The Injinoo 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
Cape York Peninsula
Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación ...
, and their name now applies to a tribal aggregation of remnants of various tribes of the
Cape York Peninsula
Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación ...
.
Country
The traditional lands of the Injinoo Community extend from the ''Skardon River'' on the west coast, and ''Captain Billy's Landing'' on the east coast up to ''Pajinka'' at the top of Cape York.
History of contact
The Injinoo are of mixed descent, constituted by peoples who, displaced by settler expansionism, were driven to this area where they intermarried with the Injinoo, and developed a collective Injinoo identity. In the early decades of the 20th century, several aboriginal communities settled on Injinoo land; these are now grouped as the
Red Island and Seven Rivers tribes and the
MacDonald River people. The Red Island east coasters comprise descendants of the
Gudang and
Yadhaigana
The Yadhaykenu, otherwise known as the ''Jathaikana'' or ''Yadhaigana,'' are an Australian aboriginal tribe of northern Queensland. The name appears to be an exonym from the Western and Central Torres Strait (Kalau Lagau Ya) yadaigal (Kaurareg dia ...
and a sprinkling of
Wuthathi. Together with the Seven Rivers remnant they have established a community on Small River (Injinoo-Cowal Creek). The MacDonald River people are
Gumathi. They form a
DOGIT or Deed of Grant in Trust community.
There are five communities which lie on the traditional country of the Injinoo peoples in the
Northern Peninsula Area Region of Cape York Peninsula:
Bamaga
Bamaga ( , ) is a small town and locality about from the northern tip of Cape York in the north of Queensland, Australia. It is within the Northern Peninsula Area Region. It is one of the northernmost settlements in continental Australia and i ...
,
Seisia,
Injinoo,
Umagico
Umagico is a town and coastal locality in the Northern Peninsula Area Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Umagico had a population of 427 people.
Umagico is one of the five communities which collectively form the Northern Peninsula Area, a ...
and
New Mapoon.
Notes and references
Explanatory notes
Citations
References
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Aboriginal peoples of Queensland
Far North Queensland