Kuringgai (also spelt Ku-ring-gai, Kuring-gai, Guringai) is a name referring to an Indigenous Australian people of New South Wales.
In 1892, John Fraser used the term Kuringgai (Ku̇riġgai in his phonetic notation) to refer to the people inhabiting a large stretch of the central coastline of New South Wales.
| “ | The next great tribe is the Kuringgai on the sea coast. Their ‘taurai’ (hunting ground or territory) is known to extend north to the Macleay River, and I found that southwards it reached the Hawkesbury. then after, by examining the remains of the language of the natives about Sydney and southwards, and by other tests, I assured myself that the country thereabout was occupied by sub-tribes of the Kurringgai. [sic] | ” |
According to Fraser, the Kuringgai were bordered by the Wachigari and the Paikalyung to the north, the Kamalarai to the northwest, the Wiradhari to the west and the Murrinjari to the south.
However, Norman Tindale would later say in 1974 that “the Awabakal are the central one of a series of tribes to which the arbitrary term Kuringgai has been applied by Fraser.” He divided the area Fraser labelled Kuringgai into several tribes, including the Tharawal, Eora, Dharuk, Darkinjang, Awabakal, Worimi, Birpai, Ngamba, and others.
The clan groups are the Garigal, Cammeragal, Borregegal, Awaba, Walkeloa with hundreds more the dialect was Guringai. They were hunters and Gatherers within their land.
The Guringai lives were dictated by the seasons and the seasonal travels throughout their lands, with great ceremony.
The Guringai still live in their traditional homelands.
Today
A number of things have been named after the Kuringgai, including:
- Ku-Ring-Gai Chase Cricket Club
- Electoral district of Ku-ring-gai
- Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital
- Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
- Ku-ring-gai Creative Arts High School
- Ku-ring-gai Council
- Mount Ku-ring-gai
- Kuring-gai College of Advanced Education, after 1989 part of University of Technology, Sydney
References
- Threlkeld, L. E. (1892). John Fraser. ed. An Australian Language as spoken by the Awabakal the people of Awaba and Lake Macquarie (Near Newcastle, New South Wales) being an account of their Language, Traditions, and Customs. Sydney: Charles Potter, Government Printer.
- Tindale, Norman Barnett (1974). Aboriginal Tribes of Australia: Their Terrain, Environmental Controls, Distribution, Limits and Proper Names. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-02005-7.
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