The Ngarnka, also Ngarnji or Ngewin, 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

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 ...

. They are often said to be the same as the

Gudanji The Gudanji, otherwise known as the Kotandji or Ngandji, are an indigenous Australian people of the Northern Territory. Language The Gudanji were formerly thought to speak a Ngurlun language, belonging to the eastern Mirndi languages group of ...

, one of whose alternative names is Ngarnji. However linguists distinguish between the language spoken by Ngarnka speakers and those who speak

Name and language

Ngarnka The Ngarnka, also Ngarnji or Ngewin, are an indigenous Australian people of the Northern Territory. They are often said to be the same as the Gudanji, one of whose alternative names is Ngarnji. However linguists distinguish between the language s ...

is classified as one of the non Pama Nyungan

Mirndi languages The Mirndi or Mindi languages are an Australian Aboriginal languages, Australian language family spoken in the Northern Territory of Australia. The family consists of two sub-groups, the Yirram languages and the West Barkly languages, Barkly la ...

. The last fluent speaker died in 1997/ 1998. Many contemporary Ngarnka regard themselves and the Wambaya as essentially the same tribal grouping, with Wambaya used as an alternative name for themselves. Linguistic research by Neil Chadwick has clarified however that that Ngarnka down to recent times (the 1970s), though genetically affiliated with Wambaya and Jingulu, was a distinct language.

Alternative names

* ''Ngarnga'' * ''Ngarndji'' * ''Gudanji'' * ''Ngewin'' * ''Gnuin'' * ''Leeillawarrie''

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * {{authority control Aboriginal peoples of the Northern Territory