Evans Head is of major cultural and historical significance for the Bandjalang People and wider Bundjalung Nation stretching north to Ballina, west to Casino and south to Iluka. Dirawong Reserve to the east of Evans Head, including Goanna Headland; and Snapper Rock, Snake Island in the Evans River, the Iron Gates on both sides of the River and Bundjalung National Park are regarded as one of the last intact coastal cultural landscapes for Aboriginal people in NSW. It is the subject of a complex series of spiritual/creation stories and therefore of spiritual significance for local descendants of First Nation people.
The importance of Aboriginal History and Culture has been recognised through successful Supreme Court Native Title Determinations, Bandjalang Claims #1,2,3. The Museum has a substantial collection of photographs from both these Determinations. The Museum has located successfully a major archaeological collection of Aboriginal Artefacts taken from the Dirawong Reserve in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s which it is endeavouring to relocate to Evans Head to an appropriate ‘Keeping Place’. Evans Head is the site of a major Aboriginal massacre in the 1840’s.
One of the first Patrons of the Museum was the late Lawrence Wilson, the Native Title Applicant for Bandjalang Claims #1&2.