Maduwongga

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The Maduwongga (Martu Wangka) are an

Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia
.

Language

The language spoken by the Maduwongga was supposedly called

Country

In

Coolgardie, Kanowna, Kurnalpi, and Siberia.[1] Ecologically they lived in country marked by mallee Eucalypt species.[3]

However, Tindale's description of this group and country has not stood close examination. In a native title case involving people identifying as Maduwongga, it was found that Tindale's mapping "was probably wrong"[4] and "unreliable".[5] After hearing detailed expert evidence and examining the relevant data, the judge stated: "Inexplicably, Tindale's map of Maduwongga territory does not correspond with his own data collected in 1939 when he spoke to [relevant informants] .... Further, the information given to Tindale [by other informants in 1939 and 1966] ... all but disposes of the notion of Maduwongga country ...".[6] In addition, the judge cites part of the expert evidence, which states: "the 'Maduwongga tribe' is essentially a Tindale creation - a case of what my colleague, Dr Paul Burke, in a very similar context, has called 'cartographic ethnogenesis'.[7] In short, 'Maduwongga' seems to have been a mistake, and the area in question appears likely to have been originally distributed amongst Wangkayi ('Wongi') people (not 'Martu' people) and those who spoke the language which [was] ... recorded as 'Kabul' (... [who Tindale called] 'the Kalamaia') ...".[8]

History

According to oral traditions picked up by ethnographers, the Maduwongga may have moved in from an original homeland further east, and displaced the Kalamaia, westwards beyond

Bullabulling.[1]

Alternative names

  • Jindi, Yindi
  • Maduwonga
  • Kabul
  • Julbaritja (
    exonym
    for them meaning 'southerners')

Notes

Citations

  1. ^ a b c Tindale 1974, p. 246.
  2. ^ Tindale 1974, p. 143.
  3. ^ Tindale 1974, p. 252.
  4. ^ FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA. Strickland on behalf of the Maduwongga Claim Group v State of Western Australia [2023] FCA 270 [903]
  5. ^ FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA. Strickland on behalf of the Maduwongga Claim Group v State of Western Australia [2023] FCA 270 [892]
  6. ^ FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA. Strickland on behalf of the Maduwongga Claim Group v State of Western Australia [2023] FCA 270 [904]
  7. ^ Burke, Paul. 2015. 'Cartographic Ethnogenesis: Tindale's Invention of the Jadira Tribe in the Pilbara Region of Western Australia.' Journal of the Anthropological Society of South Australia Volume 39: 102-126.
  8. ^ FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA Strickland on behalf of the Maduwongga Claim Group v State of Western Australia [2023] FCA 270 [885].

Sources

  • "AIATSIS map of Indigenous Australia".
    AIATSIS
    .
  • "Tindale Tribal Boundaries" (PDF). Department of Aboriginal Affairs, Western Australia. September 2016.
  • .