Kubi Gubbi Culture

CHCDIV002 Project
Culture and History
The first known people to inhabit the Maroochy district were the Aboriginal people of the Kabi Kabi (pronounced Gubbi Gubbi) language group. The people derived their name from the pale honey gathered from the eucalypts of the area. The land that they inhabited stretched from Burrum River in the north, to Pine River in the south, and west as far as the Conondale Ranges. For more than 20,000 years, the Gubbi Gubbi / Kabi Kabi people hunted and lived in the surrounding ranges, fished the rivers and gathered seafood from the ocean.
In Gubbi Gubbi society, emphasis was placed upon generosity. Clans would often meet to celebrate ceremonies that included rites of passage, marriages and festivals. In the Sunshine
coast region the most significant festival was held every three years to celebrate the fruiting of the Bunya pines, in what is now known as the Bunya Mountains.
The Glasshouse mountains, and in particular Tibrogargan, Beerwah and Coonowrin have deep spiritual and cultural significance to the Kabi Kabi people. The stories of the dreamtime incorporate the local mountains and recount beautiful tales of love and wrath that is the basis of the creation of the local geology.
Many of the names that we use today to describes areas of the Sunshine Coast have roots in Aboriginal culture, for example:: Maroochy - Mooroo-kutchi *meaning red-bill, the name of the black swan and Maroochydore - Moorookutchi-dha *meaning the place of the black swan are place names derived from the Yuggera (Brisbane River) language group.
Impact of European settlement.
The arrival of European settlers brought new diseases that was devastating to the Gubbi Gubbi people.
Another issue was food. Due to the expansive and fertile nature of the land, European settlers found it most suitable for farming livestock and agricultural crops. This had a knock on effect of disrupting the natural environment that the Gubbi Gubbi relied upon to survive. Tensions rose between the new comers and the indigenous people. As the land was slowly taken over the Gubbi Gubbi resorted to taking the Europeans crops and livestock to survive. This inevitably led to conflict, violence and even massacres, unfortunately for the Gubbi Gubbi people, in 1897 the Queensland government past laws that allowed the forcible removal of aboriginal people from their native land to reserves. The local Gubbi Gubbi were moved to reserves in Cherbourg and
Barranbah.
Historical, social, political and economic issues facing the people engaging with local community services and health systems
Historically and presently, the statistics on aboriginal general health and life expectancy is below that of non-indigenous people.
The health and economic difficulties facing Aborigines living both in urban and remote areas are high. Both the remote and urban populations have adverse ratings on a number of social indicators, including health, education, unemployment, poverty and crime.
There are a number of issues facing indigenous people when trying to engage with community and health services. These range from: Language barriers, cultural ignorance and prejudice on behalf of workers, lack of interpreters, economic barriers, cultural and family restrictions.
Historically the political environment has not been kind to indigenous people. This has led to an apathetic approach to aboriginal health care and lack of access to appropriate community services. One major problem was that the government had a ‘one size fits all’ approach to indigenous culture. This lack of understanding of the diversity contained within aboriginal society created a dysfunctional solution for indigenous people to access community and health services. However in recent years there has been a concerted effort to rectify these problems. Unfortunately the implementation of government acts (past and present) has raised concerns of the removal of self-autonomy from certain groups of aboriginal
people.
Reflection– how your own culture, systems and beliefs may affect engagement from Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people in your local area
Growing up in a western culture with a western mindset can create misperceptions, misunderstandings and general ignorance towards aboriginal people. As a worker it is important to undertake awareness training, and educate oneself on indigenous culture. For counselor’s it very important to understand the structure of family and kinship as this generally plays a significant role in aboriginal life. Understanding the need for sensitivity around the subject of deceased family members is also vitally important as the mention of the deceased’s name or a picture of them may cause great offence.
Self-reflection is an important component towards being a competent and successful counsellor. Being open and honest with one self about preconceived ideas and thoughts about others from other cultures or backgrounds allows us to bring to light any negative or prejudice thoughts/ behaviors that may impede us from being effective workers. Aboriginal people suffer from systemic racism within from the dominant white culture, and this leads to poor representation within the workforce and other areas of society. This fact highlights the importance for counsellors and others in the similar roles to be self-aware of any bias or prejudice, so that clients from indigenous backgrounds get the services they need.
References
http://www.workingwithatsi.info/content/PI_family.htm http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/determinants/social-issues Noosa and Gubbi Gubbi : the land, the people, the conflict / R.J.L. Adams.
Adams, R. J. L.
Tewantin, Qld. : Ultreya Publications, 2000. http://www.gubbigubbi.com/ http://www.libraries.noosa.qld.gov.au/indigenous-history http://www.studymode.com/essays/Land-Of-The-Gubbi-Gubbi-149790.html Main Title: The resting place / Gerritje Galloway.

Author: Galloway, Gerritje, author

Imprint: Bribie Island, Queensland Jenny Visser, [2013]