The Unggumi, also written ''Ongkomi'', 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

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

region of

Western Australian 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 ...

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 that the Unggumi's traditional territorial lands stretch over some , centered on the upper limestone range and plateaus in and around the Wunaamin Miliwundi Range. They occupied the area south of the

Isdell River Isdell River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, named in 1898 by explorer Frank Hann after James Isdell, who was prominent in the region and later served as a member of parliament. The river rises in the Packhorse Range ...

gorge, as far as the

Lennard River Lennard River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The river was named on 8 June 1879 by the explorer Alexander Forrest, during an expedition in the Kimberley area, after Amy Eliza Barrett-Lennard (1852-1897), who he was to ...

and Chestnut Creek. Their western frontier was around the headwaters of the Robinson River. To the south east, they hunted as far as the

Richenda River The Richenda River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The headwaters of the river rise in the Wunaamin-Miliwundi Ranges near Mount Broome and flow in a southerly direction. The river then flows through Richenda gorge and ...

History

Tindale speculated on the basis of the nuances in their terminology for the cardinal points, that at one time the Unggumi had been a coastal people who had been driven by tribal pressures to seek sanctuary on the hard, inaccessible terrain of the upland ranges. The

Ngarinjin The Ngarinyin or Ngarinjin are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Their language, Ngarinyin, is also known as Ungarinyin. When referring to their traditional lands, they refer to themselves as Wilinggin ...

lay northeast, the

Wurla The Wurla, also written Ola, or Waladjangarri, are an indigenous Australian people of the Kimberley region of Western Australia Name Though often written ''Ola'', Wurla is now considered the recommended transcription for this tribal ethnonym. ...

directly east, the

Bunuba The ''Bunuba'' (also known as Bunaba, Punapa, Punuba) are a group of Indigenous Australians and are one of the traditional owners of the southern West Kimberley, in Western Australia. Many now live in and around the town of Fitzroy Crossing. ...

south-east the

Nyigina The Nyikina people (also spelt Nyigina and Nyikena, and listed as Njikena by Tindale) are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. They come from the lower Fitzroy River (which they call ''mardoowarra''). ...

directly south, while the

Warrwa The Warrwa, also spelt Warwa, are an Indigenous Australian people of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Language Warrwa is an eastern Nyulnyulan language, sufficiently closely related to Nyigina to be classified as a dialect of the ...

, and the

Umiida The Umiida, also written Umida and Umede, were an indigenous Australian people of the Kimberley region of north Western Australia. Language The Umiida spoke one of the dialects of the (western) Worrorra language. What little is known of it, and ...

lay on their western flank, between them and the sea.

Alternative names

* ''Ong Komi.'' * ''Wongkomi.'' * ''Ongaranjan.'' * ''Ungumi, Ungami.'' * ''Ngarangari.'' –

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, ...

meaning 'top-dwelling', referring to their living on the top of the range. * ''Wunggumic, Ngarangari, Ong, Komi, Wongkami, Wongkomiy.'' (language names)

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * {{authority control Aboriginal peoples of Western Australia Kimberley (Western Australia)