The Goreng Goreng were an indigenous people of Queensland and also a language group. The Goreng Goreng area is between Baffle Creek to Agnes Water in the north, extending westerly as far as Kroombit Tops.
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Language
Gureng gureng is member of the Waka-Kabic subgroup of the Pama–Nyungan languages. The word gurang means 'no', and, replicated, was used as a marker for the people. Despite the tribe's relative proximity to Rockhampton, Gureng gureng language had strong affinities to languages to its south such as Wakka Wakka and Gubbi Gubbi, an affinity that was also cultural.
Country
The precise borders of traditional Goreng Goreng lands have been disputed. Walter Roth, while collecting data on their language in the later 19th century, placed them in Miriam Vale, where their main camp was at that time. Norman Tindale distinguished them from a Goeng people and defined their land as extending over 2,300 sq. miles and embracing the eastern bank of the upper Burnett River from Mundubbera north to Monto and Many Peaks. It is possible that a confusion arose, taking two distinct dialect forms of the one cultural complex, to denote distinct and separate realities, with the Gureng Gureng taken to be an inland tribe, and the Goeng (Guweng guweng) denoting their affines on the coast.
Society and culture
The Gureng gureng were divided into several clans, such as the Wakgun. Traditional lore was transmitted at djaparlagin or a 'singing corroboree'.