My great grandfather and grandmother were Bundjalung Aboriginal people from the Far North Coast of New South Wales in Australia. Whilst researching their tribal history I came across a legend describing the forefathers of our tribes as follows:
Bundjalung nation; their ancestors are the three brothers, Mamoonh, yar Birrain and Birrung, who are said to have come from the sea. The brothers, along with their grandmother, arrived in a canoe made from the bark of a hoop pine. As they followed the coastline, they found a rich land sparsely populated. they landed at the mouth of the Clarence river and stayed there for a long time, then, leaving their grandmother behind they continued on in their canoe heading up the east coast. At one place they landed and created a spring of fresh water. They stopped along the coast at various places and populated the land. they made the laws for the Bundjalung and also the ceremonies of the boo circle.
For your information: The Bundjalung people are a large Aboriginal nation, a federation of a number of groups of clans which occupy the land from the Clarence river of northern New South Wales north to the town of Ipswich in southern Queensland. The names of these groups are Aragwal, Banbai, Birbai, Galiabal, Gidabal, Gumbainggeri, Jigara, Jugambal, Jugumbir, Jungai, Minjungbal, Ngacu, Ngamba, Thungutti and Widjabal.
After talking with some elders here including prof. Uncle John Maynard (Head of Indigenous studies, Newcastle Uni) it is thought that 'across the sea' would mean from Norfolk Island which would probably mean that the Three Brothers and their Grandmother were some of the first Maori explorers who's explorations as you know culminated in populating Hawai'i. I'm sure they decided to stop there because of the great surf : )
To those of you who have had the patience to read this 'Mahalo' and I await your thoughts.
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