Wulgurukaba
Norman Tindale's Aboriginal Tribes of Australia assigns the Wulgurukaba ("canoe people"; a.k.a. Manbarra (which may refer to Palm island people), Buruku'man (toponym for Great Palm Island), Korambelbara (name applied by Warakamai), Mun-ba-rah) occupied around 2600 square kilometres of country around Townsville, including Magnetic Island, the Palm Islands, extending east to Cape Cleveland. The AIATSIS Map of Indigenous Australia allocates that area to the Nyawaygi, with no reference to the group that gave the Townsville suburb of Wulguru its name.
However, the Wulgurukaba language, along with that spoken by the Nyawaygi, is classified as part of the Nyawaygic branch of the Pama–Nyungan family; the two groups are closely related.
Elsewhere in the AIATSIS databases, Wulguru is suggested as a cover term or dialects spoken by the Mulgu and Buluguyban on Palm Island; groups at Cleveland Bay (Nhawalgaba/Gabilgara, Wulgurukaba/Wulgurugaba and Coonambella) and another on Magnetic Island.
Although the spelling was not in use at the time and therefore does not appear in Timndale's listed alternatives, his Buruku'man can be seen as the antecedent of the contemporary Bwgcolman, which the Wikipedia entry for Palm Island suggests means "one people from many groups", derived from an Aboriginal language of one of the earliest groups of Aboriginal people removed from the mainland and settled there.
Although Tindale reports "the last survivor of the island horde" dying in 1962, a boy whose surname was Palm Island acted as my roll monitor when I taught there in 1973.
The Wulgurukaba creation story describes a carpet snake slithering down the coastal range to form the Herbert River and create the Hinchinbrook Channel. After his body broke up, leaving parts along the coast, with Palm Island as his back and his head resting at Arcadia on Magnetic Island.
Sources:
AIATSIS Austlang Project: Wulgurukaba (Y135):: https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/language/y135
City of Townsville: History and Heritage: Traditional Owners: https://www.townsville.qld.gov.au/about-townsville/history-and-heritage/townsville-history/traditional-landowners
South Australian Museum (Wulgurukaba: https://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/collection/archives/language_groups/wulgurukaba)
Townsville NAIDOC Week: https://www.townsvillenaidoc.com.au/about
Wikipedia (Manbarra: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manbarra)
Wikipedia: Palm Island: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_Island,_Queensland
Links:
According to Norman Tindale, the Wulgurukaba ("canoe people"; a.k.a. Manbarra) occupied around 2600 square kilometres of country around Townsville, including Magnetic Island and the Palm Islands, extending east to Cape Cleveland. Their language is classified as part of the Nyawaygic branch of the Pama–Nyungan family, along with that spoken by the Nyawaygi.
The Wulgurukaba creation story describes a carpet snake slithering down the coastal range to form the Herbert River and create the Hinchinbrook Channel. After his body broke up, leaving parts along the coast, with Palm Island as his back and his head resting at Arcadia on Magnetic Island.
Links to add:
Arcadia
Cape Cleveland
Herbert River
Hiinchinbrook Channel
Magnetic Island
Pama–Nyungan
