The Gia people, also known as Giya, Kia, Bumbarra, and variants, 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 Isl ...

people of the state of

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

. Little is known of them.

Language

The Gia spoke Giya/Bumbarra, a dialect of the

Biri language Biri, also known as Biria, Birri Gubba, Birigaba, Wiri, Perembba and other variants, is an Australian Aboriginal language of the Mackay area of Queensland spoken by the Birri Gubba people. There are at least eight languages regarded as dial ...

, belongs to the Proserpine subgroup of the Maric languages. AIATSIS, in its AUSTLANG database, assigns a separate code to Ngaro, but its status is shown as unconfirmed, as the only source for it is a wordlist 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 ...

Country

According to Tindale, the Gias' lands extended over some of land from Bowen to St. Helens and

Mount Dalrymple Mount Dalrymple () is a mountain (3,600 m) between Mount Alf and Mount Goldthwait in the northern part of the Sentinel Range, Antarctica. It surmounts Sabazios Glacier to the north-northeast and Embree Glacier to the southeast. The mountai ...

. Inland they reached the Clarke Range. They were present at Proserpine, Gloucester Island, and

Repulse Bay Repulse Bay or Tsin Shui Wan is a bay in the southern part of Hong Kong Island, located in the Southern District, Hong Kong. It is one of the most expensive residential areas in the world. Geography Repulse Bay is located in the southern ...

. Tindale registered this as a distinct tribe, directly south of

Port Denison Port Denison is a town of 3000 residents in the Mid West region of Western Australia. Its local government area is the Shire of Irwin and it is located southwest of Dongara on the Indian Ocean coast. History Port Denison was initially known ...

, but this has been questioned by Barker. Although Ngaro is given as a synonym for Gia, and vice versa, it appears that the

Ngaro people The Ngaro are an Australian Aboriginal group of people who traditionally inhabited the Whitsunday Islands and coastal regions of Queensland, employing a seafaring lifestyle in an area that archaeologically shows evidence of human habitation since ...

inhabited the

Whitsunday Islands The Whitsunday Islands are 74 continental islands of various sizes off the central coast of Queensland, Australia, north of Brisbane. The northernmost of the islands are off the coast by the town of Bowen, while the southernmost islands are ...

. The

Yuwibara The Yuwibara, also written Yuibera and Juipera and also known as Yuwi, after their language, are an Aboriginal Australian people, originating from the area around present-day Mackay, on the east coast of Queensland, Australia. Country Accordin ...

people occupied land to their south. A

Traditional Owner Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...

Reference Group consisting of representatives of the Yuwibara, Koinmerburra, Barada Barna,

Wiri Wiri is a mostly industrial-commercial focused suburb in Auckland, New Zealand. It was formerly part of Manukau City until the merger of all of Auckland's councils into the ' super city' in 2010. The area was named after the chief Takaanini ...

, Ngaro, and those Gia and

Juru people The Juru people also known as the ‘Yuru’ people are the proud Aboriginal people of the state of Queensland Country In Norman Tindale's estimate, the Yuru had some of land, extending northwards from Bowen to the Burdekin River at the site of ...

whose lands are within Reef Catchments Mackay Whitsunday Isaac region, helps to support

natural resource management Natural resource management (NRM) is the management of natural resources such as land, water, soil, plants and animals, with a particular focus on how management affects the quality of life for both present and future generations (stewardship) ...

and look after the cultural heritage sites in the area.

Earliest description

In response to inquiries made by

Edward Micklethwaite Curr Edward Micklethwaite Curr (25 December 1820 – 3 August 1889) was an Australian pastoralist, author, advocate of Australian Aboriginal peoples, and squatter. Biography Curr was born in Hobart, Tasmania (then known as Van Diemen's Land), the e ...

, Sergeant B. Shea, a resident of the Gia area, provided a sketch of the natives of his district. He identified them as the Bumbarra tribes. He provided the names of the tribal divisions: those applying to men were ''Karilla'' and ''Whychaka'', while women belonged either to the ''Denterbago'' or ''Helmerago,'' Marriage was contracted when girls reached the age of 12.

Alternative names

* ''Kia'' * ''Bumbara'', ''Bumbarra''

Some words

* ''wina'' (fish) * ''pigina'' (mosquito) * ''kroopulla'' (fly) * ''worniwoma'' (black woman) * ''yaboo'' (father) * ''yanga'' (mother) * ''koloona'' (young man) * ''kutha'' (old man) * ''kummi''(old woman) * ''korea''(head) * ''dilli'' (eye) * ''wolloo'' (ear) * ''dongalla'' (excrement) * ''nikkana'' (food) * ''kangoola'' (thirsty) * ''wangalla''(boomerang)

Notes

Citations

References

* * * * * {{authority control Aboriginal peoples of Queensland