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The Gurindji 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 Is ...
people of northern Australia, southwest of
Katherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...
in the
Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...
's Victoria River region.


Language and culture

Gurindji is one of the eastern
Ngumbin languages Ngumbin (or Ngumpin) languages are a small language family of Australia, consisting of (from west to east): * Walmajarri * Djaru * Gurindji (Gurindji proper, Bilinarra, Wanyjirra, Malngin, Ngarinyman) *Mudburra In 2004 it was demonstrated that ...
, in the Ngumbin-Yapa subgroup of Pama-Nyungan languages. It is however characterised by a high level of adoption of
loanword A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because t ...
s from non Pama-Nyungan sources. Gurindji Kriol is a
mixed language A mixed language is a language that arises among a bilingual group combining aspects of two or more languages but not clearly deriving primarily from any single language. It differs from a creole or pidgin language in that, whereas creoles/pidgin ...
, mostly spoken at
Kalkaringi Kalkaringi (formerly Wave Hill Welfare Settlement, also spelt Kalkarindji ) is a town and locality in the Northern Territory of Australia, located on the Buntine Highway about south of the territory capital of Darwin and located about south ...
and Daguragu along with Gurindji and English. Gurindji people share many similarities in language and culture with the neighbouring
Warlpiri people The Warlpiri, sometimes referred to as Yapa, are a group of Aboriginal Australians defined by their Warlpiri language, although not all still speak it. There are 5,000–6,000 Warlpiri, living mostly in a few towns and settlements scattered thr ...
. They also regard themselves as "one mob" with the Malngin,
Bilinara The Bilinarra, also spelt Bilingara and Bilinara, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory. Language The Bilinarra language is classified as an eastern variety of one of the Pama-Nyungan Ngumbin languages. It is mutually ...
,
Mudburra The Mudburra, also spelt Mudbara and other variants, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory. Language Mudburra is one of the far eastern forms of the Pama-Nyungan Ngumbin languages. Country The Mudburra people live i ...
and Ngarinyman peoples, referring to themselves as a group named Ngumpit, sharing "most of our languages and culture". Among the Ngumpit, there are four skin names for boys, such as Janama and Japarta, and four for girls, such as Nangala and Nawurla. These are inherited at birth and kept for life, determining all of the people relate to each other. Jurntakal (snake) is a major Dreaming for the Gurindji, with this and other ancestor spirits keeping their traditional lands alive. Art is the main occupation, with the Karungkarni Art and Cultural Centre the hub of artistic activity.


Ethnography

Important contributions to the study of the Gurindji were made by the young Japanese scholar Hokari Minoru (保苅実, 1971-2004) before his premature death. Hokari immersed himself in their narratives of the Gurindji experience of the white occupation of their land and, responsive to their complaints that whatever they had transmitted to outsiders ended up locked far away in Australian cities, always had them vet his writings. His primary informant was Jimmy Mangayarri.


Native title

The Gurindji people of the Northern Territory are best known for The Gurindji Strike, or Wave Hill walk-off, led by Vincent Lingiari in 1966, protesting against mistreatment by the station managers. The strike would become the first major victory of the Indigenous land rights movement. A small part of their traditional lands (roughly ), subsequently known as "Daguragu Station" was handed back to them in 1975 as a Northern Territory pastoral lease, by the then Australian prime minister,
Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...
– paving the way for further
land rights Land law is the form of law that deals with the rights to use, alienate, or exclude others from land. In many jurisdictions, these kinds of property are referred to as real estate or real property, as distinct from personal property. Land use ...
victories in Australia. In 1984, after a hearing under the '' Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976'', and 1981 recommendations made by the original Aboriginal Commissioner, Justice John Toohey, they were granted inalienable freehold title to almost all of the area originally transferred back to them by Whitlam, of their tribal land. A final small portion of the Daguragu lease was recommended by the later Commissioner, Justice Maurice, in 1984. It wasn’t until May 1986 that the Hawke government finally handed over the inalienable Aboriginal freehold title deeds to the Gurindji. Much of Wave Hill pastoral station (some ), however, remains in non-Indigenous hands.


Governance and economy

Two Gurindji communities are
Kalkarindji Kalkaringi (formerly Wave Hill Welfare Settlement, also spelt Kalkarindji ) is a town and locality in the Northern Territory of Australia, located on the Buntine Highway about south of the territory capital of Darwin and located about south ...
(established by the NT Government as Wave Hill Welfare Settlement), a township of located on the Buntine Highway, and Daguragu, a community settled on land under the ''Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976''. Kalkarindji was
gazette A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...
d as an open town in September 1976 (hence permits are not required for residents or visitors). Daguragu is located north of Kalkarindji via a
bitumen Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term ...
road. Permission from
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 right ...
s, through the Central Land Council, is required to visit Daguragu. Daguragu became the first
cattle station In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm ( station is equivalent to the American ranch), the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a '' grazier''. The largest cattle stati ...
to be owned and managed by an Aboriginal community, the Murramulla Gurindji Company, after the Wave Hill walk-off. By the time the Gurindji eventually won ownership of Daguragu in 1986, there was little left of the economy. The bakery was destroyed by flooding in 2001. The Northern Territory Emergency Response ("The Intervention") put controls on people and made compulsory land acquisitions in 2007. Equipment and jobs went during a reorganisation of shires by the NT Labour government in 2008. Municipal and other services to both communities were provided by the Daguragu Community Government Council until 2008, when it was replaced by the Victoria Daly Shire, now called the Victoria Daly Region, which has a regional office for the ward of Kalkarindji/Daguragu located in Kalkarindji. The council services a number of outstations where traditional owners, belonging to the Gurindji language group, live. Some residents of Daguragu and Kalkarindji belong to other language groups, including the Warlpiri. Following a successful
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, ...
claim over the township, traditional owners of Kalkaringi formed the Gurindji Aboriginal Corporation (GAC) in 2014, 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 th ...
(RNTBC) owned by a total of about 700 people of mainly Gurindji,
Mudburra The Mudburra, also spelt Mudbara and other variants, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory. Language Mudburra is one of the far eastern forms of the Pama-Nyungan Ngumbin languages. Country The Mudburra people live i ...
and Warlpiri heritage. The underlying tenure remains with the government, but the GAC has powers to negotiate. It oversees a number of community-owned enterprises, such as the Kalkaringi Store and Caravan Park. A 2016 news article about Daguragu described it as "starved, beat up and dying", after "half a century of government duplicity and over promising; bad local management and corporate naivety; land tenure bureaucracy and coercion". It has a creche and a successful Indigenous ranger program, but the hub of activity is at Kalkarindji. Here there is a school, a social club and other services. The
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 right ...
groups of the two communities do not have a smooth relationship.


Demographics

At the
2016 Australian census The 2016 Australian census was the 17th national population census held in Australia. The census was officially conducted with effect on Tuesday, 9 August 2016. The total population of the Commonwealth of Australia was counted as – an increa ...
, the combined population of Daguragu/Kalkarindji was 575 people, of whom 517 (90.4%) identified as " Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people".


Surrounding locality

The locality of Gurindji, Northern Territory, an area of , surrounds Kalkarindji/Daguragu.


Freedom Day

On 23 August every year, a large celebration is held at Kalkarindji to mark the
anniversary An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saints ...
of the strike and walk-off. Known as Freedom Day, people gather from many parts of Australia to celebrate and re-enact the walk-off.


Alternative names

Norman Tindale lists the following names: * ''Garundji'' * ''Guirindji, Gurindji'' * ''Koorangie'' * ''Korindji''


Notable people

* Vincent Lingiari * Charlie King


See also

* Gurindji strike


Notes


Citations


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* Article by the author of the 2017 book ''A Handful of Sand: The Gurindji Struggle, After the Walk-off''. ** *Hokari, Minoru (2011). Gurindji Journey: A Japanese Historian in the Outback. UNSW Press.


External links


Daguragu Community Government Council
{{Authority control Aboriginal land rights in Australia Aboriginal peoples of the Northern Territory Gurindji