History of Diddillibah

The local Kabi Kabi people lived on what is now known as the Sunshine Coast for thousands of years. First Nations culture, land and language are interwoven.

The Kabi Kabi clan living near the mouth of the Maroochydore River Entrance were recorded as Toombra (Steele,1983:178).

The ridge lines of what are now called Kiels Mountain and Rosemount acted as pathways to the coast, as did the creeks and the Maroochy River.

The name Diddillibah is a Kabi Kabi word for “place of the grass”. The grass referred to is commonly known as Lomandra and similar fibres from the area were used for basket making.

Additionally, Bli Bli derives its name from the prevalence of the she-oak or casuarina tree – Bilai. Note that a word repeated means “many of”. The bilai or she-oak was cut down by the Kabi Kabi people and placed in what is now called Petrie Creek and the edible grub that grew inside the wood was called kambou or gambou (Bell, 1994:37).

The area which incorporates Diddillibah was, and is highly significant, as burials occurred in nearby Rosemount.

Middens were found at other sites, e.g. Muller Park, Bli Bli.

Often a midden indicates a significant cultural site in the area. Foods such as oysters, which formed part of this midden, were easily gathered in the Maroochy River. The word for oyster in Kabi Kabi language was ti’bir (www.static1.squarespace.com) whereas around Toorbul it was ningi (Steele,1983:163).

Much of the early contact, conflict and work was initially recorded by men such as Andrew and Tom Petrie.

Andrew Petrie entered the colony in 1837 as Superintendent of Works and travelled widely in the area.

Earlier contacts were Bracewell, (known as Wandi meaning talks too much) and James Davis (known as Duramboi, kangaroo rat) both were well-known convict absconders from Moreton Bay Penal Colony and were returned from the north of this area by Andrew Petrie, (Tom Petrie’s father), in 1842 after living with First Nations people for years.

During 1842 – early 1843 First Nation groups meeting at various bora councils declared Europeans would not occupy this area and conflict ensued.

The Sunshine Coast was known then by Europeans as Bunya-bunya lands due to the massive amount of bunya pines.

Such were their cultural and resource importance to First Nations people that Governor Gipps issued the Bunya Proclamation in 1842 which banned the cutting down of these trees. This was revoked in 1860 and the area was opened to European settlers.

In 1862 Tom Petrie entered Petrie creek with First Nations people from the North Pine, Bribie Island (Yarun) and Nambour to cut cedar (Petrie, 1904:191-193).

The camp area where local Kabi Kabi people were employed from is now the Nambour Show Grounds but was a well-known camp for decades after European contact.

Initially there was conflict over resources with individual Europeans but some like Petrie worked well with local Kabi Kabi people. These 25 First Nations men insisted, at this time, on being branded with a P on their arm by Petrie, like his logs, so that they would not be killed by the Native Police (Petrie,1904:191-193). Native Police actions were used to remove First Nations resistance. In 1864 Lieutenant Wheeler of the Native Mounted Police “dispersed” Kabi Kabi people in the coastal area of Mooloolaba as they returned from a bunya gathering at Barun (Maleny). Wheeler was stationed at Sandgate from 1861 and he decimated the Kabi Kabi. Wheeler was later charged with murder in 1876 and fled to Batavia, in the Dutch East Indies and died in 1882 (Richards, 2008:96).

Initially Europeans entering this area were the timber getters, after red cedar (Petrie, 1904:191-193), hoop and bunya pine, she-pine and bollgum (Kerkhove,2018: 17).

There were skirmishes and some massacres. In 1865 a massacre is said to have occurred near the junction of Eudlo Creek and Maroochy River.

Also in 1865, Puram, a key local Kabi Kabi man, was shot and murdered while diving for kambo at Bli Bli. Puram only had one eye and had lost half a foot to a tiger shark while fishing and often accompanied Tom Petrie on cedar trips (Petrie,1904:201).

There was an Aboriginal bush ranger called “Captain Piper” who worked and lived in the Diddillibah area. He was accused of the murder of William Stephens in March 1866. Stephens was assistant to the curator of the Brisbane Botanical Garden. Captain Piper escaped from Mooloolaba and was not arrested until 1879 when he blamed another Kabi Kabi man Tommy Skyring for the death and was released due to lack of evidence (www.buderimhistoricalsociety.com). It said that he was a foreman of Petrie’s timber getting crew (Kerkhove,2018: 21). It is suggested that Piper was finally killed with poisons for other misdeeds among the Kabi Kabi people by Sambo in Brisbane (Petrie, 1904:218).

The Kabi Kabi were also weakened, overtime, by disease such as tuberculosis. Some transitioned from resistance into accommodation with timber getters and new farmers. In and after the 1890s, many were removed from this area and taken to Cherbourg. There were some who married into European families such as the Browns and South Sea Islander community like the Jones and Chilli families. Other families have returned to live on the Sunshine Coast and some Kabi Kabi descendants are still living in this specific area.

Written and researched by Peter Lawrence, Yugarapul man, historian and local resident of Kiels Mountain.

References:

Bell, Jeannie (1994) Dictionary of the Gubbi-Gubbi and Butchella Languages. Compiled by Jeannie Bell with assistance from Amanda Seed.
www.buderimhistoricalsociety.com 
Kerkhove, Ray (2018) Kabi Kabi Sites and the legendary Mountain Column (Sunshine Coast, Queensland) Don’t Make History a Mystery National Reconciliation Week May 2018.
Petrie, Constance (1904) Reminiscences of Early Queensland. Brisbane: Watson, Ferguson and Co.
Richards, Jonathan (2008) The Secret War: A True History of Queensland’s Native Police. St Lucia: University of Queensland Press.
www.static1.squarespace.com
Steele, John (1983) Aboriginal Pathways in Southeast Queensland and the Richmond River. St Lucia: University of Queensland Press.