The Ngiyampaa, also known as the Ngemba, 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 of the state of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. The generic name refers to an aggregation of three groups, the Ngiyampaa, the Ngiyampaa Wangaaypuwan, and the Ngiyampaa Weilwan, respectively clans of a larger Ngiyampaa nation.

Language

Their language consisted of varieties of

Ngiyampaa The Ngiyampaa, also known as the Ngemba, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of New South Wales. The generic name refers to an aggregation of three groups, the Ngiyampaa, the Ngiyampaa Wangaaypuwan, and the Ngiyampaa Weilwan, resp ...

, which was composed of two dialects, Ngiyambaa Wangaaybuwan and Wayilwan Ngiyambaa. The Wangaaypuwan (with ''wangaay'') people are so called because they use ''wangaay'' to say "no", as opposed to the Ngiyampaa in the Macquarie Marshes and towards

Walgett Walgett is a town in northern New South Wales, Australia, and the seat of Walgett Shire. It is near the junctions of the Barwon and Namoi Rivers and the Kamilaroi and Castlereagh Highways. In 2016, Walgett had a population of 2,145. In the 2 ...

, who were historically defined separately by colonial ethnographers as

Weilwan The Weilwan (also known as Wayilwan, Wailwan, Ngiyampaa Wailwan and Ngemba Wailwan) are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of New South Wales. They are a clan of the Ngiyampaa nation. Name The Weilwan ethnonym is derived from their wor ...

, so-called because their word for "no" was ''wayil''. The distinction between Ngiyampaa, Wangaaypuwan/Wangaibon and

traditionally drawn, and sanctioned by the classification of

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 ...

, may rest upon a flawed assumption of marked "tribal" differences based on Ngiyampaa linguistic discriminations between internal groups or clans whose word for "no" varied.

Country

According to Tindale's estimation, Ngiyampaa tribal lands (''ngurrampaa'', "country") extended over some in the territory, much of it

peneplain 390px, Sketch of a hypothetical peneplain formation after an orogeny. In geomorphology and geology, a peneplain is a low-relief plain formed by protracted erosion. This is the definition in the broadest of terms, albeit with frequency the usage ...

, lying south of the south bank of the Barwon and Darling rivers, from

Brewarrina Brewarrina (pronounced 'bree-warren-ah'; locally known as "Bre") is a town in north-west New South Wales, Australia on the banks of the Barwon River in Brewarrina Shire. The name Brewarrina is derived from 'burru waranha', a Weilwan name for a s ...

to Dunlop. Their area included Yanda Creek down to the source of

Mulga Creek Mulga Creek is a river of the state of New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = ...

, and took in the

Bogan River Bogan River, a perennial river that is part of the Macquarie– Barwon catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the central west and Orana regions of New South Wales, Australia. From its origin near Parkes, the Bogan River ...

. The Weilwan clan were on their southeastern flank, the Wangaaypuwan clan southwest while the

Gamilaraay The Gamilaraay, also known as Gomeroi, Kamilaroi, Kamillaroi and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people whose lands extend from New South Wales to southern Queensland. They form one of the four largest Indigenous nations in Aust ...

were to the northeast and the Paakantyi to their west and northwest.

Mount Grenfell Mount Grenfell Historic Site is an Aboriginal rock art site, about 40 kilometres northwest of Cobar (about 70km driving distance, of which the last 30km are over a dirt road off the Barrier Highway), in the arid lands in central west New South Wa ...

, some northwest of

Cobar Cobar is a town in central western New South Wales, Australia whose economy is based mainly upon base metals and gold mining. The town is by road northwest of the state capital, Sydney. It is at the crossroads of the Kidman Way and Barrier Hig ...

, is an important site for the Ngiyampaa people, who were barred from accessing it until the 1970s.

Group classifications

A geographical distinction regarding the homeland camping world (''ngurrampaa'') is attested between three groups, all inhabiting areas devoid of permanent watercourses. * (a) ''pilaarrkiyalu'' ('woodlanders'. Lit.' belar people') to the east. * (b) ''nhiilyikiyalu'' ( nilyah tree people) a westerly group who formerly camped northwest of the ''ngurrampaa'', around Marfield station. These two groups are collectively referred to as drylanders. * (c)''karulkiyalu'' or 'stone people', those associated with the stony terrain north of the Ngiyampaa's camping world. A further distinction was drawn between the above three groups and two groups of river people whose descendants now dwell to the east and west of the ''ngurrampaa''. These are the * (d) ''kaliyarrkiyalu'' (people of the Lachlan River (''kaliyarr'') * (e) ''paawankay'' (people of the Darling River).

History of contact

In 1914 a regional newspaper stated that there had been a massacre in 1859 of around 300 Ngiyampaa at Hospital Creek, close to Brewarrina.

Some words

* ''ngurram-paa'' ('camp-world', therefore homeland) * ''ngurrangkiyalu'' (housewife) * ''purrpa'' (school for making men) * ''waaway'' (

Rainbow Serpent The Rainbow Serpent or Rainbow Snake is a common deity often seen as the creator God, known by numerous names in different Australian Aboriginal languages by the many different Aboriginal peoples. It is a common motif in the art and religion ...

) * ''wirringan'' ( doctors or 'clever' people)

Notes

Citations

Sources

*. * * * * {{authority control Aboriginal peoples of New South Wales South Coast (New South Wales)