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Wik-Mungkan
The Wik-Mungkan people were the largest branch of the Wik people, an Aboriginal Australian group of peoples, speaking several different languages, who traditionally ranged over an extensive area of the western Cape York Peninsula in northern Queensland. Language Wik Mungkan language, Wik Mungkan is a form of Paman languages, Paman which is a subset of the broader Pama-Nyungan languages, Pama-Nyungan language family, and closely related to Kugu Nganhcara. ''Wik'' means "speech" It is spoken around Aurukun, Queensland, Aurukun and the Edward River (Queensland), Edward River (including Pormpuraaw, the site of the old Edward River Mission). Uniquely among Wik language speakers, where speech styles are defined in terms of some distinctive lexical feature, those whose mother tongue is Wik Mungkan use "eating" as a classifier for their tongue (''Wik Mungkan'' literally means "language-eat"), a definition borrowed from their inland clans, whose neighbouring east coast peoples employ form ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wik Mungkan Language
Wik-Mungkan, or ''Wik-Mungknh'', is a Paman languages, Paman language spoken on the northern part of Cape York Peninsula of Queensland, Australia, by around 1,000 Wik-Mungkan people, and related peoples including the Wik-Ngatharr dialect, Wikalkan, Wik-Ngathan language, Wik-Ngathana, Kugu Nganhcara language, Wikngenchera language groups. Wik Mungkan is healthier than most other languages on the peninsula, and is developing and absorbing other Aboriginal languages very quickly. Dixon thought there was a Wik-Iiyanh dialect, but it turned out to be the same as the Wik-Iiyanh language , Wik-Iiyanh dialect of Kugu Nganhcara. The English language has borrowed at least one word from Wik-Mungkan, that for the taipan, a species of venomous snake native to the region. In 1962, Marie Godfrey and Barbara Sayers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) started linguistic and translation work in the Wik-Mungkan language in Aurukun. They began a dictionary file, and added to it over sev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wik People
The Wik peoples are an Indigenous Australian group of people from an extensive zone on western Cape York Peninsula in northern Queensland, speaking several different languages. They are from the coastal flood plains bounding the Gulf of Carpentaria lying between Pormpuraaw (Edward River) and Weipa, and inland the forested country drained by the Archer, Kendall and Holroyd rivers. The first ethnographic study of the Wik people was undertaken by the Queensland born anthropologist Ursula McConnel. Her fieldwork focused on groups gathered into the Archer River Mission at what is now known as Aurukun. Location The Wik peoples inhabited the western coastal area of the Cape York Peninsula between the Winduwinda to the north and the Taior to the south, with the Wik-Mungkan on the eastern flank. McConnel's overall mapping was succinctly summarized by Sir James Frazer as follows: heyoccupy a stretch of country along the Gulf of Carpentaria, thirty to fifty miles wide through which flow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape York Peninsula
Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación Sierra Madre, S.C. The land is mostly flat and about half of the area is used for grazing cattle. The relatively undisturbed eucalyptus-wooded savannahs, tropical rainforests and other types of habitat are now recognised and preserved for their global environmental significance. Although much of the peninsula remains pristine, with a diverse repertoire of endemic flora and fauna, some of its wildlife may be threatened by industry and overgrazing as well as introduced species and weeds.Mackey, B. G., Nix, H., & Hitchcock, P. (2001). The natural heritage significance of Cape York Peninsula. Retrieved 15 January 2008, froepa.qld.gov.au. The northernmost point of the peninsula is Cape York (). The land has been occupied by a number of Abor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pormpuraaw
Pormpuraaw (pronounced ''porm-pure-ow'') is a coastal town and a locality in the Aboriginal Shire of Pormpuraaw, Queensland, Australia. Pormpuraaw is an Aboriginal community situated on the west coast of Cape York Peninsula approximately halfway between Karumba and Weipa on the Edward River. It is by road from Cairns. Pormpuraaw currently has a 4-man police station. Formerly known as Edward River Aboriginal Mission, Pormpuraaw was an Anglican mission established in 1938. The people included Thaayorre, Wik, Pakanh and Yir Yoront. This was the third mission to be set up in the southwestern Cape York region. In 1967 control was passed from the church to the Queensland Department of Aboriginal and Islander Affairs. The community received DOGIT status, and is governed by a community council. Pormpuraaw has been successful in developing a commercial crocodile farm, a cattle operation and some tourism. In the , Pormpuraaw had a population of 749 people, 83% of whom were Aboriginal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kugu Nganhcara
The Kugu Nganhcara, also ''Wikngenchera, Wik-Ngandjara (Ngandjara)'' are an Australian group of peoples living in the middle western part of the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland in Australia. Today they are primarily concentrated at Aurukan and the Edward river settlement. Language Kugu Nganhcara is a Wik-language complex consisting of six varieties or patrilects, Kugu Uwanh, Kugu Ugbanh, Kugu Yi'anh, Kugu Mi'inh, Kugu Miminh, and Wik Iyanh, where 'kugu' is a classifier for speech, and the following word the infinitive of the respective verbs for 'go'. These closely related languages are called patrilects by Steve Johnson since the respective groups belong to a society composed of patrilineal clans joined by exogamous relationships. Country The northern bounds of the Kugu Nganhcara are around the Kendall River, and their southern limits are around Moonkan Creek, beyond which lie their southern neighbours the Thaayorre. Socio-linguistic division markers The Kugu-Nganychara ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arrowroot
Arrowroot is a starch obtained from the rhizomes (rootstock) of several tropical plants, traditionally ''Maranta arundinacea'', but also Florida arrowroot from ''Zamia integrifolia'', and tapioca from cassava (''Manihot esculenta''), which is often labelled as arrowroot. Polynesian arrowroot or pia (''Tacca leontopetaloides''), and Japanese arrowroot (''Pueraria lobata''), also called kudzu, are used in similar ways. History Archaeological studies in the Americas show evidence of arrowroot cultivation as early as 7,000 years ago. The name may come from ''aru-aru'' (meal of meals) in the language of the Caribbean Arawak peoples, Arawak people, for whom the plant was a staple. It has also been suggested that the name comes from arrowroot's use in treating poison-arrow wounds, as it draws out the poison when applied to the site of the injury. In the early days of carbonless copy paper, arrowroot, because of its fine grain-size, was a widely used ingredient. After an economical way ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fishing Weir
A fishing weir, fish weir, fishgarth or kiddle is an obstruction placed in tidal waters, or wholly or partially across a river, to direct the passage of, or trap fish. A weir may be used to trap marine fish in the intertidal zone as the tide recedes, fish such as salmon as they attempt to swim upstream to breed in a river, or eels as they migrate downstream. Alternatively, fish weirs can be used to channel fish to a particular location, such as to a fish ladder. Weirs were traditionally built from wood or stones. The use of fishing weirs as fish traps probably dates back prior to the emergence of modern humans, and have since been used by many societies around the world. History The English word 'weir' comes from the Anglo-Saxon ''wer,'' one meaning of which is a device to trap fish. A line of stones dating to the Acheulean in Kenya may have been a stone tidal weir in a prehistoric lake, which if true would make this technology older than modern humans. In Ireland, fish traps in a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fire-stick Farming
Fire-stick farming, also known as cultural burning and cool burning, is the practice of Aboriginal Australians regularly using fire to burn vegetation, which has been practised for thousands of years. There are a number of purposes for doing this special type of controlled burning, including to facilitate hunting, to change the composition of plant and animal species in an area, weed control, hazard reduction, and increase of biodiversity. While it had been discontinued in many parts of Australia, it has been reintroduced in the 21st century by the teachings of custodians from areas where the practice is extant in continuous unbroken tradition such as the Noongar peoples' cold fire. Terminology The term "fire-stick farming" was coined by Australian archaeologist Rhys Jones in 1969. It has more recently been called cultural burning and cool burning. History Aboriginal burning has been proposed as the cause of a variety of environmental changes, including the extinction of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bandicoot
Bandicoots are a group of more than 20 species of small to medium-sized, terrestrial, largely nocturnal marsupial omnivores in the order Peramelemorphia. They are endemic to the Australia–New Guinea region, including the Bismarck Archipelago to the east and Seram and Halmahera to the west. Etymology The bandicoot is a member of the order Peramelemorphia, and the word "bandicoot" is often used informally to refer to any peramelemorph, such as the bilby. The term originally referred to the unrelated Indian bandicoot rat from the Telugu word ''pandikokku'' (పందికొక్కు). Characteristics Bandicoots have V-shaped faces, ending with their prominent noses similar to probosces. These noses make them, along with bilbies, similar in appearance to elephant shrews and extinct leptictids, and they are distantly related to both mammal groups. With their well-attuned snouts and sharp claws, bandicoot are fossorial diggers. They have small but fine teeth that allow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Goanna
A goanna is any one of several species of lizards of the genus '' Varanus'' found in Australia and Southeast Asia. Around 70 species of ''Varanus'' are known, 25 of which are found in Australia. This varied group of carnivorous reptiles ranges greatly in size and fills several ecological niches. The goanna features prominently in Aboriginal mythology and Australian folklore. Being predatory lizards, goannas are often quite large, or at least bulky, with sharp teeth and claws. The largest is the perentie (''V. giganteus''), which can grow over in length. Not all goannas are so large; pygmy goannas may be smaller than the arm of an adult human. The smallest of these, the short-tailed monitor (''V. brevicauda''), reaches only in length. They survive on smaller prey, such as insects and mice. Goannas combine predatory and scavenging behaviours. They prey on any animal they can catch that is small enough to eat whole. They have been blamed by farmers for the death of sheep, tho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flying Fox
''Pteropus'' (suborder Yinpterochiroptera) is a genus of megabats which are among the largest bats in the world. They are commonly known as fruit bats or flying foxes, among other colloquial names. They live in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, East Africa, and some oceanic islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. There are at least 60 extant species in the genus. Flying foxes eat fruit and other plant matter, and occasionally consume insects as well. They locate resources with their keen sense of smell. Most, but not all, are nocturnal. They navigate with keen eyesight, as they cannot echolocate. They have long life spans and low reproductive outputs, with females of most species producing only one offspring per year. Their slow life history makes their populations vulnerable to threats such as overhunting, culling, and natural disasters. Six flying fox species have been made extinct in modern times by overhunting. Flying foxes are often persecuted for their real or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wallaby
A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized Macropodidae, macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic family as kangaroos and sometimes the same genus, but kangaroos are specifically categorised into the four largest species of the family. The term "wallaby" is an informal designation generally used for any macropod that is smaller than a kangaroo or a wallaroo that has not been designated otherwise. There are nine species (eight extant and one Extinction, extinct) of the brush wallaby (genus ''Notamacropus''). Their head and body length is and the tail is long. The 19 known species of Rock-wallaby, rock-wallabies (genus ''Petrogale'') live among rocks, usually near water; two species in this genus are endangered. The two living species of hare-wallabies (genus ''Lagorchestes''; two other species in this genus are extinct) are sma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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