Ceremony and Place

Within the Ceremony and Place section, you will explore important cultural places, stories, celebrations, and traditions connected to Country. Discover special locations such as the Glass House Mountains and learn about their meaning, history, and connection to cultural knowledge and storytelling.

This section also introduces cultural gatherings and ceremonies, including traditions such as the Bunya Dreaming and aspects of men’s making ceremonies, helping students build a deeper understanding of connection, respect, community, and cultural practices.

Grinding Stones 

Durn or Buar on the Sunshine Coast is connected to the rich cultural landscapes, stories, waterways, mountains, animals, and gathering places of the Kabi Kabi people, the Traditional Custodians of much of the Sunshine Coast region. The area holds deep connections to Country, seasonal movement, bunya gatherings, storytelling, and learning through nature and community. Across the Sunshine Coast, many place names and cultural sites still carry strong Aboriginal meanings linked to animals, waterways, plants, spirit, and place.

Note: The Landsborough Grinding Grooves were also an important food processing and gathering place. Alongside the making and sharpening of stone axes, families processed and prepared staple foods including black bean, bunya nuts, bunwal fern tubers, and lomandra seeds, which could be ground into flour. Knowledge of harvesting, soaking, cooking, and preparing these foods was passed from generation to generation, making the site an important centre for learning, food production, and community life on Country.

 

 

  • Family Place 

  • The Grinding Grooves at Landsborough were important family and learning places where Aboriginal people gathered to share knowledge, teach younger generations, and work together on Country. These grooves were created over many years by sharpening and shaping stone axes on the rock surfaces.

    The area was also used for processing traditional foods, including preparing black bean after careful treatment to make it safe to eat. Places like this were not only practical work areas, but also important spaces for learning, storytelling, and passing cultural knowledge between generations.

     
     

Festivals and Gatherings

Bunya festival 

The Bunya Dreaming Festival was a large cultural gathering connected to the bunya nut harvest in the Bunya Mountains and surrounding regions of South East Queensland. Different Aboriginal groups travelled long distances to attend, including people from Kabi Kabi, Wakka Wakka, Jinibara, and many other neighbouring Countries.

These gatherings were important times for sharing stories, trade, ceremony, marriages, law, games, dancing, and strengthening relationships between communities. The bunya season brought people together peacefully to celebrate culture, share knowledge, and collect bunya nuts as an important food source.

Today, traditional large-scale gatherings no longer happen in the exact same way they once did, but the spirit of the Bunya gatherings continues through cultural festivals, community events, storytelling, dance, and ongoing cultural practices across the region.

 
 

  • Family Place 

  • People came from all over to compete in the games 

  • If you were promised or in love you could get married at the festival