The Dhuwal 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

Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia, with the term still in use. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territory capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compan ...

in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

Language

Dhuwal belongs to the Yolŋu-Matha branch of the Pama-Nyungan language family

Country

The Dhuwal were described by

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 ...

in 1974 as one of two groups of clans ''(mala''), the other being the

Dhuwala The Dhuwala (Duala, Du:ala) are an indigenous Australian people of eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. Country Norman Tindale stated that the Dhuwala's lands were basically coextensive with those assigned to the Dhuwal, the two peopl ...

, both living predominantly in the coastal area facing the

Arafura Sea The Arafura Sea (or Arafuru Sea) lies west of the Pacific Ocean, overlying the continental shelf between Australia and Western New Guinea (also called Papua), which is the Indonesian part of the Island of New Guinea. Geography The Arafura Sea is ...

, and inhabiting the east Arnhem land coastal area reaching from Castlereagh Bay,

Buckingham River Buckingham River is a river in the Northern Territory of Australia. The headwaters of the river are on the northern edge on the eastern side of the Mitchell Ranges near where the Central Arnhem Road crosses the Range. The river flows in a no ...

, and the

Koolatong River The Koolatong River is a river in the Northern Territory, Australia. Rising in the Mitchell Ranges the river initially flows north then turns east across the uninhabited plains eventually discharging into the Saint Nicholas Inlet and the Blue ...

to the vicinity of Port Bradshaw. Tindale's approximate estimate of their land estates' extension, calculated together with that of the Dhuwala, was . In 1927 the missionary J. C. Jennison wrote down a list of some 900 words he heard from the indigenous people of

Elcho Island Elcho Island, known to its traditional owners as Galiwin'ku (Galiwinku) is an island off the coast of Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located at the southern end of the Wessel Islands group located in the East Arnhe ...

, and modern linguistic analysis indicates that this word-list consists of vocabulary from the

Dhuwal language Dhuwal (also Dual, Duala) is one of the Yolŋu languages spoken by Aboriginal Australians in the Northern Territory, Australia. Although all Yolŋu languages are mutually intelligible to some extent, Dhuwal represents a distinct dialect continu ...

. The implication is that Dhuwal estates also existed on that island.

History of contact

The first European to come in contact with the Dhuwal, the ''Balamumu'' (seafolk/coastal people) at

Caledon Bay Caledon Bay is a bay in Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia, at approximately 12.8° S, 136.5° E. It is perhaps most famous as the home of a group of Yolngu people who were key players in the Caledon Bay crisis The Caledon Bay ...

, was

Matthew Flinders Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British navigator and cartographer who led the first inshore circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then called New Holland. He is also credited as being the first person to u ...

. Two were shot dead in skirmishes. A short word-list was compiled of their language.

Social organization

Dhuwal society is organized in terms of 8 clans, all belonging to the ''Dua''

moiety Moiety may refer to: Chemistry * Moiety (chemistry), a part or functional group of a molecule ** Moiety conservation, conservation of a subgroup in a chemical species Anthropology * Moiety (kinship), either of two groups into which a society is ...

of the Yirritja/Dia binome. * 1. ''Tjambarupingu.'' * 2. ''Leiagawumir.'' * 3. ''Leiagalawumir.'' (Leyagalawumirr, Liaalaomir, Laigalawumiri, Laigulawulmiree). * 4. ''Datiwui.'' (Datiwuy). * 5. ''Marangu.'' (Marrangu, Marrakuli, Merango). * 6. ''Marakulu.'' (Marrakulu, Maragulu). * 7. ''Djapu.'' * 8. ''Dapuingu.''

Alternative names

* ''Balamumu'' (southern

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, ...

for the coastal tribes around

, meaning 'sea/coastal folk'.) * ''Barlamomo, Barlamumu'' * ''Malag.'' (from the word ''mala'', meaning 'sea.') * ''Marlark'' * ''Arrawiya'' * ''Banjarrpuma'' * ''Bilamandji'' * ''Dhurili.'' (mainly used of clans to the south) * ''Durilji''

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * {{Aboriginal peoples of the Northern Territory Yolngu