The Wagiman, also spelt Wagoman, Wagaman, Wogeman, and other variants, 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 Isl ...
people of the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...
.
Language
The
Wagiman language
Wagiman, also spelt Wageman, Wakiman, Wogeman, and other variants, is a near-extinct Aboriginal Australian language spoken by a small number of Wagiman peopleGordon, R. G., Jr. (2005) in and around Pine Creek, in the Katherine Region of the N ...
is a
language isolate. It has been contrasted for its comparative roughness to the smooth, euphonious sound of
Marrithiel spoken down country by the
Marrithiyal people.
Country
The Wagiman had, in
Tindale's estimation, approximately of territory in the area southwest of the
Daly River, and in the area of Dorisvale, and from Bamboo Creek northwards as far as Douglas Homestead. Their frontier to the west, west of Oooloo, lay on the Daly River Crossing close to Mount Nancar, a place where they were accustomed to meet up with the neighbouring tribes, the
Kamor and
Ngolokwangga. It was considered a stony country.
Social organisation
The western tribes of the Wagiman were called collectively the Wongkakaringa, according to Tindale.
Alternative names
* ''Wagaman, Wageman, Wogeman''
* ''Wongkakaringa''
* ''Ongkakaringa''
Notes
Citations
Sources
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{{authority control
Aboriginal peoples of the Northern Territory