Yugambeh Nation

17/10/2026

Standing Together for Jayda Allen Bonner ❤️

​Our hearts are heavy as our community wrap our arms around the family of beautiful Jayda Allen Bonner, who was taken from us far too soon at just 21 years old. 💔

​Jayda was a vibrant, loving young woman with a heart of gold, a big smile, and so much life ahead of her. Her loss has left an unimaginable void in the lives of her family, mob, and everyone who knew her. 👣

​During this time of deep grief and sorrow, we are calling on our community to stand in solidarity with her family. 🦅🪶

​Any donation, no matter how small, will go directly towards funeral, travel, accommodation, and related expenses for Jayda's family. If you are unable to donate, sharing this page would mean the world to us.💸

​Nothing can bring Jayda back, but together we can make sure her family feels surrounded by love and support as they lay their girl to rest.

​Forever 21. Forever loved. Forever shining on Country. ❤️

​👉 Donate or share here:

Forever 21. Forever loved. Forever shining on Country. ❤️ Our be… Jarvis Atkinson needs your support for Help Give Jayda Allen Bonner a Beautiful Farewell

13/10/2026

Long ago the animals Land, Sea, & Sky gathered for a great battle... 👣

Do you know the story of the Great Battle that formed Yugambeh Country? 🌅

The Pelican Dreaming is an ancient Aboriginal story retelling the battle of the giant creatures that formed the landscape of today.

It is seen through the eyes of Bijung the baby pelican as she flies over her traditional country with her father, Choongarra. 🪶

Get your copy today: https://footprintsofelders.com.au/shop/the-dreaming-series/the-pelican-dreaming/

10/10/2026

The Dolphin Dreaming is a beautiful traditional Aboriginal story that is thousands of years old. It explores the deeply respectful relationship between Aboriginal people and the creatures that surround them. 🐕🐬

Check it out 👀: https://footprintsofelders.com.au/shop/the-dreaming-series/the-dolphin-dreaming/

06/10/2026

Share the Magic of Country with the Next Generation 🌿✨

We are thrilled to share The Dreaming Series on our Yugambeh Nation page, a collection of traditional stories released by Yugambeh author Rory O’Connor, published by Footprints of Elders. 👣

These stories highlight the humour, beauty, and ancient wisdom of the Dreaming. Through rich tales like The Moon Turtle Dreaming, The Spirit Bird Dreaming, The Dolphin Dreaming, and more, young readers learn about community, connection to Country, and shared responsibility.

"My Aboriginal Elders knew stories about EVERYTHING... and it is up to my generation to make sure these stories are passed on."— Rory O’Connor

📖
What’s inside:
~ Individual hardcopies ($24.95 each)
~ The complete 5-book box set — a beautiful addition to any home or classroom library
~ Stories designed to be enjoyed by all ages and backgrounds

👉 Learn more and explore the collection: footprintsofelders.com.au

29/09/2026

✨ NGAIGAM MARKETS ARE COMING TO BROADBEACH! ✨

Presented by Dreamtime Artistry, join us as we celebrate Indigenous Business Month by supporting local First Nations artists, innovators, and creators!

"Ngaigam" means "All of us" — come along, walk beside us, and enjoy a day filled with:

🎨 Beautiful giftware, art, and authentic crafts
🪘 Interactive workshops, live music, and cultural storytelling
🛍️ Local Indigenous-owned stalls and creative businesses

📍 Where: Pratten Park, Broadbeach Precinct (Near the beach on the south side of Kurrawa Park, Old Burleigh Rd, Broadbeach)
📅 When: Saturday, October 3rd
⏰ Time: 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Bring your family and friends for a wonderful community day by the ocean! ☀️🌊

📞 Market Stall Enquiries or More Info:
Contact Erica at 0417711277 or David at 041717596
📧 Email: [email protected]
🌐 Visit: www.dreamtimeartistry.com

Proudly brought to you with the support of NIAA.

16/09/2026

When we posted about historical Yugambeh population estimates back in 2024, we highlighted a critical truth: European disease outpaced European arrival. By the time written records began in our region in the 1820s and 1840s, epidemic disease had already devastated our ancestors.
Now, landmark research published in Nature Human Behaviour and featured in The Conversation confirms that this pattern occurred on a staggering, continent-wide scale.

For nearly a century, public understanding was shaped by anthropologist A.R. Radcliffe-Brown’s 1930 estimate that roughly 300,000 Indigenous people lived in Australia in 1788.
Using genetic data, archaeological radiocarbon dating, and environmental productivity modeling—methods completely independent of colonial headcounts—researchers now estimate the 1788 population was actually more than 2 million people (with a median estimate of 2.22 million).
This means:
● Over 90% of the Indigenous population died across Australia in the 70 years following 1788.
● An estimated 2.06 million excess deaths occurred in those seven decades due to introduced epidemics (smallpox, influenza, measles), frontier massacres, and structural violence.
● Early colonial observers weren't recording healthy, untouched societies—they were viewing surviving remnants of populations already enduring catastrophic disruption.

This national research mirrors the regional timeline we’ve tracked across Yugambeh country:
○ Pre-1790 Baseline: Based on environmental capacity across our nine clan areas, our pre-contact baseline was estimated at ~8,100 to 9,000+ people (~900 per clan).
○ Waves of Epidemics: Smallpox (c. 1790), syphilis (c. 1800), and influenza (c. 1830) swept through before dagay permanently occupied the land.
○ Early Accounts: When John Oxley recorded 200 fighting men at Fingal Head in 1823 (~600 total in that clan), he was observing a population already reduced by at least a third to ~5,400 overall.
○ Rapid Collapse: By the mid-1850s, Park Ranger Gresty recorded 1,500–2,000 across the Logan, Albert, Nerang, and Tweed rivers. By 1864, a major corroboree with Wangerriburra, Gugingin, and Bullongin clans saw 300 attendees (~100 per clan). By Federation in 1901, the population had troughed at roughly 150 people.

The new 2.22 million figure transforms how we understand the scale of loss, but also the scale of endurance.
Just as the national Indigenous population has rebuilt over generations, our local family networks have continued to recover, record, and reconnect. Today, our genealogical databases count over 5,300 living descendants and ancestors, keeping our families, language, and connection to Country alive.

Truth-telling starts with facing the true scale of what happened. Read the full article on the new demographic research here:
https://theconversation.com/more-than-2-million-indigenous-people-lived-in-australia-in-1788-new-research-291278

22/07/2026

The hypocrisy is wild.

​A former Catholic church—a building bought, sold, and no longer owned by the Church—is expected to be treated as a sacred, untouchable site forever.

​Meanwhile, actual Indigenous land, tens of thousands of years of sacred history, connection, and culture, never ceded, is regularly bulldozed, mined, or turned into parking lots in the name of "progress."

​It’s crazy how quickly society jumps to defend the 'sacred' history of a modern building, while treating thousands of years of living Indigenous connection as just real estate.

11/07/2026

🖤💛❤️ Standing United in Sorrow: Sorry Business for Our Nation ❤️💛🖤

​Our Yugambeh Mununjali community has been shaken to its core this week by a devastating loss that reaches across generations. On Monday, 6 July, six-year-old Ari ("Ari Bear") was involved in a tragic car accident at Gleneagle. Surrounded by the deep, enduring love of his family, our beautiful jarjum gained his wings on Friday, 10 July. 😭

​Ari is the precious grandson of one of our deeply respected community Elders. When a tragedy of this magnitude touches those who carry our history and guide our people, the heartbreak is felt by the entire Nation.❤️‍🔥

​Out of absolute respect for the family and the heavy weight of Sorry Business currently resting on our community, the decision was made to cancel the Mununjali NAIDOC Gala. Right now, celebrating is put aside so we can do what matters most: wrap our Elder, their children Sharni and Bradley, and the entire family in our collective strength and love.💜

​Even through the unimaginable pain of losing their boy, Sharni and Bradley made the profoundly selfless decision to honor Ari’s spirit through organ donation. Because of this gift, two young children and two adults have been given a future. It is a powerful legacy of generosity that reflects the very spirit of our people. 🦅

​As a one-income family of five, Ari's parents now face the grueling journey of navigating this grief while supporting his siblings—Van, Xavier, Levi, and Marlowe. The physical and emotional toll is immense, with Ari's grandmother and cousin also recovering from injuries sustained in the crash.

​When one part of our Nation hurts, we all carry the weight. We are calling on all Yugambeh mob, the Beaudesert community, and the wider public to step up and support this family. Let us ease their financial burden so they can grieve, heal, and hold each other tight without the added pressure of the outside world.

​How you can stand with them:
👉 Donate to the GoFundMe: Any contribution helps give the family the vital time away from work they need.
👉 Share this post: Help us spread this message across the community and beyond to maximize support.

​We stand strong together, carrying our Elders and our jarjums in our hearts. 👣🫂

​Forever six. Forever loved. Forever remembered. 🕊️

No parent should ever have to endure the heartbreak of losing a child. On Mo… Tracy Ward needs your support for "Forever Six" Supporting Ari Bears Family

29/05/2026

I believe this protest is still going ahead on Sunday - https://www.facebook.com/events/2027999931125654/

UPDATE:
I see a bunch of man-babies in the comments having a sook that people have been exercising their democratic right to peaceful protest, so I thought I'd highlight a few points...

1. Before the 2024 Queensland state election, Premier David Crissafulli promised REPEATEDLY that he would not build Olympic stadiums in Barrambin/Victoria Park. He promised it like five different times in different media interviews and pre-election debates. Then shortly after the election, he broke that promise.

If people DON'T protest when politicians break major election promises, we're just rewarding those politicians for misleading the public.

2. The premier still doesn't actually know for sure how much it will cost to build these new Olympic stadiums. There's no business case or detailed design (just a couple pretty pictures a graphic designer knocked up). We can be pretty confident that his initial $4 billion estimate is gonna turn out to be way too low and that this project (IF it goes ahead) will suffer major cost blowouts.

How is the Premier proposing to pay for that cost blowout? In large part, through asset sales...

Across Queensland, the LNP are selling off government-owned land which was earmarked either for public/affordable housing, or for parkland. So they're building over Brisbane's largest inner-city park, AND selling off other chunks of current/future parkland in places like Woolloongabba and West End to pay for it. But those asset sales still won't cover the full cost.

Ultimately, to pay for these stadiums, the LNP are gonna have to reduce funding for stuff like schools, hospitals, regional road repairs, homelessness support services etc.

Basically they're telling us "Sorry, we can't afford to help Queenslanders keep a roof over their heads, but we CAN afford to write a blank cheque to build Olympic stadiums, which, by the way, also means there will be less construction workforce capacity for other stuff we actually need like housing."

3. For people saying stuff like "No-one ever mentioned this was a significant Aboriginal site back when it was a golf course!" that's actually just bu****it. Aboriginal people have been identifying that this is a historically and culturally significant area for generations - there are plenty of articles, stories etc about it. Just because you never heard about it, doesn't mean it didn't happen.

When you think about it, it makes perfect sense that while the site was just being used as a golf course/park, no-one kicked up too much of a fuss. People are protesting now because the level of destruction that the stadiums will cause is far greater than those previous land uses... cutting down 150-year-old trees, digging up an underground natural spring... damage like that can't be reversed or offset once it's done.

4. People who are like "The Olympic stadiums have to happen - just get out of their way!" seem to be forgetting that the way the Olympics is currently structured in terms of contractual agreements with the International Olympics Committee etc, the economic benefits overwhelmingly flow to big corporations and mega-wealthy elites. Big developers/construction companies profit off the lucrative blank cheque construction projects... Major media corporations profit off the lucrative advertising contracts... Parasitic business models like Airbnb profit off the conversion of homes into hotel rooms... I could go on all day.

The point is: You've been sold a lie. You're told hosting the Olympics is 'good for the economy' but in reality it's good for multinational corporations and bad for locals.

And don't spin me that nonsense about how even though it's a huge waste of money the Olympics is still ok because "it creates jobs" If a government spends $5 billion or $10 billion on ANYTHING it's gonna create a lot of jobs. But I'd rather they created jobs building housing for the homeless or improving energy security than this nonsense.

Right now, major party politicians and business elites are manipulating you into thinking the Olympics is a good deal for Queenslanders when actually it's a hospital pass that will cause serious long-term economic harm to the state.

I'm glad people have been protesting, and I'm glad people will continue protesting over the coming years.

The government signed us up to host the Olympics without asking Queenslanders if we even wanted it. Then they committed billions towards building stadiums we don't actually need after they promised not to.

If we don't protest when they screw over ordinary people like this, when WILL we step up and demand change?

ONE MORE LITTLE ADDENDUM COS MULTIPLE PEOPLE ARE BRINGING THIS UP:
I have a lot of contempt for the modern Labor party. I think they've done heaps of terrible things for this state and the country as a whole and have generally led us in the wrong direction.

But the factual reality is that the original proponents of Brisbane hosting the Olympics were the Liberal National Party lord mayor and councillors of Brisbane City Council. The LNP started strongly pushing a Brisbane Olympics almost a decade ago. QLD Labor was initially resistant, but then LNP Mayor Adrian Schrinner and former LNP Mayor Graham Quirk got Liberal Prime Minister Scott Morrison on board.
Both the LNP-controlled Brisbane City Council and the Liberal federal government started pressuring Queensland Labor to back the Olympics and eventually Palaszczuk signed us up for it. That was a terrible decision and she deserves to be criticised for it. But all this LNP spin that "Labor got us into this mess" is ignoring the fact that the LNP were calling for a Brisbane Olympics first and drove the bid to host.

By all means be angry at Labor, but don't let the LNP off the hook.

Signing up for the Olympics was a big mistake, and both the major parties are equally to blame.

ORIGINAL POST:
Apparently police are trying to forcibly move on Aboriginal people from their campsite in the next few hours (even though the premier previously suggested this wouldn't happen until next week)

26/04/2026

Some local Yugambeh history 🦅👣

Each day, my mum, Joyce Frater (Byerley), sits beside the river she has called home for most of her 94 years, the Broadwater at Southport.

This is the place where she played, learned, and grew up alongside many other First Nations families. She once lived on a houseboat at Macintosh Island with her husband, where they fished and passed down important cultural skills to their children, from fishing, to gathering oysters from the rocks, to picking berries.

Every day, she shares stories of this Country, the changes she has witnessed, the growth of the Gold Coast, and the deep connections with families from the Gold Coast and Tweed River. She tells these stories to her children, Trish, Geoff, Erica, and Linda, who still live on Country. Ann is in Perth, and Jocelyn continues to stay connected to culture while advocating for Mob in Evans Head.

Joyce grew up in Southport on Ferry Road with her mum, Lena Byerley (Bostock), and her brothers and sisters. She is the only one who remained in Southport. Her sister Margaret moved to North Queensland with her husband Lennard Graham, where they raised their children John, Peter, and Judith in Ayr. Shirley moved to Brisbane and had three children, Cheryl, Shane, and Jason. William moved to Sydney, Tom to Adelaide (his children Diane and Corina reconnected with family a few years ago), and Uncle Kenny returned to northern New South Wales, staying connected with family there while always travelling back home with his children Dion, Dwyane, Megan, and Tammy.

Mum may not be as quick on her feet as she once was, but her mind is strong, and her love for sharing stories remains as powerful as ever.

These stories, this history, this connection to Country, they live on through her.

- by Aunty Erica Eurell