The Traditional owners of the Maneroo, the Limestone Plains and the Southern Alps are the Ngarigu Language Group. Prior to European Settlement and for almost 100 years after, the Ngarigu lived in harmony around the ACT and the surrounding Mountains.
Early explorers and historians such as; A.W. Howitt, Angus McMillan, Mathews, Robinson, Major Currie and others document the Mundy headmen as informants, trackers, horsemen and assistants and being of the Ngarigu ‘tribe’ and Currawong Aborigines.
In modern ethnologies and anthropological reports it is clear that the Ngarigu occupied the Monaro (Limestone Plains and beyond) and the Mundy Family are of Ngarigu descent. The Mundy family are the descendants of Old Mundy, mentioned in the historical record.
We also acknowledge and welcome all people who relate as Ngarigu and everyone that has connection to country. There are many families who do not yet have recognition and we hope this is the beginning of the recognition for ALL Ngarigu.
As Hunter-Gatherers in a harsh then lush environment as the seasons passed, they had to take their needs for shelter, water and food as a daily priority.
The Ngarigu clock has no hands and no minutes or hours.
It requires listening to the birds for the time of day or a weather change, the sun and stars, the moon, the flowers and trees, to know when to move on and how quickly.
The weather in the High Country changes rapidly.
The higher you go, the quicker and more ruthless the changes in weather become, even in Summer. Fortunately for the Ngarigu they have an abundant source of food, water and traversable gullies throughout their boundaries.
River and Marsh systems were available from Ginninderra Falls in the North to the lower Snowy in the South. The two protective walls of the Great Dividing Range on the West and Eastern boundaries of the Monaro were sources of protection and food. Within this boundary there are low lands, grasslands and sparse plains.
Many things indicate the changing of the seasons for the Ngarigu people. Living in the High Country allows a perfect aspect of the Southern Constellations. The Ngarigu could tell the coming and going of the seasons by the movements of the stars.
In Summer an important ceremony for the men was climbing the granite peaks of Jajungul, Mt. Bonang, Mt. Coree and other peaks along the Divide, to eat Bogong moths. Yam Daisy collecting by the women in the low lands and women’s ceremonies mirrored this activity.
The Ngarigu men used the Bogong moth meetings as a time for Law and a renewal of their traditions used to develop initiates.
The nature of these meetings was to invite all the language groups in the surrounding area to participate with a softening of tribal boundaries and allowances to share a common Custom and Law.
This was also a time for the old men to ‘discuss’ tribal boundaries, initiations, marriages and disputes. These were sometimes heated and resulted in discipline. As with other Aboriginal traditions elsewhere in Australia, the Mountain men also separated the Law and Power.
You can see in the oral and historical record of the Ngarigu their relationship with the local tribes.
There was a definite link between the Wolgal, the Jaithamatang, Dirringanj and Ngarigu as the historical record shows. It shows that Old Mundy (Ngarigu), Murray Jack (Wolgal) and Tongai (Krututalong) performed ceremonies and made decisions in consultation.
Three Lawmen to hold common and local Law where diplomacy and co-operation was needed. These ceremonies are bound by nature. A moth migration at a specific time of year, also determining place, correlated by the coming of the white flowers of the Daisy Yam.
Simple yet complex just like nature.
The climate determined what the Ngarigu could eat and this varied through out the year. Whatever was available at the time was food. As you go up the slopes above 1000 metres, depending on the seasonal temperatures, the blooming periods of some Alpine species vary, sometimes by months. The Ngarigu had to adapt to seasonal climatic changes.
Above 1500 metres it is only the hardy that survives. Plants, man or beast had to be made of the right stuff to survive.Only the Snow Gums and the Brajerak could stand a The Brajerak were considered wild men just like the conditions in the High Country.
Bird and insect migrations gave the Ngarigu other indicators for climate and food. The migrations appeared to use the same route each year over the mountains. Adult cuckoos would begin to migrate in January/February whilst the remaining younger and other cuckoos would migrate around March or April. Painted Honeyeaters would leave between February and March but by May all the Honeyeaters had gone.
By June the Winter migrations are over except for one sole visitor on the Monaro. From the South the Pink Robin arrives in Winter it’s leaving Gippsland probably meant something to the Kurnai as it heralded in the depths of Winter for the Ngarigu.
Local migrations from the colder High Lands to the warmer Low Lands continued through June. Currawongs and Gang Gang Cockatoos all invade the Low Lands in Winter. The arrival of Currawongs in the Lowlands meant frosts on the hills. Winter is also the breeding time for Thorn Bills and Black-Backed Magpies.
As the weather cools a lot of plants will go into hibernation. A few flowering ground orchids are around still through Winter and fungi and mushrooms such as Parasol and Deliciousus are also available. Also flowering in Winter are the Wood Sorrell, Oxalis, Guinea Flower and the Common Reed which also continues in the diet through Winter
The first flower to appear as Spring approaches is the Early Nancy, which can be found in damp places in late Winter letting the Ngarigu know that the cold is almost over.
Spring’s arrival comes with the flowers of the native cranberry and the first wattle to flower is the Early Wattle-Acacia Diffusa and this can appear as early a June through to August.
Throughout August we see various wattles begin to flower as well as the false Sarsaparilla and Common Rice flower. By September there are many flowers such as the citronella-smelling pink flower of the Caladenia and the Parrot Peas with bright orange flowers.
At this time the Kangaroo Apple is also starting to appear. Also heralding that Spring is complete are the white flowers of the Bearded Heath, a good time to go home.
Of course a lot of these patterns have changed since the coming of the white settlers.