The Nganguruku are 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

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

Language

The Nganguruku traditionally spoke a language similar to that of the

Ngaiawang The Ngaiawang (Ngayawang) were an Aboriginal Australian people of the western Riverland area of South Australia, with a language considered part of the Lower Murray group. They are now considered extinct. They have sometimes been referred to as p ...

, but with significant dialect differences. The similarity has caused them to occasionally be confused or conflated with the latter tribe.

Country

The traditional tribal lands of the Nganguruku have covered some around the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest r ...

from the west bank town of

Mannum Mannum is a historic town on the west bank of the Murray River in South Australia, east of Adelaide. At the 2016 census, the urban area of Mannum had a population of 2,398. Mannum is the seat of the Mid Murray Council, and is situated in the ...

to south Rhine River junction. Their western confines have run to the scarp of the

Mount Lofty Ranges The Mount Lofty Ranges are a range of mountains in the Australian state of South Australia which for a small part of its length borders the east of Adelaide. The part of the range in the vicinity of Adelaide is called the Adelaide Hills and ...

History of contact

The Nganguruku have been, in comparative terms, a relatively small First Nation. In many cases losing their lands to pastoralists, descendants of the Nganguruku had taken up residence at the Manunka Mission, and, later, moved to live around the area of Morgan, which still has people of mixed Nganguruku origins.

Alternative names

* ''Meru'' (a designation of a larger tribal confederation of which they were believed to form a part.

Notes

Citations

References

* {{authority control Aboriginal peoples of South Australia