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The first Ipswichians,
the Jagera, Yuggera and Ugarapul
peoples, have a history that stretches back through time with
cultural practices involving a complex interweaving of practical,
spiritual and environmentally sustainable behaviours.
With a culture built on sharing, the minimal disturbance of the
natural world and a reverence for natural land forms, a clash with the
European arrivals was inevitable. The new settlers didn’t understand
much of the indigenous culture and spiritual perspectives. They also
brought with them diseases such as the common cold, influenza,
small pox and tuberculosis to which the Aboriginal people had no
immunity. This combination of a lack of cultural understanding and
new and deadly diseases meant that the newcomers had a
devastating impact on the lives of the indigenous clans; an impact
that has continued to ripple through the generations.
By the end of the 1870s, the traditional lifestyle of seasonal
travelling and living sustainably was over for the indigenous peoples
of the Ipswich area. The carving up of the land into farms “owned”
by Europeans meant that access to traditional areas became
impossible. This fracturing of their traditional lifestyle meant that
many Aboriginal people gravitated towards the settler communities.
Many Aboriginal people worked in labouring jobs for the growing
community but a mission was also established at Deebing Creek.
Missions were religiously based establishments where Aboriginal
people were taught Christianity and a range of menial skills such as
housekeeping, sewing and farm labouring. Families were often
separated and the languages and cultural practices of thousands of
years were replaced with European ones. By 1900, Deebing Creek
Mission was taking in indigenous people from all over the state.
This meant that there were many different cultural groups placed
together at the mission, some of whom were taken from their
families hundreds of kilometres away. This taking by force of
Aboriginal people from their families, communities and land is now
known as The Stolen Generations. Deebing Creek Mission moved
to Purga in 1915 and continued until June 1948. The site of the Purga
Mission is now the home of the Purga Elders and Descendants
Aboriginal Corporation Inc Qld.
Ipswich today celebrates the first peoples of the region. In 2007, a
landmark agreement was reached between traditional land owners
and the Ipswich City Council. This means that indigenous sites of
significance in Ipswich will be better protected and recognised.
In 1998 Council developed an Indigenous Australian Accord to
strengthen the relationship between the local Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander community and Ipswich City Council. In the
Accord under the Theme of ‘Recognition’ Within the legislative
framework and principles of Social Justice, Ipswich City Council
acknowledges that the Indigenous Australians are the traditional
people of this land.
Despite the hardship and dislocation experienced in the past by so
many Aboriginal people of the Ipswich area, inspiring leaders have
emerged in a range of fields and cultural identity remains strong today.
“Each one of us put on this earth.
All have Our Rights Our Land Our Tribal Birth.”
- Margaret Armstrong, Purga Elder, Poet
the first
PEOPLES
8 Ipswich 150: 1860 – 2010
Proud Past - Exciting Future