Cummeragunja Reserve, Aboriginal community reserve near Murray River, New South Wales, Australia
Cummeragunja Reserve is a Yorta Yorta community territory on the Murray River in New South Wales, Australia, made up of residential and farming land. The area sits along the riverbank and consists of family lots alongside fields that the community works and manages.
In 1881, 42 Yorta Yorta men at Maloga Mission petitioned Governor Augustus Loftus for land; the village moved to a new 1,800-acre site in 1888, and the Cumeroogunga Mission Church reopened there at Easter 1889. The Aborigines Protection Association ran the station until 1892, when the government's Board for the Protection of Aborigines took over. The 1909 Aborigines Protection Act and its 1915 amendments gave the Board power to remove residents and children, and in March 1984 the Yorta Yorta Land Council took possession of the land.
The name has been recorded as Cumeroogunya, Coomeragunja, Cumeroogunga and Cummerguja; it was given by a superintendent appointed by the New South Wales Aborigines Protection Association. Most residents were Yorta Yorta, and the Cumeroogunga Mission Church, moved from Maloga, reopened for worship on Easter Monday 1889. Many families still live on the reserve.
Access to the reserve requires advance permission from the community, so it is best to reach out directly and well before any planned visit. Taking time to ask about local protocols beforehand helps ensure the visit goes smoothly for both sides.
The 1939 Cummeragunja walk-off began when residents drained the station's water tanks and burned their clothes and supplies before crossing the Murray River to the Victorian side. An estimated 500 people left, protesting poor conditions and the Board's control of farm profits and rations.
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