These men would try to stay as much as possible at their own camps within their own estates, for it was there that their power was greatest The maja maja were particular individuals of high achieved status and power ... who by virtue of their age, their knowledge of and supposed connections with the supernatural forces emanate in the ngujakura (law’ or ‘dreaming’)... were charged with the ‘minding’ and ‘looking after’ of their respective countries and the people associated with them.

With their perceived special relationship to the yirru or ‘nature-spirit’ which was said to live in the ground at certain sites ...the old men were able to ... sanction or punish ... breaches of the moral code Prior to the 1880s, Kuku Nyungkal people had, since time immemorial, possessed, occupied, used and enjoyed their country in accordance with their lore[10] as follows: Our Bama lore was strong in the past years ...

[12] During the 1950s Lutheran Church of Australia properly established an Aboriginal mission on the Bloomfield River, into which the remnant Kuku Nyungkal population still living on their country were moved.

The depth of their feelings was variously expressed: "We are like a crane standing on one leg (no room for two feet on the ground) on a little island" : "we are like animals in a wild cage" By 1995, one century after the initial "invasion" by tin miners, an Aboriginal Land Tribunal inquired into the extent to which Kuku Nyungkal traditions, beliefs, and people had been impacted by the colonization of their country.

At that time Kuku Nyungkal representatives submitted, and the Tribunal agreed:[6] Aboriginal culture in south eastern Cape York Peninsula has changed considerably since the arrival of the first European land visitor in 1872 ...