NGARO INDIANS IN AUSTRALIA

THESE NAGARO SEAFARING ABORIGINE GROUPS WHO LIVED IN WHITSUNDAY ISLANDS AND COASTAL REGIONS AT LEAST 7000 B.C. UNTIL 1870. THEIR SOCIETY IS WAS DESTROYED BY WARFARE WITH TRADERS, COLONISTS, AND THE AUSTRALIAN POLICE. THEY RELOCATED THEM TO A MISSION SETTLEMENT ON PALM ISLAND AND THEY WORKED THE LUMBER MILLS OF BRAMPTON ISLANDS.

NGARO MEANS MISSISSIPPI OR VANISHING IN MAORI. THE MODERN POLYNESIAN LANGUAGES OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC. THEIR IS LITTLE HISTORIC OR ARCHAEOLOGICAL LITERATURE ABOUT THEM. THEY ENDURED REPEATEDLY ONSLAUGHT BY RISING SEA LEVELS 9000 YEARS AGO, AND THEN BY EUROPEANS. EVENTUALLY THE NAGARO SUCCUMBED TO GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL OF WESTERN EXPLORERS.

THE NAGARO MAY HAVE LIVED HERE 7000 B.C., BUT NO ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE IS HERE. THEY MAY MAY HAVE LIVED IN A DIFFERENT REGION BECAUSE OF RISING SEA LEVELS. THAT WASHED AWAY COASTAL SITES, MIDDENS AND BURIAL SITES. THE RISING SEA LEVEL MOVED THEM TO HIGHER TERRAIN AND TO CAVES, FRESH WATER IN NARA INLET. FOR 1000'S OF YEARS UNTIL 4000 B.C. THE SEA LEVEL ROSE SEVEN METERS AND THE COASTLINE MOVED INLAND OVER 100 MILES. THEY LEFT THE ANCIENT INLAND MOUNTAINTOPS DURING THE RAINY SEASON. THE PREHISTORIC COASTAL PLAINS WOULD HAVE BEEN NEAR THE GREAT BARRIER REEF. THEIR ORAL HISTORY INDICATES THAT THE NGARO CONTINUED TO VISIT THE GREAT BARRIER REEF BY BARK CANOES EVEN AFTER IT BECAME A HAZARDOUS JOURNEY TO A REMOTE OCEAN SETTLEMENT.

THE EARLIEST ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE IS ON HOOK ISLAND WHERE THE NGARO FOLKS LIVED PROTECTED BY STEEP CLIFFS ON HOOK ISLAND WHERE THE NGARO FOLKS LIVED PROTECTED BY STEEP CLIFFS. THE SHELLS DO NOT RESEMBLE MODERN OYSTERS AND CLAM SPECIES FOUND ON THE COAST, VERIFYING THE AGE DIFFERENCE PIGMENTS HAVE BEEN DATED USING CARBON 14 DATING.

THOUGH MUCH OF THEIR LIFE STYLE HAS VANISHED THE CAVE PAINTINGS SHOW THEIR HUMANITY. THE INTERPRETATION OF THE NGARO LIFESTYLE IS SOMEWHAT A MYSTERY. SOME TOR OPERATORS SUGGEST THAT SOME SYMBOLS ARE LADDERS USED TO REACH CAVES OF PROMINENT NGARO ELDERS. SOME SYMBOLS ARE LIKE THE TRUNK OF A PALM TREE OR THE TRUNK OF A PLANT SPECIES. OR IT MAY HAVE BEEN A PLANT SPECIES THAT WAS IMPORTANT THEM BUT IT IS NOT NOW. IF COCONUT PALMS WERE EVER SEEN BY THE NGARO THEIR VALUE AS A FOOD SOURCE WOULD NOT HAVE MISSED. THE DOMESTICATED COCONUT PALM WOULD HAVE REACHED BORNEO BY A LAND BRIDGE BEFORE SEA LEVEL ROSE. COCONUTS MAY HAVE REACHED NGARO BY FLOATING IN STRONG CURRENTS WHERE THE INDIAN AND PACIFIC CURRENTS MEET. AS SEAFARING FOLKS OF THE NGARO MAY HAVE BEEN IST OF THE TRIBES TO LEARN OF COCONUTS, AND USE THEM FOR FOOD.

THERE IS A PAINTING OF AN OVAL SHAPE, PROBABLY A SEA TURTLE, A GOOD FOOD SOURCE FOR THE ABORIGINES. THE SYMBOL MAY ALSO REPRESENT THE FRUIT OF PADAMUS PLANTS AND ITS SEED. THE CYAD NUTS HAVE TO BE CHOPPED AND THEN HEATED TO BREAK DOWN DEADLY POISONS. THE CRUSHED COOKED NUT PRODUCES AN EDIBLE FLOUR THAT CAN BE ROASTED INTO A FLAT BREAD SIMILAR TO AUSTRALIAN FLATBREAD.

THE NAGARO ARE UNIQUE IN THEIR SEAFARING CULTURE. THEY TRAVELED AMONG WHITSUNDAY ISLANDS IN SEWN PAPERBARK CANOES. THEY CAUGHT SEAS TURTLES, SHELLFISH, AND LARGE SEA MAMMALS, AS WELL AS SMALL WHALES. THEY DEVELOPED A BARBED HARPOON TECHNOLOGY THAT ENABLED THE NGARO TO KILL THEIR PREY BY EXHAUSTING THEM VS. BLEEDING. THAT WOULD ATTRACT TOO MANY SHARKS TO COMPETE FOR THE CATCH. THE NGARO ORAL HISTORY IS CONSISTENT THROUGH HISTORICAL RECORD IN DESCRIPTION OF SEASON VISITS TO THE GREAT BARRIER REEF IN THEIR CANOES.

THE GOVERNMENT IS COMPENSATING SOME MODERN ABORIGINES FOR LOSS OF ANCESTRAL LANDS AND THEY ARE HIRED THEM FOR NATIONAL FOREST AND TOURISM JOBS IN THE AREAS IN WHICH THEIR ANCESTORS LIVED. THIS AFFIRMATIVE ACTION SERVES TO PRESERVE THE ABORIGINES WHO ARE HIRED . THIS SERVES TO PRESERVE MUCH OF THEIR LORE AND KNOWLEDGE. THE YOUTHS LEARN ELDERS AND SKILLS AND TRADITIONS THEIR LAND GRANTS ARE ALSO BASED ON ANCESTRAL TERRITORIES, BOUNDARIES, THAT FURTHER THE NON ACADEMIC INTERESTS IN TRIBAL BOUNDARIES.

THE NGARO PEOPLE WERE ONE OF PEOPLE WERE ONE OF THE FIRST SEAFARING PEOPLE IN EASTERN AUSTRALIA WHO JAMES COOK. SOME OF THE ORAL ACCOUNTS MAYBE JUST STORIES SPOKEN AND NOT FACTUAL.

LIKE MYTHS THEY HAVE SECOND HAND STORIES. SOME OF THEIR DREAM TIMES HAVE STORIES THAT DESCRIBE THE CREATION OF RIVERS AND SNAKES AND AT THE SAME TIME DESCRIBING IN DETAIL THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE RIVER OR MOUNTAIN ACCURATELY. MANY RESEARCHERS FOUND CONSISTENCY BY ORAL HISTORY OF NGARO DESCENDANTS.

HOOK ISLAND IS THE OLDEST NGARO SETTLEMENT. THE CAVES HAVE ANCIENT PAINTINGS. HERE IS ONE OF LARGEST BASALT ABORIGINAL QUARRIES IN AUSTRALIA.THE DRAWINGS HAVE SEVERAL INTERPRETATIONS.

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