The Worimi Tribe occupied an area with the approximate boundaries of the coast from the Hunter River in the south to Forster in the north, thence across to Gloucester in the northwest and down to Maitland in the southwest. There appears to have been three nurras, which occupied the more western areas.

There was no individual tribal leader; the preservation of the rules, rituals and mythology of the tribe was maintained by the oldest and wisest men in each nurra, amongst whom, no doubt, certain individuals were outstanding.

The old men met in secret and an aura of mystery surrounded their activities. The mystery bag that they carried, and which contained a piece of rock crystal, contributed to this aura by playing on the superstitious nature of the other tribe members.

No woman, or uninitiated male, was allowed to see the contents of the mystery bag. It was this council of old men that made decisions on behalf of the nurra. It was they who negotiated with the old men of other nurra and it was they who officiated at any of the important ceremonies.

Aboriginal history is always difficult to trace because there are no written records of their own making and because their oral history was so quickly destroyed by the white invasion.

Before any records on the numbers of natives or their way of life was started, their living habits became changed by European influence and this was particularly so in the Myall area, because there was so much early migration into it by escaped convicts, cedar getters and settlers who had illegally occupied land.

Many anthropologists believe that the Aboriginal people first came to Australia via a land bridge, which connected this continent and other landmasses to the north during the last ice age, about 40,000 years ago. Their studies of tribal structure have shown marked similarities between tribes living great distance apart; these similarities point towards a common origin for all Australian natives. If this were so, there is good reason to believe that the Worimi Tribe of the Myall Lakes was similar in structure to other tribes of the continent and this is reinforced by the experiences of Ebsworth, Dawson and Scott.

Scott, for example, used the name Gringai as being the tribe name, but also refers to it being the sub-branch of a larger group; in all probability, it was a horde name within the Worimi Tribe. Scott also noted the Gringai fear of the people from the Upper Myall Area, who were also of the Worimi Tribe.

The Worimi wandered over their tribal lands, hunting and gathering food and, because of this nomadic life style, they never established any form of permanent camp. Their huts were always makeshift and erected with the least amount of effort, invariably being little more than a few sheets of bark leaning against a few sticks placed in such a way as to protect them from the prevailing weather.

Although nomadic, their wanderings were not far-reaching because they invariably remained within their nurra territory, which was not large, yet provided all their needs in the way of foods and materials for their artefacts.

They did not go on extensive walk-about trips, as did the natives of the far north and western parts of the country.