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Yugambeh citizenship
Citizenship of the Yugambeh Nation comes through descent from our Ancestors, under our Nation’s law and custom.
Am I a Yugambeh citizen?
If you are a known descendant of a recognised Yugambeh Ancestor, including by adoption, and satisfy the criteria of our Nation’s law and custom, you are automatically a Yugambeh citizen.
Your right to Yugambeh citizenship depends on:
- Your line of descent
- Your birthplace
- Your parents’ citizenship at the time of your birth
- The residency history of your Yugambeh parent/s before your birth
- The kinship associations of your parents and/or grandparents
Kinship means your family’s connection with the Yugambeh family group you descend from. Living alongside, or associating with, other Aboriginal people within Yugambeh Country does not by itself create that connection.
Born here, or a long-term association?
“I was born at the Gold Coast, Logan, Tweed or Beaudesert Hospital, and/or I have a long-term association with the Yugambeh Nation. Am I entitled to citizenship?”
It is not simply one’s association with, or birth within, the Yugambeh Nation that makes a person a Yugambeh citizen.
Yugambeh citizenship is governed by the principle of
Jus sanguinis
The Right of Blood
Family oral history
“I have family oral history that I may be Yugambeh. Can I get citizenship?”
We receive many sincere enquiries from people who believe they may be Yugambeh. When we research these family histories, most turn out to connect to:
- Another Aboriginal group
- South Sea Islander ancestors who were remembered in the family as Aboriginal
Our rolls are built on birth, death and marriage records going back to the mid 1800s. They trace our Ancestors through their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, to around the 1960s.
- Ancestorsmid 1800s
- Children
- Grandchildren
- Great-grandchildrento around the 1960s
If your parent or grandparent is not on our rolls, it is very unlikely that you are Yugambeh.
Think your family may be on our rolls?
Contact us with your parents’ and grandparents’ names and any family records you have. We can check them against our rolls.
If your family story leads somewhere else, it is still worth following. Many people today are reconnecting with families separated by past government policies, and organisations such as Link-Up can help with that search.