Map Victoria Aboriginal tribes (colourmap)

The Dadi Dadi or Tatitati are an

Australian Aboriginal Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait I ...

people whose traditional lands are located along the southern banks of the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Australia.

Language

The Dadi Dadi language is a nearly extinct member of the Lower Murray languages, which form a branch of the Pama-Nyungan language family. During the 1960s and 1970s samples of the language were recorded by

Luise Hercus Luise Anna Hercus , , (16 January 1926 – 15 April 2018) was a German-born linguist who lived in Australia from 1954. After significant early work on Middle Indo-Aryan dialects (Prakrits) she had specialised in Australian Aboriginal languages si ...

. The language is related to Yita Yita. Most of the tribal names of this group ( Nari-Nari,

Barababaraba The Barababaraba people (also spelt ''Barapabarapa'') are an indigenous Australian people whose territory covered parts of southern New South Wales and northern Victoria. They had close connections with the Wemba Wemba. Barababaraba have exten ...

Latjilatji The Latjilatji, sometimes spelt Latji Latji or Latje Latje are an Indigenous Australian people of the state of Victoria, Australia. Name The ethnonym Latjilatji consists of a reduplication of the word for "no" (''latja''). Language Latjilatji i ...

Warkawarka The Warkawarka, also called Weki Weki, were an Australian Aboriginal group whose traditional lands are located in Victoria, Australia. Controversy exists as to whether they were an independent 'tribe' or rather consisted of a subgroup of the Wer ...

Watiwati The Watiwati are an indigenous Australian aboriginal people traditionally living on both sides of the Murray River, from Victoria to New South Wales. Language The "mobs" name comes from a reduplication the word for 'no' (''wati''), typical of indi ...

Wemba-Wemba The Wemba-Wemba are an Aboriginal Australian people in north-Western Victoria and south-western New South Wales, Australia, including in the Mallee and the Riverina regions. They are also known as the Wamba-Wamba. Language Wemba-Wemba bears ...

) are formed by a reduplication of the word for 'no' in their respective languages, the word 'tati' bearing that sense.

Country

The Dadi Dadi lands, 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 ...

, extended over , covering the area from Euston to above the Murrumbidgee junction. Though mainly concentrated on the southern bank of the

, they also ranged as far north as Benanee. As part of the

Murray–Darling basin The Murray–Darling basin is a large geographical area in the interior of southeastern Australia, encompassing the drainage basin of the tributaries of the Murray River, Australia's longest river, and the Darling River, a right tributary of ...

, the area's history of human habitation goes back some 27,000-36,000 years.

Social organization

The Dadi Dadi, much like the

, were divided into two moieties, the ''Kailpara'' and ''Makwara'', with descent from the mother's side.

History of contact

Smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

and other introduced diseases had already ravaged the Murray Valley aboriginal population before the actual establishment of colonial 'runs' or pastoral properties in the region.

Charles Sturt Charles Napier Sturt (28 April 1795 – 16 June 1869) was a British officer and explorer of Australia, and part of the European exploration of Australia. He led several expeditions into the interior of the continent, starting from Sydney and la ...

in 1830 described a particularly dire state of ill-health, ascribing it to

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve damag ...

. During colonial times bodies were removed from five aboriginal burial sites by George Murray Black, along the

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

side of the Murray River and are now part of the ''Murray Black Collection''. The repatriation of these bodies is now being sought by tribal groups.

Alternative names

* ''Darty-Darty'' * ''Nimp-mam-wern'' (lit. 'light lip') * ''Tataty, Tatatha, Tat(h)i, Ta-ta-thi, Tar-tarthee, Ta-tathi, Taa-tatty'' * ''Tunggut'' Source:

Some words

* ''bet.'' (father) * ''malol.'' (wife) * ''met.'' (father's father) * ''mim.'' (father's mother) * ''paka.'' (mother's mother) * ''tamburay.'' ( frilled lizard) * ''ŋak'' (mother) * ''ŋatai'' (mother's father) Source:

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * Aboriginal peoples of Victoria (Australia) History of Victoria (Australia) {{VictoriaAU-stub