The Niabali, otherwise written ''Nyiyaparli,'' are an
indigenous Australia
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 o ...
tribe of the
Pilbara
The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a glo ...
region of
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
.
Language
Their language is called
Nyiyaparli. It was customary to classify it as one of the
Ngayarda languages
The Ngayarda (''Ngayarta'' /ŋajaʈa/) languages are a group of closely related languages in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The languages classified as members of the Ngayarda languages group are (following Bowern & Koch 2004):
* Mart ...
until Alan Dench reassigned it to the
Wati languages
The Wati languages are the dominant Pama–Nyungan languages of central Australia. They include the moribund Wanman language and the Western Desert dialect continuum
A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties sp ...
in a 1991 study.
Country
The Niabali's range of territory extends over some from the
headwaters of the Oakover and Davis rivers, just north of their junction. They include the middle sector of the
Fortescue River
The Fortescue River is an ephemeral river in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is the third longest river in the state.
Course
The river rises near Deadman Hill in the Ophthalmia Range about 30 km south of Newman. The river fl ...
. To the northwest, they reach as far as
Roy Hill
The Roy Hill mine is an iron ore mine in the Chichester Range in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, located north of Newman and south of Port Hedland. With indicated and inferred reserves of more than , it is expected to become one of ...
on
Weeli Wolli Creek, north of the
Ophthalmia Range
The Ophthalmia Range is a Mountain range, range in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is approximately north of Perth, Western Australia, Perth; the nearest town is Newman, Western Australia, Newman, approximately to the south in the ...
. Eastwards their boundaries run to
Talawana.
Social organization
The Niabali have traditionally had strong tribal bonds with the
Bailgu
The Bailgu are an indigenous Australian people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Country
Bailgu traditional lands extended over , according to Norman Tindale's estimate, covering the upper Fortescue River, and taking in Roy Hill and e ...
, and one result of the disaggregation and dispersion of the old territorial-tribal orders is that the two distinct groups began to intermarry, forming a more mixed set of communities.
History
Towards the end of the 19th. century - Norman Tindale speaks of the early 1890s - the
Kartudjara
The Kartudjara are an indigenous Australian people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Country
The Kartudjara's traditional lands extended over from ''Madaleri'', north of Kumpupintil Lake around Well 22 down southwest towards ''Pulpur ...
's expansion forced the Niabali to withdraw from north of Savoiry Creek to the confine at the headwaters of
Jigalong Creek.
Alternative names
* ''Njiabali.''
* ''Njijabali.''
* ''Nyiyaparli.''
* ''Iabali.''
* ''Janari.'' (inlanders/newcomers, 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, ...
used by tribes to their west)
* ''Jana.''
Notes
Citations
Sources
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{{Aboriginal peoples of Western Australia
Pilbara