Gumbaynggir is classified as one of the two Gumbaynggiric languages of the Pama–Nyungan family. In 1986 the Muurrbay Aboriginal Language and Culture Co-operative was established by Gumbaynggirr elders to revive their language and hand it on. Language classes began in 1997, and by 2010 some several hundred people had some partial grasp of the language.
Culture
Muurrbay in Gumbaynggir means the white fig tree and plays an important part in the Gumbaynggir Yuludarla. The Gumbaynggirr made sweets by rolling tender shoots from the Acacia irrorata in the sap oozing from the tree.
was the first European to make contact with the local Aboriginal community when he explored the upper reaches of the Nambucca and Bellinger Rivers in March 1841. Three decades later, loggers began to work their way up through the Orara River cedar stands in the 1870s. Over c.1873-1874 J.W. Lindt produced photographs of local indigenous people both in their environment and conducting actual traditional ceremonies in the Clarence River district, and made portraits in his studio. Contemporary commentary records them as "the first successful attempt at representing the native blacks truthfully as well as artistically." The Sydney Morning Herald, of 24 November 1874 expanded on what made the photographs attractive to Europeans; The report clearly sets out a cynical nostalgia for the traditional ways of these people made sentimental by noting their 'decreasing numbers', expressing a common attitude amongst the colonists that the indigenous populations were doomed. However, the individuals in Lindt's group portraits and their clans and languages, are not named, the 'scenery' is generic, and the accessories not those of the people depicted. In clearing the land, the loggers opened up the prospect of selectorsto squat on the tribal territories in the early 1880s. Soon after, in that same decade, a shepherd was murdered in the area and a hunting party was dispatched to exact revenge, resulting in the Red Rock Massacre. The slaughter started at Blackadder Creek where the Gumbaynggirr were camping. Mounted troopers entered the camp and began shooting. Those who fled were tracked down to the Corindi Creek where more were shot. Those who survived were driven to the headland and herded off the rocks into the sea. The hunters kept shooting at the swimmers, but some hid in a cave and made their way to Corindi Lake further south. One of the survivors was the present day elder Tony Perkins' grandmother, who crouched down in a thicket of bulrushes with a child in her arms. After a court battle lasting two decades, the Gumbaynggirr claim to much of the reserve around the site in 2014 was confirmed by the New South Wales Land and Environment Court.
Current population
Today current Gumbaynggirr population in the area of this tribe is about 18,000. The Gumbaynggir are an active people who recently represented themselves at the "New Way" Sovereignty SummitCanberra Conference convened by 1972 Aboriginal Tent Embassy. Four last living Leaders and Gamilaraay elected Sovereign SpokesmanMichael Anderson.
