The Wangkangurru, also written Wongkanguru and Wangkanguru, 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

Simpson Desert The Simpson Desert is a large area of dry, red sandy plain and dunes in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland in central Australia. It is the fourth-largest Deserts of Australia, Australian desert, with an area of . The desert ...

area in 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 ...

. They also refer to themselves as Nharla.

Country

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 ...

estimated their tribal sway as extending over , taking in the area from Stevenson Creek northwards to Mount Dare. To the east they were at Macumba Creek. The Wangkangurru were also present on the lower reaches of the Finke River. The southern section of the Arunta (Simpson) Desert also formed part of their territory, while to the southeast, their boundaries ran as far as Kallakoopah Creek and the

Warburton River The Warburton River (or Warburton Creek) is a freshwater stream in the far north of South Australia that flows in a south westerly direction and discharges into the eastern side of Lake Eyre. It is one of the state's largest rivers, and is part ...

. Blood Creek and Atna Hill also lay on Wangkangurru lands.

Native title

The Wangkangurru now form an aggregate with the

Yarluyandi The Yarluyandi, also known as Jeljendi, are an Aboriginal Australian people of north-eastern South Australia. Country In Norman Tindale's calculations, the Yarluyandi had some of land within their tribal domain, taking in the Mulligan River sou ...

, and are represented by the Wangkangurru Yarluyandi Aboriginal Corporation. Their

native title Aboriginal title is a common law doctrine that the land rights of indigenous peoples to customary tenure persist after the assumption of sovereignty under settler colonialism. The requirements of proof for the recognition of aboriginal title, ...

over a large area of the

was recognised in 2014.

Language

The Wangkangurru language, like the majority of

Aboriginal Australian languages The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...

, falls into the Pama-Nyungan classification. The self-referential term ''Nharla'', relating to their language subgroup, is the

Arabana The Arabana, also known as the Ngarabana, are an Aboriginal Australian people of South Australia. Name The older tribal autonym was Ngarabana, which may have been misheard by white settlers as Arabana, the term now generally accepted by new ge ...

word for "man".

Notable people

* Mick McLean (''Irinyili'') b.1888-d.1977) was an outstanding "man of high degree" (''minpari''), whose erudition regarding the country, languages and culture of northern South Australia - the traditional song cycles and lore extending from the

and Dalhousie in the north to

Port Augusta Port Augusta is a small city in South Australia. Formerly a port, seaport, it is now a road traffic and Junction (rail), railway junction city mainly located on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf immediately south of the gulf's head and about ...

and Murnpeowie in the south, from the westernly

Indulkana Indulkana (also known as Iwantja, from Iwantja Creek) is an Aboriginal community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia, comprising one of the six main communities on "The Lands" (the others being Ernabella/Puka ...

eastwards as far as Innamincka was highly prized by ethnographers such as

Luise Hercus Luise Anna Hercus , , (16 January 1926 – 15 April 2018) was a German-born linguist who lived in Australia from 1954. After significant early work on Middle Indo-Aryan dialects (Prakrits) she had specialised in Australian Aboriginal languages si ...

. Aside from English, he was fluent in five Aboriginal languages, a master of

Wangkangurru The Wangkangurru, also written Wongkanguru and Wangkanguru, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Simpson Desert area in the state of South Australia. They also refer to themselves as Nharla. Country Norman Tindale estimated their tribal sw ...

and the southern variety of

Arrernte Arrernte (also spelt Aranda, etc.) is a descriptor related to a group of Aboriginal Australian peoples from Central Australia. It may refer to: * Arrernte (area), land controlled by the Arrernte Council (?) * Arrernte people, Aboriginal Australi ...

, as well as exhibiting a competency in both

Diyari The Diyari (), alternatively transcribed as Dieri (), is an Indigenous Australian group of the South Australian desert originating in and around the delta of Cooper Creek to the east of Lake Eyre. Language Diyari is classified as one of the Ka ...

and Antakarinya.

Some words

* ''minparu'' (Man of high degree/clever man/medicine man)

Alternative names

* ''Wangkanguru'' (

Yankuntjatjarra The Yankunytjatjara people, also written Yankuntjatjarra, Jangkundjara, and other variants, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of South Australia. Language Yankunytjatjara is a Western Desert language belonging to the Wati lan ...

pronunciation) * ''Wongkongaru, Wonkanguru, Wonkonguru'' * ''Ongkongura'' * ''Wongkaooroo, Wonkgongaru, Wonkongaru, Wonkaoora'' * ''Wongonooroo Wonkongnuru, Wonkagnurra, Wonkanooroo.'' * ''Unganoora'' * ''Känguru'' (abbreviation) * ''Gongaru'' * ''Partama'' (

Gugadja The Kukatja people, also written Gugadja, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Country The Kukatja's traditional lands were, according to Norman Tindale, roughly , centering around Lake Gregory, an ...

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, ...

) * ''Wingkungira'' (

Iliaura The Alyawarre, also spelt Alyawarr and also known as the Iliaura, are an Aboriginal Australian people, or language group, from the Northern Territory. The Alyawarre are made up of roughly 1,200 associated peoples and actively engage in local tra ...

exonym).

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{authority control Aboriginal peoples of South Australia