The Karanja (Karanya) 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 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 ...
.
Country
The Karanja, a people of the
Channel Country
The Channel Country is a region of outback Australia mostly in the state of Queensland but also in parts of South Australia, Northern Territory and New South Wales. The name comes from the numerous intertwined rivulets that cross the region, ...
, are estimated 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 ...
to have had tribal lands extending over approximately , taking in
Bedourie, the
Georgina River
The Georgina River is the north-westernmost of the three major rivers of the Channel Country in Central West Queensland, that also flows through a portion of the Northern Territory, in central Australia. Part of the Lake Eyre basin, the Geor ...
and King Creek, and reaching south to Cluny and
Glengyle. Their western boundaries were around ''Moorabulla'' (Mount David).
History of contact
When whites first began to settle the area in 1876, the Karanja were calculated to be around 250 people. Within a seven years, this figure dropped to 180, with settlers claiming that the reduction was caused by consumption and venereal disease.
Lifestyle
The Karanja, other than what they could gather from hunting local game, relied on
a bread cake made from
nardoo seeds as a staple.
Alternative names
* ''Karenya''
* ''Kurrana'' (from ''karana'', meaning 'mkan')
* ''Mooraboola'' (toponym)
* ''Moorloobulloo''
* ''Ngulubulu'' (language name)
* ''Ooloopooloo'' (garbled mishearing of their name)
Notes
Citations
Sources
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*
{{authority control
Aboriginal peoples of Queensland