The Doolboong, also known as Duulngari, were 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

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 ...

and northeast

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 ...

Language

Doolboong, alternatively named ''Tuplung/Duulingari'', is believed to have belonged to the

Jarrakan languages The Jarrakan (formerly Djeragan) languages are a small family of Australian Aboriginal languages spoken in northern Australia. The name is derived from the word , which means "language" in Kija. The three main Jarrakan languages are: * Kija (ab ...

. The language is extinct and little is known of it.

People

Little is known of the Doolboong.

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 ...

placed them in the mangrove flats and springs on the coast to the north and west of Ninbing Station, stating that they ranged from Wyndham eastwards as far as the mouth of the

Keep River The Keep River is a river located in the Victoria Bonaparte bioregion of Western Australia and the Northern Territory in Australia. Location and features The river rises just south of the Newry Station homestead then flows in a northerly dir ...

across the border into the

. He estimated their tribal lands' extent at . The

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), established as the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (AIAS) in 1964, is an independent Australian Government statutory authority. It is a collecting, ...

interactive map places them inland, within the same colour code, north of the

Miriwung Miriwoong, also written Miriuwung and Miriwung, is an Aboriginal Australian language which today has fewer than 20 fluent speakers, most of whom live in or near Kununurra in Western Australia. All of the fluent speakers are elderly and the Mir ...

people, and south of the

Gadjerong The Gajirrawoong people, also written Gadjerong, Gajerrong and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory, most of whom now live in north-eastern Western Australia. Language Geoffrey O'Grady classified their ...

. The linguist William B. McGregor states that their language was spoken on the

Cambridge Gulf Cambridge Gulf is a gulf on the north coast of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Many rivers flow into the gulf, including the Ord River, Pentecost River, Durack River, King River and the Forrest River, making the environment an es ...

and that they lay west of the Gadjerong.

Clans

Tindale names three hordes known to be subdivisions of the Doolboong. * ''Pokai'' * ''Kanjai'' (located west of Knob Peak) * ''Wardaia (located east of Knob Peak)

Alternative names

* ''Kurramo'' (language name) * ''Pokai'' * ''Kanjai'' * ''Wardaia, Wardai, Wardia''

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * {{authority control Aboriginal peoples of the Northern Territory Aboriginal peoples of Western Australia