Always Will Be Gimuy: Acknowledging the Traditional Owners of Cairns
This year marks 150 years since the official founding of Cairns in 1876 - a milestone in the city’s colonial history. Yet long before maps were drawn and streets named, this place was - and always will be - Gimuy.
For at least 60,000 years, the land and waters here have been cared for by the Gimuy Walubara Yidinji people, the Traditional Owners and Custodians of this Country. Their presence is not history - it is living culture, living knowledge and living responsibility that continues today.
As the city celebrates a century and a half of European settlement, it is vital we also honour the tens of thousands of years of continuous Aboriginal custodianship that make this place what it truly is.
Acknowledgement of Country
At Mainie Australia, we respectfully acknowledge the Gimuy Walubara Yidinji people as the Traditional Owners of the land on which our locally owned and operated business is based.
We honour Gimuy Walubara Yidinji Elders past and present and recognise their enduring connection to Country - to the mountains, rivers, rainforest, mangroves, coastal shores, sea and sky. We acknowledge the knowledge systems, stories and cultural responsibilities that have been carried across generations and continue today.
About Gimuy Walubara Yidinji Country
Before colonisation, Cairns was known as Gimuy, the Yidinji name for the Slippery Blue Fig Tree (Ficus albipila).
Walubara describes people from the “side of the hill,” reflecting a deep geographic and cultural identity shaped by thousands of years of connection to long-held ancestral homelands.
Location
Gimuy Walubara Yidinji Country extends from the Barron River south to the Russell River, west toward the Lamb Range, and across coastal and freshwater waterways - landscapes of mountain ranges, tropical rainforest and freshwater river systems bound by the northern reaches of the Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef.
Traditional Life
For countless generations, the Gimuy Walubara Yidinji people thrived through inherent knowledge of seasonal cycles and lived in careful balance with the Wet Tropics environment.
Cultural Significance
Gimuy is a place rich in culture, storylines, art, song and dance. Heritage protection and knowledge sharing continue through organisations such as the Gimuy Walubara Yidinji Elders Aboriginal Corporation.
Continuing Custodianship
The Gimuy Walubara Yidinji people continue their responsibilities of care and protection today, alongside neighbouring groups including the Yirrganydji and other Yidinji clan groups.
150 Years Is a Moment - 60,000 Years Is Continuity
The 150-year anniversary reflects one chapter of Cairns’ story. But the deeper story of Gimuy stretches beyond recorded history - a story written in rock, water, song, ceremony and kinship.
Recognising this truth is not symbolic. It is essential to understanding where we stand, whose Country we are on, and how we walk forward together.
Where Culture Meets Contemporary Design
For our Cairns-based company Mainie, fashion is more than adornment - it is story, culture, connection and responsibility.
Our wearable art collections feature licensed Aboriginal artworks, many created by women from remote communities. Their designs speak of Country, Dreaming, family and ancestral heritage.
Through ethical licensing and artist royalties, we ensure Aboriginal women artists and their families benefit directly from their work, supporting independence and cultural continuity.
Walking Forward with Respect
Being a proudly First Nations-owned means accountability. It means honouring provenance, ensuring artists are credited and paid, and sharing stories with care.
As Cairns celebrates 150 years since its official founding, we hold space for a much deeper timeline - one of enduring custodianship, resilience and living culture.
From our home on Yidinji Country, we are proud to create fashion that carries meaning - pieces that honour the past, empower the present and inspire a more respectful future.
Founded by Gunggari Aboriginal woman Charmaine Saunders in 2012, Mainie Australia is a Supply Nation certified Indigenous Australian-owned company and a member of the Indigenous Art Code.
We recognise the traditional custodians of the land on which we live and work, and we pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.
We acknowledge the sorrow of the Stolen Generations and the impacts of colonisation on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
We respect the resilience, strength, and pride of Australia’s First Nations people and their communities.
Mainie is committed to supporting Aboriginal women artists to earn an independent income from their own work and to keep alive their traditional cultural heritage for future generations.
