traditional

Indigenous Australians have occupied the Atherton Tablelands for tens of thousands of years. While the oldest human occupation site found in the region is Walkunder Arch Cave at Chillagoe, which dates to 18 000 years,1 pollen analysis shows that the frequency of fires beginning around 45 000 years ago is indicative of human occupation. At the time of European arrival, the eastern, rainforest-covered part of the tableland was the home of the Djirrbal and Ngadjonji tribes who were part of the Djirrbalngan language group. The drier, more open forests to the west were peopled by the Jidabal and Barbarum, while the northern end around Kuranda was the domain of the Yidinji. There were elements of aboriginal culture on the Atherton Tablelands that differed from other areas of Australia. As around Cairns and the coastal region, it was observed by J.V. Mulligan, and others that some of the aboriginal camps were 'semi-permanent,' and resembled townships. Cleared areas and walking tracks were maintained, and the people were not strictly nomadic. The coming of white settlers caused great disruption to the aboriginal traditional way of life. There was frontier warfare, dislocation, starvation, and instances of wholesale massacres of groups of blacks. It is estimated that the population of aborigines in the Cairns-Tableland region was reduced to less than 20% in just 20 years. After the period of frontier warfare, surviving aborigines were subject to the protectionist policies of the government. Aborigines were removed from their traditional lands and placed on government reservations or church missions. Despite attempts to exterminate the original people of the tablelands, and policies designed to remove them from their homeland, indigenous people have survived, and have more recently been recognized as the original owners of the land. Source: athertontablelandnetguide.com/history/tableland-history.htm

Music and dance are important to Aboriginal culture. They are used as part of everyday life and to mark special occasions. Songlines tell stories of the Creation and Dreamtime as Aboriginals made their journeys across the desert, while other sacred music is used in ceremonies. By singing the songs in the appropriate order indigenous Australians could navigate vast distances in the hostile desert environment. Source: developmenteducation.ie/feature/a-focus-on-aboriginal-aus...

Sir Donald Charles Cameron, KCMG, DSO, VD (19 November 1879 – 19 November 1960) was an Australian politician and soldier. He was a member of the Australian House of Representatives as the Nationalist Party of Australia member for Brisbane from 1919 to 1931 and as the United Australia Party member for Lilley from 1934 to 1937 Born in Brisbane, the son of a grazier, he was educated at Toowoomba Grammar School and Brisbane Grammar School. He served with the Queensland Imperial Bushmen in the Second Boer War and with American forces in China during the Boxer Rebellion. He managed the family property, Kensington Downs, along with his brothers between 1902 and 1914, when he enlisted in World War I. He was shot through the liver and lung at the Battle of Gallipoli, and finished the First World War as a lieutenant colonel in command of the 5th Light Horse Regiment. He was mentioned in despatches, received the Order of the Nile, and was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George for his war service.[1][2] In 1919 he won the seat of Brisbane for the Nationalist Party of Australia, holding it until he was defeated by the Australian Labor Party in 1931. In 1934 he won the nearby seat of Lilley, but retired in 1937. In 1932 he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George.[2 During World War II, Cameron was chairman of the New South Wales recruiting committee for the Royal Australian Air Force. He died on 19 November 1960 and was cremated; his ashes were buried in the family cemetery on Home Creek Station. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Charles_Cameron_(politician)