Our Claim

On 29 June 2016, at the Moranbah Community Hall, Justice Dowsett granted the Barada Barna People their Consent Determination.

This determination recognises the Barada Barna People as the Traditional Owners of the land we are on today. The moment was bittersweet, as Justice Dowsett had previously been the judge who dismissed the Barada Barna People’s original claim.

See the map to see what area the Barada Barna People are the recognised Traditional Owners of Barada Barna Land.

The Barada Barna Native Title journey began in late 1993, when the late Uncle Frank Budby objected to the construction of the Burton Gorge Dam. The proposed site was too close to cave paintings that he and his family had visited while his children were growing up.

As a young man, Uncle Frank worked on cattle properties with his father, and it was during that time that he learned about the cave paintings. From then on, he became increasingly involved in fighting for the rights of our people.

Together with the late Norman Brown, Frank began working in 1994 to lodge the first Native Title claim with the National Native Title Tribunal. This claim was submitted in 1997 as BBKY#1 (Barada Barna Kabalbarra Yetimarla), representing the four groups in the region. That initial claim was later replaced by BBKY#2, followed by BBKY#3 and BBKY#4 between 2001 and 2008.

Our Ancestors

Through extensive anthropological research, ten apical ancestors have been identified in Barada Barna history. All Barada Barna descendants today can trace their lineage back to these ancestors.

The Common Law Holders comprise all the descendants of:

• Bob Lotus
• Lizzy Payne
• Daisy (wife of Booya McDonald)
• Maggie (wife of Toby Barker, Peter Darwin and Michael Angus)
• “Polly” Mary (wife of Robert Noble and Bert Fox)
• Lizzie (wife of Paddy Flynn)
• Polly (wife of Thomas Mitchell)
• Lucy Ross
• Laura (wife of “Duke “George Barker, “Neddy” Teddy Sauney and Adam Bowen)
• Charles Budby (father of George “Salt Bush” Budby)

New Claims

In 2008, a new claim was lodged and registered with the National Native Title Tribunal (NNTT). This was the Barada Barna People’s claim, and the applicants were Uncle Frank Budby, Uncle Les Budby, and Uncle Cecil Brown Jr, three individuals who spoke on behalf of the Barada Barna People.

Everything was progressing smoothly until 2012, when Justice Dowsett unfortunately decided to deregister the Barada Barna claim due to a lack of evidence.

The applicants appealed the decision in the High Court of Australia. The appeal process took two years, and during that time, two other Native Title claims were lodged within the Barada Barna claim area: the Widi People’s Claim and the BKY Claim (Barada Kabalbarra Yetimarla).

The BKY Claim was not registered, as the applicants objected to both of the new claims. However, the Widi Claim was successfully registered.