The Wonnarua people, otherwise written Wanarruwa, are a group of Aboriginal Australian people united by strong ties of kinship, and who survived in family groups or clans scattered along the inland area of what is now known as the Upper Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia. Their creation spirit is Baiami, also known as Koin, the creator of all things and the Keeper of the Valley.
Language
The language of the Wonnarua was a dialect of the language spoken in the Hunter River and Lake Macquarie region. The original name of the language, if it ever existed, is not known. However, linguists, in order to group these closely related dialects together, use the term "language of the Hunter River/Lake Macquarie". The term denotes the geographical location of the closely related dialects; it is not the name of the language group. The area extends from north of the Hawkesbury–MacDonald River language and south of the Lower North Coast language. Exact geographical locations of the language groups are, at this stage, speculative.
Country
Their traditional territory, estimated to comprise an area extending over, spreads from the Upper Hunter River, above Maitland west to the Great Dividing Range, towards Wollombi. The Wonnarua were bounded to the south by the Awabakal, to the north–west by the Nganyaywana, to the north–east by the Awabakal, and to the south–east by the Worimi peoples. The Wonnarua also had trade and ceremonial links with the Kamilaroi people.
People
The Wonnarua, at the beginning of contact with whites, are estimated to have numbered around 500. The Gringai were a clan of the Worimi, whose traditional lands are in the Dungog area.
Native title
On behalf of the Plains Clans of the Wonnarua People, Scott Franks and Anor put in a native title claim on 19 August 2013. The document claimed rights over an area of roughly, embracing the catchment zone within the Great Dividing Range, the Liverpool Range, and the major rivers coming out of the Barringtons, under Yango. The claim included Singleton, Muswellbrook, Dungog, Maitland, and the shire council lands of the Upper Hunter. The legitimacy of the claim was recognised in January 2015 and duly registered in order to have a Federal Court deliberate over the claim and to make a determination. However, Franks' claim has been challenged by another claim lodged by the Wonnarua community at large who do not recognise Franks as a Wonnarua man. The matter is currently in mediation.
