Language Groups

According to language archival material collected by various people from Aboriginal informants between the years 1834 and 1902, the traditional languages of the New South Wales South-East Coast are:

  • Dharawal: The southern parts of Sydney and Botany Bay to Nowra
  • Dhurga: South of Nowra to Narooma inclusive of Braidwood and Araluen
  • Djiringandj: Narooma to Bega inclusive of Bermagui and Wallaga Lake and down to just north of Eden
  • Dhawa: Eden to the north-eastern parts of Victoria.

A dialect called Dharumba was spoken around Wandandian where the Dharawal and Dhurga merged. The names of other dialects are unknown.


Language Map 

The language map was created by, and is published here with permission from, Dianne Eades. The borders of each language group on the map are considered to be fluid, because traditionally the languages overlapped each other.

Welcome to the Yuin Digital Keeping Place. This website is intended to record and share information on events and people that have impacted on Yuin history, language and lifestyle. Over the coming years, we plan to keep improving and updating this website so that it can include an even wider and richer collection of stories from Yuin Families. We, the Yuin DKP Project Working Group, understand that language is living, and acknowledge that different spellings have been used throughout history. For this project, we've agreed to use the language spellings Dhurga, Djiringandj, and Dhawa. We invite the Yuin and wider community to explore and learn from this Digital Keeping Place.