Yugambeh people

The Yugambeh (/ˌjʊɡʌmbɛər/ YOO-gum-BERR (see alternative spellings), also known as the Minyangbal (/ˌmɪnjʌŋbʌl/ MI-nyung-BUHL, or Nganduwal (/ˌŋɑːndʊwʌl/ NGAHN-doo-WUL. are an Aboriginal Australian people of south-east Queensland and the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, their territory lies between the Logan and Tweed rivers. A term for an Aboriginal of the Yugambeh tribe is Mibunn (also written as Miban/Mibanj, Mibin, Mibiny, Mebbon, Meebin), which is derived from the word for the Wedge-tailed Eagle. Historically, some anthropologists have erroneously referred to them as the Chepara (also written as Chipara, Tjapera), the term for a first-degree initiate. Archaeological evidence indicates Aboriginal people have occupied the area for tens of thousands of years. By the time European colonisation began, the Yugambeh had a complex network of groups, and kinship. The Yugambeh territory is subdivided among clan groups with each occupying a designated locality, each clan having certain rights and responsibilities in relation to their respective areas.

Europeans arrived within their proximity in the 1820s, before formally entering Yugambeh territory c.1842. Their arrival displaced Yugambeh groups, and conflict between both sides soon followed throughout the 1850/60s By the 20th century, they were being forced onto missions and reserves despite local resistance. Other Yugambeh people found refuge in the mountains or gained employment among the Europeans. The last of the missions/reserves in the area closed in 1948 and 1951, though people continued to occupy them. Throughout the 70s-90s, the Yugambeh founded organisations and businesses in culture/language, housing and community care, wildlife and land preservation, and tourism. It is estimated there were between 1,500 and 2,000 Aboriginal people in the watersheds of the Logan, Albert, Coomera and Nerang before the 1850s. The 2016 Australian census records 12,315 Aboriginal people in the four local government areas, a portion of these are non-Yugambeh Aboriginal peoples who have moved into the area for work, or as a result of forced removals.