A History of Yuraygir National Park This Publication Was Written by Johanna Kijas
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There were always people here: a history of Yuraygir National Park This publication was written by Johanna Kijas. This publication is the outcome of two DECC projects through which many people generously shared their stories. The first project was in 2006. Many thanks to Roy Bowling, Shirley Causley, Allen Johnson, Peter Morgan, Bill Niland, Joyce Plater, Marie Preston, Rosemary Waugh-Allcock and Clarrie and Shirley Winkler for their vivid memories of the pre- and post-national park landscape. Thanks to Ann Blackadder, Stewart Blackadder, Ian Brown, Sandy Murphy, Dave McCleary and Ken Teakle who took the time to be interviewed on the phone. Thanks to Ken Teakle for providing DECC with copies of his photographic history of Pebbly Beach, and to Barbara Knox for permission to use her interview carried out with Gina Hart. The second project was in 2007. Many thanks to Yaegl Elder Ron Heron and Yaegl Local Aboriginal Land Council Administrative Assistant Liz Mercy-Bushell for their support for the Yaegl post-contact history project, and to Senior Custodian Auntie Lillian Williams, Judith Breckenridge, Thelma Kapeen, Fox Laurie, Eileen McLeay, Glenda McPhail, Lester Mercy, Veronica Pearce, Michael Randall, Annabelle Roberts and Rosemarie Vesper for sharing their stories about their connection to Yaegl Country which is now in Yuraygir National Park. Aboriginal readers are warned that this publication contains the names and images of some Aboriginal people who are deceased. Cover photo: The Fish Trap, Yuraygir National Park – photo: J. Kijas. Published by: Department of Environment and Climate Change 59–61 Goulburn Street PO Box A290 Sydney South 1232 Ph: (02) 9995 5000 (switchboard) Ph: 131 555 (environment information and publications requests) Ph: 1300 361 967 (national parks information and publications requests) Fax: (02) 9995 5999 TTY: (02) 9211 4723 Email: [email protected] Website: www.environment.nsw.gov.au DECC 2009/218 ISBN: 978 1 74122 866 3 June 2009 Contents Foreword 1 Overview and maps .........................................................................................................................................................................1 1.1 Introduction: a history of Yuraygir National Park .............................................................................................................1 1.2 Chronology: general dates and specific events ..............................................................................................................5 1.3 Maps of Yuraygir National Park ...................................................................................................................................................8 Map 1: Vegetation map of Yuraygir National Park: northern section ..................................................................8 Map 2: Vegetation map of Yuraygir National Park: central section ......................................................................9 Map 3: Vegetation map of Yuraygir National Park: southern section ..............................................................10 Map 4: Yuraygir National Park in 1983 .................................................................................................................................11 Map 5: Yuraygir National Park in 1993 .................................................................................................................................12 Map 6: Yuraygir National Park and Yuraygir State Conservation Area in 2003 ...........................................13 2 The regional context: North Coast NSW .......................................................................................................................14 2.1 Section overview .............................................................................................................................................................................14 2.2 North Coast history ........................................................................................................................................................................15 2.3 Coastal planning and moves towards establishing Yuraygir National Park.................................................23 3 Red Rock to Yamba: the pre-park landscape to 1975 ........................................................................................27 3.1 Section overview .............................................................................................................................................................................27 3.2 Two communities: Yaegl attachment ................................................................................................................................28 3.3 ‘Making a living out there’ ...........................................................................................................................................................39 Map 7: Sites of bees in Yuraygir National Park, 1983 ..................................................................................................51 Map 8: Sand mining map of the Yuraygir coastline ....................................................................................................55 3.4 Everyone knew everyone: coastal holidays and fishing ..........................................................................................58 4 Yuraygir National Park from the 1970s ..........................................................................................................................73 4.1 Section overview .............................................................................................................................................................................73 4.2 The creation of the park...............................................................................................................................................................73 Map 9: Gazettal map of Yuraygir National Park .............................................................................................................77 4.3 Caring for Country: Aboriginal involvement in park management .................................................................79 4.4 Coastal recreation: a case study of Pebbly Beach ........................................................................................................84 Map 10: Ken Teakle’s mud map showing early tracks into Pebbly Beach .....................................................90 4.5 Tackling history and politics: ‘hot issues’ in park management ...........................................................................90 Afterword ...................................................................................................................................................................................................96 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................................................................................97 Interviewees .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 105 Appendix: place names ................................................................................................................................................................ 106 Foreword Why does the past matter? How can knowing the history of a protected area contribute to its effective management? In exploring this question it is recognised that managing protected areas is essentially a social process.1 It requires park managers to understand ways in which people relate to the world and the roles that parks play in communities. The historical and current connections of local communities to park landscapes should be acknowledged and, where possible, supported. Provided they are not in conflict with park management objectives, these connections should be allowed to continue and evolve. In the global history of protected area establishment, however, Indigenous and non-indigenous local people have often been excluded from or felt unwelcome in their special places in protected areas. It is important, therefore, to explore the diverse ways in which people become attached to the land and why these attachments enhance community identity and wellbeing. By understanding and acknowledging people’s attachments to protected areas, park managers can ensure there is increased community support for protected areas. The New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service has done much work over the last decade to recognise, support and restore Indigenous and non-indigenous local people’s connections to special places and landscapes within NSW’s parks. The present publication continues our work in this important area of park management and is part of a larger project that examines how we manage the heritage of cultural landscapes. We recognise that if park managers do not engage with people who have connections to a place, they can quickly ‘forget’ who lived or worked there, what happened and to whom and why the place is important. If park staff ‘forget’ by putting people’s stories out of mind or omit to record such connections, the stories can disappear from history telling (but not always from local memory). Recognising people’s memories and experiences of, for example, regularly burning the heath, visiting favourite fishing spots or massacres of Aboriginal people,