Jagera

Jagera refers to an Aboriginal Australian group of the southeast Queensland region, including a language name and the people who historically inhabited the Brisbane River valley and adjacent coast. The Jagera language is part of the Yuggera branch of the Pama–Nyungan language family, and the Jagera people are commonly associated with the wider Yuggera ethnolinguistic group. In some sources, Jagera and nearby Turrbal are described as distinct but closely related groups occupying neighboring country.

Traditional lands: Jagera country encompasses parts of the Brisbane area, with territory in the Brisbane River valley and parts of the greater southeast Queensland coast around Moreton Bay, including areas now within Brisbane, Ipswich, and the northern Gold Coast region. The boundaries between neighboring groups such as Turrbal and other Yuggera-speaking peoples are not always sharply defined in early records.

History and contemporary status: After European colonization began in the 1830s, Jagera communities faced dispossession, introduced diseases, and disruption of traditional life. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, descendants reorganized to preserve culture, language, and heritage. The Jagera Aboriginal Corporation acts as an organisation representing Jagera people in land, cultural, and community matters in Brisbane and surrounding areas.

Language and culture: The Jagera language is one of several Yuggera languages traditionally spoken in the region and is part of the broader Pama–Nyungan language family. Ongoing language programs and cultural revival efforts aim to maintain knowledge of the language, stories, and ancestral practices associated with Jagera country.