The Mati Ke, also known as the Magatige, 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 Islands ...
people, whose traditional lands are located in the
Wadeye area in the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
. Their language is in danger of extinction, but there is a
language revival
Language revitalization, also referred to as language revival or reversing language shift, is an attempt to halt or reverse the decline of a language or to revive an extinct one. Those involved can include linguists, cultural or community groups, o ...
project under way to preserve it.
Language
Mati Ke
The Mati Ke, also known as the Magatige, are an Aboriginal Australian people, whose traditional lands are located in the Wadeye, Northern Territory, Wadeye area in the Northern Territory. Their language is in danger of extinction, but there is a l ...
, also known as Magati-Ge, Magadige, Marti Ke, Magati Gair, is classified as one of the
Western Daly languages
The Western Daly languages are a small family of Australian aboriginal languages that share common grammatical forms. They are:
*Maranunggu (Emmi; Menhthe dialect)
* Marrithiyel (Bringen: Marri Ammu, Marritjevin, Marridan, Marramanindjdji dia ...
, and bearing close affinities to Marringarr and
Marrithiyel. In 1983 around 30 fluent speakers of the language survived, and by the early 2000s, some 50 people were thought to still speak some of it as a second or third language.
By the early 2000s the last completely fluent speakers were reckoned to be three people, Johnny Chula, Patrick Nudjulu and his sister Agatha Perdjert, both of whom who moved back to a government-built outstation at Kuy on the Shores facing the
Timor Sea
The Timor Sea ( id, Laut Timor, pt, Mar de Timor, tet, Tasi Mane or ) is a relatively shallow sea bounded to the north by the island of Timor, to the east by the Arafura Sea, and to the south by Australia.
The sea contains a number of reefs, ...
. Though living in close proximity to one another, they never spoke it together since in their social system communication between brother and sister after puberty was forbidden.
Social organization
The clan and totem system was described by the Norwegian ethnologist Johannes Falkenberg in 1962, based on fieldwork conducted in 1950.
History
The Mati Ke were one of several tribes living south of Wadeye between the
Moyle and
Fitzmaurice rivers. Many moved to Wadeye when a Catholic mission was set up there in the 1930s. Most descendants of the tribe dropped using their Mati Ke speech and adopted the majority language in the area,
Murrinh-Patha
The Murrinh-Patha, or Murinbata, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory.
Language
Murrinh-Patha language, Murrinh-Patha is spoken by about 2500 people, and serves as a lingua franca for several other ethnic groups, such ...
, which is spoken by about 2500 people and serves as a
lingua franca
A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...
for several other ethnic groups.
Alternative names
* ''Maritige.''
* ''Muringata.''
* ''Muringa'' (
Murinbata
The Murrinh-Patha, or Murinbata, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory.
Language
Murrinh-Patha is spoken by about 2500 people, and serves as a lingua franca for several other ethnic groups, such as the Mati Ke or Marid ...
exonym
An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...
)
* ''Muringe.''
* ''Berinken, Berinkin, Berringin.''
* ''Brinken, Brinkan.''
Notes
Citations
Sources
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{{Authority control
Aboriginal peoples of the Northern Territory