Alawa people
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| possibly several hundred (Less than 1% of the Ngandji people |
The Alawa people are an Indigenous Australian people from Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. The suburb of Alawa in the Darwin's north, is named in their honour.
Language
The
Country
Traditional Alawa territory covered some 1,600 square miles (4,100 km2) and extended from the southern tributaries of the Roper River upstream from the mouth of the Hodgson River west to Roper valley; south to Mason Bluff (Mount Mueller) and Hodgson Downs; east to the headwaters of Mountain Creek.[2]
Lifestyle
The traditional lifestyle of the Alawa consisted of harvesting and hunting the abundant food resources provided by their land, which was rich in species of turtle, duck, crocodiles and fish. They had a technique of conserving foods for considerable periods. Norman Tindale was shown in 1922 a refuge cave they maintained at Mountain Creek well stocked with buried stores of water lily seeds,[2] and roots, which were first sun-dried, then rubbed with red ochre before being wrapped and packed in paperbark sheets.[3] After the loss of their lands they specialized in working as jackaroos on pastoral stations.
History
The Alawa tribe, like many others in the Roper River region, were hunted down in an extermination policy developed by the pastoral company that took over the Hodgson Downs in 1903, and remnants took refuge from the killing teams by seeking the protection of pastoralists who would employ them, or on church missions.[4]
Native title
Together with the
Notes
Citations
- ^ Sharpe 2008, p. 59.
- ^ a b Tindale 1974.
- ^ Clarke 2011, p. 177.
- ^ Edmonds 2007, pp. 194–195.
Sources
- Clarke, Philip A. (2011). Aboriginal People and Their Plants. Rosenberg Publishing. ISBN 978-1-921719-73-8.
- Edmonds, Angelique (2007). "Sedentary topography: the impact of Christian Mission Society's 'civilising' agenda on the spatial structure of life in the Roper Region of northern Australia". In Macfarlane, Ingereth; Hannah, Mark (eds.). Transgressions: Critical Australian Indigenous Histories. ISBN 978-1-921313-43-1.
- Sharpe, Margaret (2008). "Alawa and its Neighbours: Enigma Variations 1 and 2". In Bowern, Claire; Evans, Bethwyn; Miceli, Luisa (eds.). Morphology and Language History: In Honour of Harold Koch. ISBN 978-90-272-4814-5.
- ISBN 978-0-7081-0741-6.