The Djiringanj, also spelt Dyirringañ, are an

Aboriginal Australian 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 Islands ...

people of the southern coast of

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 ...

. They are one of a larger group, known as the

Yuin The Yuin nation, also spelt Djuwin, is a group of Aboriginal Australians, Australian Aboriginal peoples from the South Coast (New South Wales), South Coast of New South Wales. All Yuin people share ancestors who spoke, as their first language, ...

people, who all speak or spoke dialects of the Yuin–Kuric group of languages.

Language

Robert M. W. Dixon classifies the

Djiringanj language Dyirringañ, also spelt Dyirringany and Djiringanj, is an Australian Aboriginal language of the Yuin people of New South Wales. It is not listed in Bowern (2011), but the people are ethnically Yuin. The only attestation of the language are man ...

as distinct from both

Thaua The Thaua/Thawa, also spelt (also spelled Dhawa) and also called Yuin-Djuin, were an Aboriginal Australian people living around the Twofold Bay area of the South Coast of New South Wales. Language Thawa is an extinct member of the Yuin–Ku ...

and Dhurga. They are all Yuin–Kuric languages.

Country

The Djiringanj's tribal lands encompassed roughly southwards along the coast from Cape Dromedary to beyond Bega. Their inland extension ran up to the scarp of the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs rough ...

east of

Nimmitabel Nimmitabel is a small town in the Monaro region in southeast New South Wales, Australia, in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council local government area. At the , Nimmitabel had a population of 320. Etymology Nimmitabel means "the place where man ...

. They were wedged between the

Walbanga The Walbunja, also spelt Walbanga and Walbunga, are an Aboriginal Australian people of New South Wales, part of the Yuin nation. Language The Walbunja language may be a dialect of Dhurga. Country Walbunja Country covers a region from Cape Dro ...

to their north and the

to their south, while their western limits touched those of the

Ngarigo The Ngarigo People (also spelt Garego, Ngarego, Ngarago, Ngaragu, Ngarigu, Ngarrugu or Ngarroogoo) are Aboriginal Australian people of southeast New South Wales, whose traditional lands also extend around the present border with Victoria. Langu ...

Wallaga Lake

In early 2020, men from the Bermagui Wallaga Lake Djiringanj men's group were able to resume their traditional practice of fish with nets on

Wallaga Lake Wallaga Lake is an estuarine lake in Bega Valley Shire in New South Wales, Australia, the largest lake in southern NSW. It is located between Bermagui to the south and between Tilba Tilba to the north, situated beneath Mount Gulaga, in the tra ...

for the first time in decades. After obtaining a special cultural fishing permit, that allows them to fish once a week using a specially built boat and handmade traditional net, young men from the community will target species like flathead,

bream Bream ( ) are species of freshwater and marine fish belonging to a variety of genera including ''Abramis'' (e.g., ''A. brama'', the common bream), ''Acanthopagrus'', '' Argyrops'', ''Blicca'', '' Brama'', ''Chilotilapia'', '' Etelis'', ''Lepo ...

, and mullet, and hand over their catch to local elders. They see it as a way of helping people who live below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, and suffer from poor nutrition, particularly lack of

iodine Iodine is a chemical element with the symbol I and atomic number 53. The heaviest of the stable halogens, it exists as a semi-lustrous, non-metallic solid at standard conditions that melts to form a deep violet liquid at , and boils to a vi ...

, and diseases such as

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, hea ...

and

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

brought on partly by poor nutrition.

Alternative names

* ''Dyirringan'' * ''Jeringin'' * ''Yuin.'' (term used collectively by

Alfred William Howitt Alfred William Howitt , (17 April 1830 – 7 March 1908), also known by author abbreviation A.W. Howitt, was an Australian anthropologist, explorer and naturalist. He was known for leading the Victorian Relief Expedition, which set out to es ...

to denote both the

and the Thaua) Source:

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * * {{authority control Aboriginal peoples of New South Wales