The title of this artwork is Gugamai. The artist Lois Cook describes it as being a story about the first womens gathering and the teachings of the Seven Sisters star seed Dreaming connection to the creation of Mother Earth, its lores and the divine feminine.

Along the Coastal Walk ...

For thousands of years Aboriginal people have gathered here. Many sites containing physical evidence of past Aboriginal land use remain within the wider local area.

These sites include bora grounds and ceremonial grounds at Lennox Head, fish traps in the nearby creek, burials, cultural places, story places, middens, campsites, artefact scatters, isolated finds, scarred or carved trees and culturally significant trees.

For Aboriginal people, these sites are interconnected to the water, air, sky and earth, and to a deep spirituality that is linked with Dreaming stories and cultural lore, passed down through millennia as part of a living cultural heritage.

“We have lived here on the coast for thousands of years. Our rich cultural and spiritual connection to Country is told in story, handed down from our Ancestors give us a deep connection to Country and the place we call home. I see these stories in the landscape when I sit on the headlands.” Lois Cook 2021

In a recorded interview in 2021, Aunty Millie Cameron was asked what intrigued her about this place.

Language on Country

Rick Cook is a local Nyangbul Elder and language teacher who has worked in education for the past 40 years teaching on Bundjalung Country.

“Language goes with Country; they go hand in hand. Knowing language helps us better understand Country.”

The Aboriginal language words presented here are based on the broader Bundjalung language and include some words specific to the Nyangbul of the Lower Richmond, as such some spelling and pronunciation may vary from the neighbouring language dialects. Local Aboriginal language teacher Rick Cook suggests the following pronunciation of short and long vowels:

SHORT VOWELS

a - as in but: 

e - as in pet:

i - as in pit: 

u - as in cut

LONG VOWELS

aa - as in palm: 

ee - as in there: 

ii - as in bee: 

uu - as in school

Rick Cook translates the name of this node “Headland Gathering Place” as ngamgirr (headland) blag-gan-mee-baa (gathering place).

He has provided the following language words to describe the other signage nodes.

16. wala-wala (sharing) duumgan buugaam (wave) Sharing the Perfect Wave

14. buru-garra (freshwater) Freshwater Wetland 

13. blag-gan-mee (community) jagun (Country) Community on Country 

12. jaarul (boulder/stone/rock) gawgam (beach) blag-gan-mee-baa (gathering place) Boulder Beach Gathering Place

11. nguur-gawahny Seasonal Connections 

10. yan-giwa (return – come) jagun (Country) Renewing Country 

9. burragaarr (coastal) nyaa-bii-lee (lookout) Coastal Lookout

8. jaawa (sharpe) gawgum (beach) nyaa-bii-lee (lookout) Sharpes Beach Lookout

7. bumay (flat) jaarul (boulder/stone/rock) nyaa-bii-lee (lookout) Flat Rock Lookout 

6. guuriiaabuu (cultural) blag-gan-mee-baa (gathering place) Cultural Gathering Place

5. nguhr-gawahny (seasonal change) Guided by the Seasons 

4. maamgaa-nuniny Fibres and Food

3. yuudjii gaagamaa Moving Campsites

2. gayiba (put in) jaalii (tree) Landscape Regeneration

1. blag-gan-mee-baa (gathering place) nuthungullii (place of old people) East Ballina Gathering Place

Additional information on local language words can be found at guuriiaabuu blag-gan-mee-baa Cultural Gathering Place (Node 6).

Cutout panel artwork credits

Metal panel artwork credits: Digby Moran, Lois Cook.