Wik peoples
The Wik peoples are an
Location
The Wik peoples inhabited the western coastal area of the Cape York Peninsula between the
McConnel's overall mapping was succinctly summarized by Sir James Frazer as follows:
[They] occupy a stretch of country along the Gulf of Carpentaria, thirty to fifty miles wide through which flow the Watson, Archer, Kendall, Holroyd and Edward Rivers. The territory of thed Wik-Munkan begins below the junction of the Coen and Archer and the Pretender and Holroyd, and extends to the mouth of the Archer and the junction of the Kendall and Holroyd. It touches the Watson River in the north and the Edward in the south, and covers and area, roughly speaking, of three thousand square miles. The Wik-Munkan do not come in contact with the sea, for a strip of land along the coast varying in parts from two to ten miles wide is inhabited by kindred coastal tribes. Of these the Wik-Natera or Wik-Kalkan occupy the coast for sixty or seventy miles south of the Archer River, concentrating chiefly on two inland arms of the sea called Yoinka and Arimanka; the Wiki-Natanya or bush-rat people inhabit the corner of the coast between Arimanka and the Kendall - a distance of ten miles, and the Wik-Nantjara occupy the coastal country between the Kendall-Holroyd and the Edward.[2]
McConnel's classification (1930) outlined the following groups
- The largest group,Koko Taiyarisouth of the Edward river.
- The
- The Wiknatanja (bush-rat people), a coastal people further north, allocated 300 square miles (780 km2) by Tindale at the mouths of the Kendall river.
- The Wikmean were further north and inland from Cape Keerweer.[4]
- The Wikepa also are thought to have had domains extending over 300 square miles (780 km2) near Cape Keerweer.[4]
- The Wik-kalkanlived on the coastal area, with an estimated 300 square miles (780 km2) of territory.
- The Wikapatja had 100 square miles (260 km2) around and on the mangrove islands of the Archer River delta.[6]
- The Wikampama were on the Watson River, whose few remnants had mostly been detribalized by 1930 and lived at the Aurukun Mission Station.[3][7]
All of these tribes were covered by Norman Tindale in his 1974 classification.[8] Writing in 1997, Neva Collings stated that the group then comprised the peoples of Wik-Ompom, Wik-Paacha, Wik-Thinta, Wik-Ngathara, Wik-Epa, Wik-Me'anha, Wik-Ngathara, Wik-Nganychara, and Wik-Iiyanh.[9]
History
Under early colonization and settlement in northern Queensland it was widely thought that the indigenous peoples were "less than worthless, vermin which should be exterminated",[10] and, according to Neva Collings, the Wik were regarded in these terms.[9]
Native title
The Wik Peoples won a
See also
Notes
- ^ Tindale's map reproduced in Sutton 1979, p. map 22
Citations
- ^ Robinson & Barnard 2010, p. 131.
- ^ Frazer 1994, p. 188.
- ^ a b McConnel 1930a, p. 97.
- ^ a b c Tindale 1974, p. 189.
- ^ Needham 1962, pp. 223–264.
- ^ Tindale 1974, p. 188.
- ^ McConnel 1930b, p. 191.
- ^ Tindale 1974, pp. 188–189.
- ^ a b Collings 1997.
- ^ Harris 1990, p. 482.
- ^ NNTT 2000.
Sources
- "AIATSIS map of Indigenous Australia". AIATSIS.
- Collings, Neva (1997). "The Wik: A History of Their 400 Year Struggle". Indigenous Law Bulletin. 4 (1). Australasian Legal Information Institute.
- ISBN 978-0-867-60095-7.
- Harris, John (1990). One Blood: 200 Years of Aboriginal Encounter with Christianity: a Story of Hope. ISBN 978-0-867-60095-7.
- JSTOR 40373036.
- JSTOR 40327320.
- JSTOR 3772877.
- Robinson, Olivia; Barnard, Trish (2010). ""Thanks, but we'll take it from here": Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women Influencing the Collection of Tangible and Intangible Heritage.". In Levin, Amy K. (ed.). Gender, Sexuality and Museums: A Routledge Reader. Routledge. pp. 129–137. ISBN 978-1-136-94364-5.
- Sutton, Peter (1979). Wik: Aboriginal society, territory and language at Cape Keerweer, Cape York Peninsula, Australia (PDF) (PhD thesis). University of Queensland.
- ISBN 978-0-708-10741-6.
- "Wik Peoples' native title recognised" (Media Release). National Native Title Tribunal. 14 October 2000. Retrieved 9 May 2010.