Burarra people
The Burarra people, also referred to as the Gidjingali, are an
According to
Name
The
Language
Country
Burarra traditional land covers some 200 square miles (520 km2) on both banks of the Blyth River, for a distance of roughly 20 miles inland. Their eastward extension runs as far as and east to Cape Stewart.[1] Facing the Arafura Sea, their territory also extends to some islands,[a] opposite those of their northern maritime neighbours, the Yan-nhaŋu of the Crocodile Islands. Despite speaking markedly different languages, -one prefixing, the other suffixing- the Burarra and the Yan-nhaŋu have strong sociocultural links.[7]
Their land adjoins that of the Dangbon (or Dalabon), Nakara (Nagara) and Yolngu peoples.[8]
Social organisation
Though neighbours of such Yolngu peoples as the Djinang, Burarra marriage practices are markedly at odds with those of the Yolngu. Ian Keen has said that there are five major differences:
- (a) Yolngu men are more polygamousthan their Burarra peers;
- (b) while the Yolngu having a Aranda;
- (c) the rules governing spousal choice are at odds, as are their respective expectations about how flexible older men should be in ceding rights over women to younger men;
- (d) Land-owning groups are structured somewhat differently; and
- (e) Whereas for the Burarra the named community forms the basic unit for certain types of political action, the Yolngu organise such activities on a clan basis (occasionally with another clan).[9]
Clans and Moieties
The Burarra, according to Tindale, consist of five subgroups:
- Anbara (western bank of the mouth of the Blyth River)
- Marawuraba (from the coast to the east of Blyth River)
- Madia (Cape Stewart area)
- Maringa
- Gunadba (Gunaidbe)[1]
Each of the five have a Yirritja/Dua moiety division.[1]
Alternative names
- Barera
- Baurera
- Burada
- Burara
- Burarra
- Burera
- Gidjingali
Source: Tindale 1974, p. 222
Modern period
Questacon, Australia's National Science and Technology Centre in Canberra, has produced a website about the "people, land, language and traditional technologies of the Burarra people", called Burarra Gathering.[10]
Some words
- gurakadj. (shame/fear).[11]
See also
- Australian Aboriginal culture § Examples of ceremonies for description of the ROM ceremony practised by the Anbarra people
Notes
- ^ This was formerly denied by Tindale, who wrote:'They did not possess coastal resources.' (Tindale 1974, p. 221)
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f Tindale 1974, p. 221.
- ^ Tindale 1974, pp. 221–222.
- ^ Bagshaw 2014, p. 248, n.4.
- ^ Keen 1982, p. 661.
- ^ Bagshaw 2014, pp. 247–248.
- ^ Vaughen 2018, pp. 119–132.
- ^ Bagshaw 2014, pp. 248–249.
- ^ Questacon 2013.
- ^ Keen 1982, p. 660.
- ^ Burarra 2017.
- ^ Wierzbicka 1999, p. 290.
Sources
- Bagshaw, Geoffrey (2014). "Gapu Dhulkway, Gapu Maramba: conceptualisation and ownership of saltwater among the Burarra and Yan-nhangu peoples of northeast Arnhem Land". In Peterson, Nicolas; ISBN 978-1-743-32389-2.
- "Burarra people and their land". Questacon - The National Science and Technology Centre. 20 September 2013. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
- JSTOR 2802037.
- Tindale, Norman Barnett (1974). "Barara (NT)". Aboriginal Tribes of Australia: Their Terrain, Environmental Controls, Distribution, Limits, and Proper Names. Australian National University.
- Vaughen, Jill (2018). Singer, Ruth; Vaughen, Jill (eds.). ""We talk in saltwater words": Dimensionalisation of dialectal variation in multilingual Arnhem Land". Language & Communication. 62: 119–132. S2CID 150153425.
- "Welcome to Burarra Gathering". Questacon. 2017.
- ISBN 978-0-521-59971-9.
External links
| Authority control databases: National |
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