Cherbourg

History

Wakka Wakka (Waka Waka, Wocca Wocca, Wakawaka) is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken in the Burnett River catchment. The Wakka Wakka language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the North and South Burnett Regional Council, particularly the towns of Cherbourg, Murgon, Kingaroy, Gayndah, Eidsvold and Mundubbera. The town was founded as a settlement for Aboriginal people, known as an Aboriginal reserve, under a policy of segregation being pursued by the Government of Queensland under the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897. In 1900, the Salvation Army negotiated for the establishment of the Barambah Aboriginal Settlement, which was gazetted over on 23 February 1901. It was sponsored by the Ipswich Aboriginal Protection Society. It was known as Barambah Aboriginal Settlement from 1904 to 1932 and then Cherbourg Aboriginal Settlement until 1986. Other names include Barambah Aboriginal Mission, Barambah Aboriginal Reserve, Barambah Mission Reserve and Barambah Mission Station. The district was renamed Cherbourg on 8 December 1931 to avoid confusion with the mail deliveries to the Barambah pastoral station. It was initially populated with a few local Aboriginal people, but others from the Esk region and further afield were soon sent to the reserve. Many were forcibly removed from their land and "settled" at Barambah. People from 109 different areas were mixed together and they were not allowed to speak their own languages. The effect of mixing these different groups of people together and forcing them to learn to speak a foreign language (English) has been an almost total loss of their cultural heritage. Many of the languages are considered to be extinct, surviving only in notes and recordings…

Geography

Cherbourg is located off the Bunya Highway approximately north-west of Brisbane and from the town of Murgon. It is situated on Barambah Creek, close to Bjelke-Petersen Dam.

Most-observed species

• Torresian Crow

  Corvus orru Bonaparte, 1850 · Aves
  359
• koala

  Phascolarctos cinereus (Goldfuss, 1817) · Mammalia
  325
• Australian Magpie

  Gymnorhina tibicen (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  284
• Galah

  Eolophus roseicapilla (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  275
• Magpie-lark

  Grallina cyanoleuca (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  264
• Willie-wagtail

  Rhipidura leucophrys (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  260
• Rainbow Lorikeet

  Trichoglossus haematodus (Linnaeus, 1771) · Aves
  225
• Pacific Black Duck

  Anas superciliosa J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  198

Most recent

• M 4.9 — 2025-08-15
  12 km ESE of Cherbourg, Australia
• M 3.9 — 2007-08-25
  40 km W of Kingaroy, Australia
• M 3.6 — 2005-03-07
  36 km WNW of Kingaroy, Australia
• M 3.7 — 2004-02-21
  47 km WNW of Kingaroy, Australia