The Gunggari, or Kunggari, 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 southern

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 , established_ ...

. They are to be distinguished from the

Kuungkari The Kuungkari are an indigenous Australian people of Queensland. They are to be distinguished from the Kunggari. Name According to an early Migrant, J. Heagney, the word ''kuungkari'' (koongerri) meant "dry." Country The traditional tribal lands ...

Country

The traditional tribal lands of the Gunggari stretched over some , taking in the Upper Nebine and Mungallala creeks from Bonna Vonna and

Ballon Ballon may refer to: Places * Ballon, County Carlow (''Balana'' in Irish), a village in Ireland *Grand Ballon, the apex of the Vosges Mountains in France *Ballon, Charente-Maritime, France *Ballon, Sarthe, France Others * Ballon (ballet), the ap ...

north to Morven and Mungallala.

Language

They speak the Gunggari language, a member of the Maric language family. Their language is closely related to, and sometimes considered a dialect of neighbouring Bidjara and Manandanji languages.

History of contact

As white pastoralists began to seize and develop properties, the neighbouring

Mandandanji The Mandandanyi are an indigenous Australian people of Queensland. Country The Mandandanji owned of tribal territory, which took in the Maranoa and Balonne rivers north of St. George. Their western extension reached as far Bollon and Wallam ...

began to be absorbed into the Gunggari, as the latter moved eastwards.

Social Organisation

According to information supplied by James Lalor to

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 ...

, the Gunggari

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...

names were as follows: * ''Urgilla.'' Totem = Ngorgu (Kangaroo) * ''Anbeir.'' Totem = Bondun (

Bandicoot Bandicoots are a group of more than 20 species of small to medium-sized, terrestrial, largely nocturnal marsupial omnivores in the order Peramelemorphia. They are endemic to the Australia–New Guinea region, including the Bismarck Archipelago t ...

) * ''Wango.'' Totems =(a)Tonga (opossum) (b)Bulbora (flying fox) * ''Ubur.'' Totems = (a) Tambool ( Brown snake) (b)Abboia (lizard)

Native title

The Gunggari people received a positive determination of

native title Aboriginal title is a common law doctrine that the land rights of indigenous peoples to customary tenure persist after the assumption of sovereignty under settler colonialism. The requirements of proof for the recognition of aboriginal title, ...

in 2012. This is now administered by the Gunggari Native Title Aboriginal Corporation (GNTAC), a

Registered Native Title Body Corporate A Registered Native Title Body Corporate (RNTBC) is a corporation nominated by a group of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people for the purposes of native title in Australia, to represent their native title rights and interests, once tha ...

(RNTBC). More information on

native title in Australia 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 ...

and Gunggari land and culture is available at the GNTAC website.

Alternative names

* ''Congaro'' * ''Coongurri'' * ''Gungari, Gunggari, Goongarree'' * ''Kogai'' (language name) * ''Kogurre'' * ''Kungeri'' * ''Kungri'' * ''Ngaragari.'' ( Koamu word for the tongue spoken between Bollon and Nebine Creek) * ''Unggari'' * ''Unggri, Unghi'' * ''Ungorri''

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * {{Authority control Aboriginal peoples of Queensland