Corner Country

Aboriginal Heritage

The largely waterless lands of  the Corner Country were traditionally occupied by several Aboriginal groups.  In the Milparinka area lived members of the Maliangaapa people, around Tibooburra were Wadigalis and Wangkumaras.

A fundamental understanding of the land and environment helped Aboriginal tribes to survive, especially their ability to find and conserve water.  Soaks and wells were dug in dry creek beds, holes gouged into the lower ends of claypans, and campsites established alongside creeks and waterholes. They carried water in bags of kangaroo skins, or in coolamons.  Many Europeans, both explorers and early settlers, could not have survived without the help of the Aboriginal people.

Trade routes and tracks were established across the desert to the west, to the north and east to the rivers.  Sturt recorded following one track for six hours, coming, in the end to a well full of water. Stone artefacts found in the Corner Country had their origins in quarries hundreds of kilometres away.

Settlement brought changes to life in the Corner Country.  Pastoralists spread their flocks of sheep and cattle across the region and competed with local Aborigines for water, and for grazing land. Often there were serious and tragic consequences. In time, however, many  Aboriginal people were employed on the newly formed stations, and were able to co-exist with pastoralists on their traditional lands. Others moved to local centres such as Tibooburra where they lived on the fringes of the township.

In 1909 the Aboriginal Protection Act was implemented, and in 1936 the Aboriginal Protection Board acquired the powers to remove Aborigines from "undesirable living areas". From Tibooburra, around 70 people were forcibly loaded onto trucks and taken to Brewarrina. Some found their way home to their tribal areas, but life for many was irreversibly damaged.

Across the Corner Country are many locations with traditional Aboriginal names, Milparinka and Tibooburra are just two.

REMAINS OF AN ABORIGINAL SHELTER, TRADITIONAL FIREPLACE, HAROLd HUNT, AUTHOR, "MEMOIRS OF THE CORNER COUNTRY",  BOOMERANG