The fraudulent appropriation of Indigenous identity by the leadership of the GuriNgai group has caused profound and far-reaching harm. The pain is deeply felt by Aboriginal people who recognise that this group and their fabricated notions of Culture do not reflect genuine Aboriginal heritage from this or any other region.

Indigenous Identity Appropriation and Fraud in Australia

By engaging in myth-making and presenting these fabrications as authentic Aboriginal Culture, the non-Aboriginal GuriNgai group is supplanting genuine Culture with their own ‘new-age’ creations, an act that constitutes cultural genocide.

A small sample of the digitized evidence of non-Aboriginal GuriNgai falsehood

Aboriginal Culture relies on an unbroken continuum, passed down through generations under the guidance of knowledge holders and Elders. While reconnecting with Culture is encouraged for those with genuine Aboriginal heritage, what is culturally harmful and fraudulent is the creation of a fabricated Aboriginal identity and the false representation of it as authentic.

Simulated Sovereignty, Real Harm: The Cultural, Psychological, and Policy Consequences of Indigenous Identity Appropriation & Fraud in Contemporary Australia

From its inception, the GuriNgai group failed to follow cultural protocols, instead concocting baseless claims. They have attacked anyone who challenges their fabricated mythology, despite overwhelming historical and cultural evidence that contradicts their assertions.

Coast Environmental Alliance and Jake Cassar Bushcraft attack Elder Uncle Gavi Duncan.

It is devastating for my family and I to see our ancestors falsely associated with non-Aboriginal individuals engaging in self-serving, utterly shameful behaviors. For genuine Aboriginal descendants of Bungaree and Matora to be publicly perceived as being linked to individuals who show such blatant disregard for our true Culture and the broader Aboriginal community is nothing short of disgraceful fraud.

Forensic Analysis of the Sophy–Charlotte Ashby–Bungaree Narrative: Findings from the Kwok Anthropology Report (2015)

The proven crimes committed by these individuals, including issuing death threats against me, are disregarded not only by authorities but also by those who rationalize their actions in defense of this fraudulent group.

Formal Statement: Aboriginal Authority and the Rejection of “Guringai/GuriNgai” Claims in Northern Sydney and the Central Coast

Since the early 2000s, the GuriNgai group has perpetuated a false narrative of being engaged in a ‘tribal war’ with the Darkinjung, merely because the Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council required proof of Aboriginality, the standard process for all seeking Confirmation of Aboriginality. Now, in 2025, their claims have been thoroughly debunked through oral histories, primary source evidence, and testimonies from disaffected former members of the Guringai Tribal Link Aboriginal Corporation.

Tracing the Bungaree–Sophy–Charlotte Ashby Fiction: From Fabrication to Institutional Laundering

This group presents itself as embattled underdogs, persecuted due to the colour of their skin. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. They are demonstrably non-Aboriginal individuals capitalizing on a false Aboriginal identity, a deception originating from misinformation propagated by Tracey Howie and her uncle, Warren Whitfield.

Under Australian law, the three-part test for Aboriginal identity requires a person to:

1. Identify as Aboriginal,
2. Descend from Aboriginal people,
3. Be accepted by the Aboriginal community.

The creators of the GuriNgai group cannot demonstrate Aboriginal descent. Instead of seeking acceptance by the established Aboriginal community, they formed their own insular group, branding it as ‘GuriNgai, or Wannangine, or Walkaloa, and even Wannabee.’ Their ‘culture,’ practices, and knowledge are inventions of non-Aboriginal individuals, with no historical or cultural legitimacy and no connection to the thousands of years of Aboriginal heritage, culture and lived connection to this land.

Explaining the Endurance of the non-Aboriginal GuriNgai Group in Northern Sydney, Hornsby Shire, and the Central Coast regions of New South Wales, Australia

The leadership of this group knowingly and willingly misleads its members, the public, and anyone willing to pay them, long after Aboriginal families and organisations have repeatedly asked them to stop. For years, we have taken extraordinary steps to raise public awareness, yet they persist in their deception.

Widening the Gap

This issue is often framed as an ‘Indigenous matter,’ but in reality, the GuriNgai leadership are non-Aboriginal people blatantly engageing in criminal activities to sustain their lies/careers at the direct expense of genuine Aboriginal people, custom and Culture.

JD Cooke