why spellings differ, and the language centres that actually teach and publish.

Place names

Which Northern Rivers town names come from Bundjalung language, and which came from Britain.

Contact

Questions, corrections and requests

Use the form below or email info@bundjalung.au for email hosting, web hosting, corrections, or a new Bundjalung community page. Identity checks are used to reduce impersonation and protect the domain.

Open the contact form