Modern day Wagga sits on the land of the Wiradjuri people, who have lived here for at least 40,000 years.
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Proud Wiradjuri elder Uncle James Ingram is passionate about keeping traditional stories alive by sharing them with as many people as possible.
“Sharing is part of our way of life,” he said. “We try to pass these stories on to as many people as we can.”
Uncle James regularly gives cultural tours of Wiradjuri Country, allowing residents and visitors to learn more about his people’s traditional way of life.
To help celebrate NAIDOC Week, The Daily Advertiser sat down with Uncle James to learn about some of the most sacred sites in Wagga.
THE WOLLUNDRY LAGOON
To understand the age-old significance of Wollundry Lagoon, you need to know how it got it’s name.
Uncle James explained that, in Wiradjuri language, ‘wollund’ means ‘money’.
“At the end of Wollundry Lagoon is a place of stones, and that stone is unique because it’s volcanic – it’s the hardest known stone in our culture, so it is very valuable to us,” Uncle James said.
“That stone was like your $100 bill or your $5 bill. We could trade that for whatever we wanted to.”
The very valuable rock combined with the thriving food source supplied by the wetlands meant clans from all over the region would regularly pass through Wagga.
“The local clan group around here, which is Wagan Wagan, which obviously became Wagga Wagga, would then have the honour of feeding everybody when they came up from the southern planes, the Murray River, and the lower parts of the Murrumbidgee,” Uncle James said.
However, the Wollundry Lagoon is also significant for another reason; it is the place where Wawi, the rainbow serpent, lives.
“Just like other religions, we have Baiame, our great creator, and then we have these other creation spirits like Wawi, who are like disciples,” Uncle James said.
”Wawi lives in the Wollundry Lagoon and visits other places to create lagoons, rivers, creeks, and streams.”
For Uncle James’s family, the story of Wawi and Wollundry Lagoon carries another special meaning.
“The glass plaques at the lagoon talk about my uncle Oz Ingram who gave the story to myself and Sue McPherson, a local Wiradjuri woman, who drew the depiction of Wawi,” he said.
“So, in a way, it’s honouring my family, my uncle, and my father. We pass on that story because we like people to know what the cultural values of the Wollundry Lagoon are and who Wawi is.”
THE MARRAMBIDYA WETLAND HEALING PLACE
A few years ago, Wagga City Council started working with the local Aboriginal community to create a public healing place where people could go to reflect on the inter-generational hurt felt by the Stolen Generations.
The Marrambidya Wetland Healing Place was built between two sacred sites; the Wiradjuri Reserve and the Gobbagombalin Beach.
Uncle James explained the love story of Gobbagombalin and Pomingalarna, which played out right near the site of the healing place.
“The law was dictated by our elders, and Gobbagombalin and Pomingalarna weren’t supposed to marry. But it’s the oldest story in the book – you can’t help who you fall in love with,” he said.
The pair defied their elders and tried to run off together, but they were quickly stopped in their tracks.
“Of course, elders being elders and knowing things, they arranged for a spearing party to spear them when they tried to sneak away in the water,” Uncle James said.
“They floated off into oblivion. It happened where the Gobba Bridge is now.”
Today, the healing place has given that sacred land a whole new meaning.
“You've got the Stolen Generation, then you've basically got the lost generation, and then this latest generation is really lost with the amounts of drugs and alcohol,” Uncle James said.
“So we decided that we’d put some land aside to allow people to go down and reflect on that hurt.”
KENGAL – THE ROCK
Kengal, also known as The Rock Nature Reserve, is one of the most sacred sites in the Riverina.
“Kengal’s all about the story of Baiame coming down from the sky with his two spirit dingoes and he asks them to remain at The Rock until he returns,” Uncle James explained.
“If you look at it like, one day, God almighty will return to this earth and then we’ll have a thousand years’ peace – it’s a similar story with Kengal, that the dingoes will wait for Baiame’s return.”
Kengal was also used for men’s initiation activities, and there is a sacred women’s birthing area next to it.
In the same area, a whole host of endangered plant species can be found, which Uncle James says is even more reason why the sacred site needs to be protected.
THE MURRUMBIDGEE RIVER
As the main water source flowing through Wiradjuri Country, the Murrumbidgee River has always been significant for Aboriginal people.
Uncle James explained the double meaning behind the river’s name.
“The Wiradjuri meaning for Murrumbidgee – ‘murrum’ means ‘big’ and ‘bidgee’ can either mean ‘boss’ or ‘mate’,” he said.
“So, when there’s plenty of water in the system and you have irrigation going on and there’s plenty of food, the river is our mate.
“But when we’re in flood or drought, it dictates to Wagga like the boss. For at least 60,000 years, the river’s been bossing us around or being our mate.”
BOMEN LAGOON
The Bomen Lagoon is important for two reasons.
It is one of the only traditional axe quarries in Australia, which gave Wiradjuri men a place to go to make all sorts of tools, like sharp knives.
However, Uncle James explained the lagoon took on a second meaning in more recent years.
“It’s a shared history place. Besides being a great camping and fishing spot for us back in the day, it was also where Sturt ended up when he came down the Murrumbidgee in his big whaling boat,” he said.
“He saw thousands of Kooris there, so they took him over to Bomen Lagoon where they caught fish and camped together.”
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