Correcting the Records Project 2020 – 2030

This project started in 2016 to research and record historical Aboriginal information about the tribes of the greater Cairns area, including Kuranda.

Unfortunately there has been misinformation over the last 30 years which has exacerbated Aboriginal community issues. This project aims to ‘correct the records’ to avoid future publishing of incorrect information in printed materials and on websites.

Hard copies of the research document sets below are available on loan. Please contact us.

INFOGRAPH EXPLAINER

Aboriginal Groups of the Cairns Area – 2 pages

Click here to open / download PDF version (Print size A3)

This page (A) shows the map, top left, of 3 groups in the Cairns area as documented by the pictured academics over the last 115 years.
The table left are the different spellings used in their documents to describe the groups (tribes).

This page (B) shows the map with “Djabugay Nation” over the entire area. “Djabugay Nation” is deliberately inside quote marks because it is misinformation (an invented term).
PATZ proposed in 1980 that these neighbouring tribes were dialects of Djabugay. PATZ 2002 publication she quotes DIXON to explain (see RED text below) “It is necessary…”. That is, PATZ arbitrarily chose ‘Djabugay’ however, she could have equally chosen ‘Buluwai’ or ‘Yirrgay’ to coin the term to describe language similarities between these neighbouring tribes. PATZ also describes that pre-colonisation these tribes saw themselves with their own languages and did not group themselves according to linguistic dialect theory.

REFERENCE MAPPING

BAMA BULMBA TRIBES : RAINFOREST PEOPLE OF KURANDA REGION in relation to Bulway, Buluwai, Bulwai, Buluwandji (PDF, 110 pages)

REFERENCE DOCUMENTS (2025 – 2030)

REQUESTED CONTENT CHANGES SERIES

* Note – this is an incomplete list.

THE ACADEMIC CONTEXT MISUNDERSTOOD BY MR MICHAEL QUINN

Click to open larger version or click here to download PDF version

Professor of Linguistics R.M.W. Dixon says

[R.M.W. Dixon, Words of Our Country, St. Lucia, UQP, 1991, pp.6-7.]

To summarize, names like Yirrganydji, Buluwanyji, and Gunganji break down into three components: stem yirr-/bulu-/gung-, then suffix GAY ‘language,’ then nyji ‘having,’ and their literal meaning is people having the Yirrgay, Buluway, and Gunggay, languages respectively. In Wood’s opinion, the linguistically unanalyzable stems and archaic nature of the GAY suffix imply that these are very old names, and form an old and longstable nomenclature.

In other words, the tribe names are very old names and are the names of the languages spoken by each tribe.

Linguist Dr Elizabeth Patz / Professor of Linguistics R.M.W. Dixon says

[A grammar of the Kuku Yalanji language of North Queensland By Elisabeth Patz 2002, sourcing R.M.W. Dixon 1980]

1.1.2 Kuku Yalanji and its dialects

The concept of “own language” as distinct from “other languages” is an important aspect of tribal identity in Australia (as indeed it is for any nation in the world). Thus Aborigines distinguish their own language from that of another tribal group, even if the differences are only slight, sometimes represented by just a few different lexical items. Accordingly, a tribal name is often derived from the language name in Australia, whereas the reverse is seldom encountered (cf. Dixon 1980:33-43).

Where the self-termed “languages” of several tribes are mutually understandable, the linguist may recognise these as dialects of one superordinate language. But “there was not usually any name for a group of tribes whose speech was mutually intelligible, nor for the language^ [the superordinate language] that we can – on linguistic criteria – assign to them. It is necessary to choose some label for each language^, and this usually has to be done fairly arbitrarily by the linguist” (Dixon 1980:43).

In other words, the linguists chose, by chance, a name to represent neighbouring tribes with similiar languages.

Letter to Kuranda Organisation Office Bearers **AUDIO VERSION**

RE: Correcting the Records Project 2020-2030

RE: Discrediting Mr Michael Quinn’s Position, ie. Not legitimate cultural information

RE: Requesting change to dictionary map page – add the linguist’s disclaimer regarding dialects to avoid future misunderstandings

Social Media Educational Series

This series has been created to assist the community to understand what has happened and to recover truthful information as quickly as possible.

Community Handout – A4 landscape folded in half

Print file – A4 landscape folded in half, printing back to back, click here to download PDF
Click on the pages below to see them at a larger size.

Kuranda Organisation Engagements

2 Nov 2025, a letter of advice to Kuranda Organisation Office Bearers is sent by mail to the office bearer’s registered addresses, read the letter here
10 Nov 2025, the audio version of the letter was uploaded to Youtube for ease of access purposes, click here to watch / listen on Youtube

Gemma Owens (CEO, Djabugay Corporations) calls Jo Martin (Correcting the Records Project 2020-2030) in response to the letter/s

21 Nov 2025, Jo receives a phone call from Gemma, read here
21 Nov 2025, follow up text messages between Gemma and Jo, read here
23 Nov 2025, follow up Reply email from Jo to Gemma, read here

AIATSIS Letter Request for ‘Public Notice’ Requested for Kuranda, Far North Queensland

The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS)
51 Lawson Crescent, Acton Peninsula, Acton ACT 2601, Australia
Via email reception@aiatsis.gov.au
1 December 2025
To Whom It May Concern,
RE: AIATSIS ‘Public Notice’ Requested for Kuranda, Far North Queensland

Read letter here

PUBLIC NOTICE SAMPLE