Barrunbatayi (Dreamtime) Memorial

The Barrunbatayi (Dreamtime) Memorial is located in the East Kempsey Cemetery.

The memorial marks the resting places of a number of Dunghutti/Thungguti people, some of which date back more than 100 years.

In 2006, when local Aboriginal families were seeking assistance to locate unmarked graves of family members dating back to the early 1940s at the East Kempsey Cemetery, the Dunghutti/Thunggutti community, the Dunghutti Elders Council, Kempsey Shire Council and local businesses community groups banded together to help.

The timber crosses on the graves had deteriorated over time, leaving the graves unmarked. 

Using non-destructive radar detection, the graves were carefully scanned. Numerous unmarked single graves were discovered. There was no evidence of anything other than single depth graves. 

With the help of Dunghutti/Thunggutti families, a small number of the people in these graves were identified. However, many graves remain unmarked.

This prompted a wide desire to acknowledge and remember these First Nations people. In collaboration with the Dunghutti/Thunggutti community, the Dunghutti Elders Council, Kempsey Shire Council and local businesses, a culturally appropriate memorial was established and unveiled in 2010.

The memorial includes:

• a series of memorial plaques
• a large hand-painted timber cross
• a rainbow serpent pathway around the site
• a memorial wall in remembrance of those resting nearby.

You can see the Barrunbatayi Memorial by visiting the East Kempsey Cemetery on Naiooka Street.