Great Dividing Range: A gurulidj (bunyip) story, told by Tyronne Bell's father Don Bell (Ngunawal Elder) [audio]

Summary: 
‘out of the water came a monstrous thing …’
Description: 

Ngunawal people live in the alpine region of NSW from Queanbeyan to Yass, Tumut to Boorowa, and east to beyond Goulburn.

Cultural Narrative: 

Most Ngunawal camps sites were close to a water source, on well-drained ground not on the water’s edge; and located in defensible positions with access to firewood and bark for hut-making. Location out of the wind and food source was likely to have been the governing factor in the selection of a campsite.

 

Ngunawal people never camped on rivers but on nearby rises because of their fear of bunyips. One dreamtime story passed down over time has suggested that a bunyip existed at Devil’s Pass (near Yass) and took a Ngunawal girl ‘Nada’.

 

(Thunderstone: Aboriginal Cultural & Land Management Services website)

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