The Bailgu are an

indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

people of the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a glo ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

Country

Bailgu traditional lands extended over , according to

Norman Tindale Norman Barnett Tindale AO (12 October 1900 – 19 November 1993) was an Australian anthropologist, archaeologist, entomologist and ethnologist. Life Tindale was born in Perth, Western Australia in 1900. His family moved to Tokyo and lived ther ...

's estimate, covering the upper Fortescue River, and taking in

Roy Hill The Roy Hill mine is an iron ore mine in the Chichester Range in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, located north of Newman and south of Port Hedland. With indicated and inferred reserves of more than , it is expected to become one of ...

and eastwards beyond the Goodiadarrie Hills. Their northern extension ran as far as the

Chichester Range The Chichester Range is a range in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The range rises abruptly from the coastal plain and is composed of rolling hills, escarpments, jagged peaks, gorges and winding tree-lined watercourses. The range is ...

scarp the

Nullagine River The Nullagine River is a river in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The headwaters of the river rise south of Bonney Downs and then flow in a northerly direction. The river crosses the Marble Bar road at Nullagine and continues to flow ...

divide. The eastern border ran to the western headwaters of the Oakover Davis rivers. Their neighbours further down the Fortescue were the

Niabali The Niabali, otherwise written ''Nyiyaparli,'' are an indigenous Australia tribe of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Language Their language is called Nyiyaparli. It was customary to classify it as one of the Ngayarda languages until Alan ...

. Their boundary with the

Yindjibarndi The Yindjibarndi are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. They form the majority of Aboriginal people around Roebourne (the Millstream area). Their traditional lands lie around the Fortescue River. Langua ...

lay at Mandanaladji.

History of contact

According to oral traditions handed down by the Bailgu, before the advent of the whites, they were dislocated from the

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...

s on the Fortescue river by pressure from the Panyjima tribe, which drove them further east. This narrative appears to be corroborated by the fact that among western tribes they were known as the ''Mangguldulkara''(people of the marshes).

Notable people

Notable people with Bailgu heritage include: *

Ambelin Kwaymullina Ambelin Kwaymullina (born 1975 in Perth, Western Australia) is a Palyku novelist, illustrator, and assistant professor of law at the University of Western Australia. She was born as the eldest of three children to Sally Morgan, an author and a ...

, author and academic *

Jill Milroy Jillian Debora Milroy, AM is an Australian Aboriginal academic specialising in traditional forms of knowledge, including storytelling. She is of Palyku descent. Of her siblings, Sally Morgan is an author and artist, Helen Milroy is a child ps ...

, indigenous studies educator * Sally Morgan, author and artist

Alternative names

* ''Bailgo, Balgu, Palgu, Balju, Balgoo'' * ''Bailko'' * ''Baljgu, Balju'' * ''Boolgoo'' * ''Mangguldulkara.'' (

exonym An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...

used of them by western tribes). * ''Pailgu, Pailgo'' * ''Pal'gu, Bailju'' * ''Paljarri'' * ''Pulgoe'' Source: .

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * {{authority control Aboriginal peoples of Western Australia