Evans Head is of major cultural and historical significance for the Bandjalang People and wider Bundjalung Nation stretching north to Ballina, west to Casino and south to Iluka.
Dirawong Reserve to the east of Evans Head, including Goanna Headland and Snapper Rock, Snake Island in the Evans River, the Iron Gates on both sides of the River and Bundjalung National Park are regarded as one of the last intact coastal cultural landscapes for Aboriginal people in NSW. It is the subject of a complex series of spiritual/creation stories and therefore of spiritual significance for local descendants of First Nation people.
The importance of Aboriginal History and Culture has been recognised through successful Supreme Court Native Title Determinations, Bandjalang Claims #1,2,3.
In the mythology of Bundjalung Nation, the Dirawong (a goanna) is the Creator Being that taught the people various aspects of Aboriginal cultural and customs. Goanna Headland, at Evans Head (one of the most easterly points on mainland Australia), is believed to be the body of the mythical Dirawong.
Dirawong Reserve, or Goanna Headland, has been the mythological place of origin of the Bundjalung Nation for thousands of years. The tribal groups of the Bundjalung Nation call it “The Dirawong”. Within its landscape are many sacred, secret and ceremonial sites. To date some 24 archaeological sites have been located on Goanna Headland to the south of Evans Head Village.
The Evans Head and Ballina areas are renowned for a number of brutal massacres of First Nations people by British colonialists.
Evans Head Massacre: The 1842 massacre of 100 Bundjalung Nation First Nations people at Evans Head by the British, was variously said to have been in retaliation for the killing of ‘a few sheep’, or the killing of ‘five British men’ from the 1842 Pelican Creek tragedy. It is also referred to as the ‘Goanna Headland massacre’.
East Ballina Massacre: In 1853-4, at an area close to what is now East Ballina, the Native Police killed between 30 and 40 Bundjalung people, including men, women and children while they slept, and many who got away were badly wounded. It is believed that some Aboriginal people from north of the Tweed River had murdered some British and then had fled south towards the Richmond River
On the night prior to the raid, the police contingent, which included both Native Police trackers and British troopers, stayed at the Sailor’s Home – a Public House. The Aboriginal contingent camped out. At 3 am the following morning the Native Mounted Police patrol rode out to where between 200 and 300 First Nations people lay asleep in camp. The Nyangbal East Ballina clan of the Bundjalung Nation had a camping ground on the slope of the hill facing the valley near Black Head. The troopers and trackers surrounded the camp and opened fire at close range.
The matter was reported to the NSW Government but no action against the perpetrators was taken.
When the Aboriginal survivors eventually returned to their camp, they sought no reprisals and took no revenge against the Native Police trackers and British troopers involved in the massacre.
There is an Aboriginal oral tradition that tells stories of escape, of people who were shot and were laid to rest in the forests north of the camp, and of those who were driven off the cliff at Black Head. There is a belief that some victims of the massacre were never buried, their bodies being either dumped off the cliff at Black Head or abandoned on Angels Beach.
South Ballina poisoning: The Nyangbal South Ballina clan of the Bundjalung Nation, numbered about 200 people during the early development of Ballina Township. During the early 1860s a mass poison attempt was made against the clan using poisoned flour given to make damper. After taking the flour to their camp, the older people and children of the Nyangbal tribe refused to eat the damper as it was a new food. Upon waking the next morning, survivors found nearly 150 adults dead.