The Mandingalbay Yidinji people have been living on the edge of the Great Barrier Reef among the Wet Tropics World Heritage rainforest for thousands of years. And now an Indigenous sisterhood is sharing a slice of their culture and country. Writer Ellie Seymour spends a day with the Mundraby sisters.
A white layer of morning mist hangs like cotton wool over gnarly mangrove trees. A blazing sun lurks behind the haze, keen to make its appearance. I’m floating down a winding river through ancient Queensland rainforest, the khaki-colored water ahead, perfectly still and glass-like, ripples as our boat passes through. Only its hum and the occasional call of a great white egret breaks the silence.
“The mangroves are the lungs of Mandingalbay Yidinji Country and part of our traditions for generations,” says guide Tamara Mundraby. “When they flower, we know it’s time for harvest; they mark the changing seasons and filter our water systems to provide a fresh and healthy habitat for food.”
Beads of sweat trickle down my back as I take in the magic of the riverscape, but I’m quickly distracted by a sturdy crocodile lolling on a muddy bank. “This is one of our famous saltwater crocodiles who call this river home,” says Tamara. “Not to be messed with.”
I’m on the East Trinity Indigenous Protected Reserve, a slice of tropical Mandingalbay land in Far North Queensland that straddles the Wet Tropics and Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Areas. It’s a vibrant, tidal wetland and I’m experiencing it in one of the most insightful ways possible—on the immersive Hands On Country Eco Tour with Mandingalbay Ancient Indigenous Tours.
These tours were founded by a trailblazing sisterhood of Indigenous guides. The Mundraby sisters—Joanne (34), Tamara (33), Tesla (33), Leeane (31), Brenda (28), and Leanne’s daughter, Sherily Ann (15) Mundraby—are proud of their culture and willing to share aspects of their family connection to country. Two of the sisters, Tamara and Leeane, are my guides for the day.
“If you go back a few generations, Aboriginal women weren’t allowed to work,” says Leeane. “And now that we are, it’s important that we do, to show our future generations how to live, like my daughter Sherily Ann. She’s only 15 but already can’t wait to host tours and share her knowledge, so it’s having the right effect.”
“It’s as though all my cares disappear when I’m among the trees. It also allows us to remember and feel closer to our sister, Joanne, who is now with us in spirit.”
- Tamara Mundraby, Mandingalbay Yidinji guide
Each Mundraby sister plays a role based on what they love doing. “Brenda’s the loud pretty one in all the photos, Tamara’s a people person and I drive the bus,” says Leeane, who explains that guiding people from around the world has also given them a greater sense of confidence. “It’s especially amazing to see how Tesla’s flourished,” she says. “She was the most unsociable person you could ever meet. Now she’s so loud you’d never have known.”
Between them, Leeane and Tamara have eight children, and although they both thrive on traditional family life, it’s already clear to me how much they value the independence and identity they get from working on country.
At the Mandingalbay Eco Tourism Facility, we ascend into lush rainforest. Butterflies flutter past my face and I spot a black-necked stork perched high in a tree. Leeane begins the traditional process of welcoming guests on to country using mugra, a clay-like material found in the rivers here.
“This is my favorite part,” she says, dipping her finger in water, rubbing it on the chunk of mugra and painting five dots on my forehead and a line down my nose. “The dots represent footsteps on country, and the line, your safe return home.”
Sitting on a fallen tree trunk, I listen as Leeane and Tamara explain that ‘Yidinji’ refers to their nation and ‘Mandingalbay’ is the tribe they belong to. “We’re one of seven tribes in the nation and one of the few happy to share stories about our culture and heritage,” says Leeane.
The Mandingalbay Yidinji people were recognized in 2006 by the Federal Court of Australia as the Native title holders of their land, and the Mandingalbay Yidinji Indigenous Protected Area with the East Trinity Reserve was established in 2011. Traditional owners have been working closely with the Australian Government and scientists to rehabilitate the area, after it was previously decimated by sugarcane farming. This involves cataloguing the flora, fauna and culturally significant places on the land. Today, the wetland’s recovery is well underway; the sisters point out the abundance of birds, fish and saltwater crocodiles in the area.
Walking along the Mayi Bugan Rainforest Trail, the sisters bring the native plants to life. “We like to think of the bush as our free supermarket, hardware store and pharmacy,” laughs Tamara, stopping to point out a scaled-down version of a gunyah, a temporary shelter constructed from bark, branches, leaves and grasses, made in the traditional way of the ancient Mandingalbay Yudinji people.
We look at a red beech tree, medium-sized with reddish-brown papery bark, whose leaves women would weave into nets and baskets. Men would have eaten the high-caffeine fruits, shaped like small pineapples, to give them energy to hunt. “Although have more than two,” Tamara warns, “and it could stop your heart.”
This work of the Mundraby sisters, the sharing of their culture with visitors, is in honor of their grandfather Alfred Mundraby, who was one of the two signatures to start the Native title process here.
At a rocky outcrop, we learn how to make wild bush soap by rubbing together the “soapy soapy leaves” of the red ash tree. “After a day of hunting and gathering, if you wanted to feel fresh, you would collect it, crush it, mix in some water and rub, rub, rub,” says Tamara, foaming suds appearing in her hands.
Tamara tells me that she finds healing in the landscape, and now that I’m immersed in it, I can understand why. “It’s as though all my cares disappear when I’m among the trees,” says Tamara. “It also allows us to remember and feel closer to our sister, Joanne, who is now with us in spirit.” We all pause for a moment.
As we make our way back to the ranger base, we’re reminded not to remove anything from the reserve. “Not even a tiny stone,” says Tamara. In Aboriginal culture, if you take something, “it’s going to follow you”. Tamara tells me she’s seen it happen, but doesn’t elaborate further.
This work of the Mundraby sisters, the sharing of their culture with visitors, is in honor of their grandfather Alfred Mundraby, who was one of the two signatures to start the Native title process here.
“He was well-respected by everyone in our community,” says Leeane. “He had an important influence on us when we were growing up and someone we looked up to, someone we wanted to make proud,” adds Tamara.
Alfred Mundraby was also one of the last of a generation of Mandingalbay Yidinji elders who were knowledge keepers. But the Mundraby sisters are doing their best to preserve their tradition and culture. And now, they’re sharing it with the world.
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Ellie Seymour is a freelance travel journalist and author based in Brighton, England, happiest exploring places away from the tourist crowds. Her writing credits include BBC Travel, The Independent, the i Paper, JRNY magazine, National Geographic Traveller, The Times, and others.
