Wardaman people
The Wardaman people are a small group of Aboriginal Australians living about 145 kilometres (90 mi) South-West of Katherine, on Menngen Aboriginal Land Trust in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Language
Country
The Wardaman controlled, according to Norman Tindale, some 7,300 square kilometres (2,800 sq mi) of territory from the headwaters of the southern branches of the upper Flora River, and westwards as far as the Victoria River Depot, Their southern limits lay around Jasper Gorge. The Wardaman presence, attested in post-contact times, at Delamere is historically recent.[2]
History of contact
European contact with Wardaman and related peoples like the Dagoman and Yangman, was characterized from the outset by considerable violence. Eventually, as their tribal lands were given over to pastoral leases, the men mastered trades such as cattle-droving, while the women were employed as help.[3]
Rock art
The Wardaman distinguish two types of art: those objects made by creative beings in the primordial
Mythology
Wardaman legends of the dreamtime speak of Yagjagbula and Jabirringi, the "Lightning Brothers" of the Jabijin sub-section associated with the onset of the wet season, and who are represented in Wardaman rock art sacred sites, such as Yiwarlarlay.[7][a]
Yagjagbula, the younger of the two, is tall and handsome, and has a wife, Gulliridan, while Jabirringi is shorter, and somewhat plain-looking. The latter's spouse is called Ganayanda. The brothers hunt on alternate days, each bringing the day's game back to the camp. At a certain point, as he comes back from his hunting, Jabirringi overhears whispering in a rocky area, and discovers his wife copulating with his younger brother. A pitched battle between the two ensues on open ground, and, as spears and boomerangs are thrown, lightning flashes and thunderclaps roar. When a bolt of lightning cleaves the sandstone rockface at Yiwarlarlay, frogs emerge to watch, slapping their thighs rhythmically as the two fight on. Passing over en route to the Yingalarri water-hole, Wiyan, the rain, is told by Gorondolni, the Wardaman
Today
The Wardaman community in Katherine are concentrated in two camps, south and west of the township. One group is at Bunjarri (Binjara) on the Manbulloo station about 7.5 miles from Katherine, and the other is at The Rockhole, just over 6 miles outside the town, on the Florina Highway.[10]
Notable people
- Bill Yidumduma Harney, advocate for Indigenous Australians and author of several books, one of which, written together with Hugh Cairns, is entitled Dark Sparklers, a study of Australian Aboriginal astronomy.[11][12]
- Jason Horne-Francis, number one overall AFL draft pick from 2021 and current player for Port Adelaide Football Club [13]
Notes
- ^ The American anthropologist D. S. Sutherland, was the first white person to mention sighting the Yiwarlarlay rock art, in 1936. Comparison of photographs indicates that these pictures were further worked and elaborated since that time.[8]
Citations
- ^ Merlan 1994, p. 1.
- ^ Tindale 1974, p. 237.
- ^ Merlan 1994, p. 8.
- ^ David & Wilson 2002, p. 48.
- ^ David & Wilson 2002, pp. 48–49.
- ^ David & Wilson 2002, p. 49.
- ^ David & Wilson 2002, p. 50.
- ^ David & Wilson 2002, p. 51.
- ^ David & Wilson 2002, pp. 50–51.
- ^ Merlan 1994, p. 2.
- ^ Cairns & Harney 1993.
- ^ Probyn-Rapsey 2013, p. 62.
- ^ https://www.aflplayers.com.au/app/uploads/2022/05/Indigenous-Player-Map-Update-2022-v5-digital.pdf.
Sources
- Cairns, Hugh Campbell; Harney, Bill Yidumduma (1993). Dark sparklers: Yidumduma's Wardaman Aboriginal astronomy. Cairns.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - David, Bruno; Wilson, Meredith (2002). "Spaces of Resistance:Graffiti and Indigenous Place Markings in the Early European Contact period of Northern Australia". In David, Bruno; Wilson, Meredith (eds.). Inscribed Landscapes: Marking and Making Place. ISBN 978-0-824-82472-3.
- Merlan, Francesca (1994). A Grammar of Wardaman: A Language of the Northern Territory of Australia. ISBN 978-3-110-12942-7.
- Probyn-Rapsey, Fiona (2013). Made to Matter: White Fathers, Stolen Generations. ISBN 978-1-920-89997-4.
- ISBN 978-0-708-10741-6.
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