The Mandara 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 Pilbara 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 ...

. They are extinct, having been absorbed into neighboring peoples, and their language is unrecorded.

Country

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 ...

, the Mandara's tribal lands extended over some . Compared to other highlander tribes in this area of the Puilbara, the Mandara were small in numbers, and were concentrated in parts of the

Ophthalmia Range The Ophthalmia Range is a Mountain range, range in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is approximately north of Perth, Western Australia, Perth; the nearest town is Newman, Western Australia, Newman, approximately to the south in the ...

and the plateau area lying at the head of the Turee and Weediwolli creeks. Their southern confines touched Prairie Downs.

History

The Mandara were driven off their native grounds by a Völkerwanderung, or tribal migration phase in northwestern Australia that took place shortly before actually contact with Europeans occurred, in which the Kurrama pressured the Panyjima, who in turn moved southeast to exert pressure on tribes like the Mandara. The Mandara were compelled to shift north towards the

Fortescue River The Fortescue River is an ephemeral river in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is the third longest river in the state. Course The river rises near Deadman Hill in the Ophthalmia Range about 30 km south of Newman. The river fl ...

, but eventually their remnants were absorbed by the Panyjima and the

Niabali The Niabali, otherwise written ''Nyiyaparli,'' are an indigenous Australia tribe of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Language Their language is called Nyiyaparli. It was customary to classify it as one of the Ngayarda languages until Alan ...

Country

History

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