The Kukatja people, also written Gugadja, 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 Kimberley region of

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 ...

Country

The Kukatja's traditional lands were, according to

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 ...

, roughly , centering around Lake Gregory, and running east as far as Balgo. The northern frontier lay about Billiluna, and the waters at Ngaimangaima, a boundary marker between their northern neighbours the Dyaru, and the Ngardi to their east. They were present westerwards on the Canning Stock Route, from Koninara (Godfrey Tank) to Marawuru (Well 40). On their western borders were the Nangatara nation, with whom they had a hostile relationship.

Joint land claim

On 21 August 1980 a land claim was submitted by 90 claimants on behalf of the Warlpiri, Kukatja and

Ngarti The Ngardi, also spelled Ngarti, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory and Western Australia. Name and grouping Arthur Capell took the term ''Ngardi'' to refer, not to a distinct tribe, but to a branch of the Warlpiri, a ...

peoples, as

traditional owners 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 right ...

, under the ''

Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 The ''Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976'' (ALRA) is Australian federal government legislation that provides the basis upon which Aboriginal Australian people in the Northern Territory can claim rights to land based on traditi ...

'', for an area of about . It was the 11th traditional land claim presented on behalf of Aboriginal

by the

Central Land Council The Central Land Council (CLC) is a land council that represents the Aboriginal peoples of the southern half of the Northern Territory of Australia (NT), predominantly with regard to land issues. it is one of four land councils in the Northern T ...

. The land borders on areas in which each of the languages –

, Warlpiri, and Kukatja – is dominant. People from the different language groups have been influenced by each other when residing at Balgo, Western Australia and

Lajamanu, Northern Territory Lajamanu, formerly known as Hooker Creek Native Settlement or just Hooker Creek, is a small town of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located around from Katherine and approximately from Darwin. At the 2016 Australian census, Lajama ...

. The claim was presented at

Balgo Mission Balgo, previously Balgo Hills and Balgo Mission, is a community in Western Australia that is linked with both the Great Sandy Desert and the Tanami Desert. The community is in the Shire of Halls Creek, off the Tanami Road, and was established b ...

. The recommendation handed down by

Justice Sir William Kearney Sir William John Francis Kearney, (born 8 January 1935) is a retired Australian judge who served on the supreme courts of Papua New Guinea and the Northern Territory in Australia. Career William Kearney was born on 8 January 1935, to ...

on 23 August 1985 and presented on 19 August 1986 was that "the whole of the claim area be granted to a Land Trust for the benefit of Aboriginals entitled by tradition to its use or occupation, whether or not the traditional entitlement is qualified as to place, time, circumstance, purpose or permission".

Language

The Kukatja people speak the Kukatja dialect of the Western Desert language.

Ethnographic studies

Sylvie Poirier has written a monograph dedicated to the analysis of dreams (''kapukurri'') in Gugadja culture. Many Kukatja now live in the Mulan community.

Alternative names

* ''Bedengo.'' ("rock hole people", suggesting shiftlessness) * ''Bidong, Bidungo'' * ''Bunara, Boonara'' * ''Gogada'' * ''Gogadja, Gugudja'' * ''Gogoda, Gugadja'' * ''Ilbaridja'' * ''Julbaritja (from''julbari'' (south)) * ''Julbre'' * ''Kokatja'' * ''Kukuruba''(of Ngalia people) * ''Manggai (southern

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

, a watering place) * ''Nambulatji'' * ''Panara'' (grass seed harvesters) * ''Pardoo'' (of western Kukatja groups) * ''Peedona, Peedong, Pidung, Pidunga'' * ''Wanaeka'' * ''Wangatjunga, Wangatunga, Wangkatunga, Wangkadjungga, Wankutjunga'' * ''Wangkatjunga.''(southern Kukatja groups) * ''Wangu'' Source:

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * {{authority control Aboriginal peoples of Western Australia Mid West (Western Australia) Pilbara