Middens

 Middens can be found all over Australia. Basically Middens are mounds of shells and bones of sea animals or river animals. These mounds can be huge, measuring 10 to 20 metres in length and 2-3 metres in height. Bigger mounds would have been built up over many years by many people. Many generations of people within that tribe of family group would come to the same place each special time of the year.

The trees have grown over this Midden hiding what's underneath

To understand the midden and why its there is to understand that our people moved through the land, but not just any where. We would follow the seasons and changes within nature like animal migrations the weather seasons. And the midden is just a giant rubbish dump of the shells and bones of the food we would eat.

Through the roots, you can see a clear picture of what’s really there	Oyster shells are the majority of this Midden but you can still see Hermit crabs and other crustaceans in the mix.

Our family’s went to the same place each time, and stayed only long enough for the season. Catching Hermit crabs, Pipis, Mussels, Turban snails, Fish, Cray fish, Abalone and oysters and eating them next to the camp throwing the shells in a pile. After a time the piles would grow bigger and bigger. Some middens are hundreds of years old, and have been used by one or many families over many generations.

Since the Europeans have come and the tribes were moved off the land, trees and scrub might have grown over them like the ones in the pictures, these middens were used by the Gubbi-Gubbi people and are located in a safe place just north of Bribe Island.