Aboriginal Facts

The Worimi were a tribe of Australian Aboriginals living around Port Stephens, New South Wales, Australia, before european settlement.

Below are some observations and opinions that have appeared in print from people who had contact with them prior to 1900.

At the time of white settlement there were about 400 Aborigines living around the estuary of Port Stephens.

The tribe had only 50 members in 1873. By 1900 there were very few tribal Aborigines left. White observers at that time left some descriptions of a lifestyle now mostly gone.

One observer wrote that the Port Stephens Aborigines were more prone to laughter than tears. They seemed always to regard life as a huge joke to be enjoyed to the utmost.

The local environment was favourable for hunter-gatherer living. Their non-destructive lifestyle was in such sympathy with the environment that it had already lasted tens of thousands of years and would have continued long into the future if the white invasion had not taken place.

Their knowledge of the plants and animals about them has not been surpassed. Canoes were made from the bark of the Stringybark tree (Punnah) E. obliqua or She Oak. The ends were plugged with clay and when in use a fire always burned on a bed of clay at the back.

Paddles made of seasoned hardwood were shaped like a large spoon and these paddles were used in a kneeling position from the middle of the 4.5m canoe. Fishing lines were made from the inner bark of young Kurrajong trees or Sally Wattle twisted, and rendered watertight by soaking in the sap of the Bloodwood tree.

Women of the tribe had the first joint of their little finger removed to be dropped in the fishing grounds so that fish would be attracted to that hand. It was forbidden to fish if you had just eaten fruit.

Fishing spears were made from the flowering stem of the Gymea Lily or the Grass Tree and tipped with 4 prongs of ironbark, the lot was held together with yellow gum (grass tree).

Port Stephens Aborigines were fatalistic. They feared attacks by the Myall River natives. All feared the demons of the night especially Cooen - a terrible invisible being. Fame Cove was taboo after dark.

Boomerangs were made from wild Myrtle. The young flowering spikes of the Gymea Lily were roasted in the fire after a long soaking in water. The wild Cape Gooseberries that grew on Cabbage Tree Island were highly sought after. Fern root and daisy yam were eaten when fish were scarce.

There are numerous Aboriginal relic sites in the area, the most obvious being the "Canoe Trees" at Little Beach. The exact location of the various sites is restricted information.

In an area stretching from Wallis Lake to Newcastle there are 37 recorded Ceremonial sites (stone arrangements, bora grounds, carved trees and burial sites), 115 recorded campsites (mia mia, scarred tree, open campsite, shelter with deposit, well, fish trap, abraded grooves and quarries) and 97 middens. Four middens and a burial site are located at the base of Yacaaba Head.

Middens are located at Fingal Spit, Anna Bay, Schnapper Point, Boat Harbour, Skate Bay and Fishermans Bay. There is a burial site at Skate Bay and grinding grooves at Morna Point.