The Wailpi are an

indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

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 are also known as the

Adnyamathanha The Adnyamathanha (Pronounced: ) are a contemporary Aboriginal Australian people of the northern Flinders Ranges, South Australia, formed as an aggregate of several distinct peoples. Strictly speaking the ethnonym Adnyamathanha was an alternativ ...

, which also refers to a larger group, though they speak a dialect of the

Adnyamathanha language The Adnyamathanha language (pronounced ), also known as yura ngarwala and other names, and Kuyani, also known as Guyani and other variants, are two closely related Australian Aboriginal languages. They are traditional languages of the Adnyamat ...

Country

The Wailpi had, according to

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 ...

's figures, about of territory around Umberatana and Mount Serie, south as far as

Parachilna Gorge The Parachilna Gorge is a gorge on the western side of the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. It is located about east of the town of Parachilna. Parachilna Creek flows through the gorge. Parachilna Gorge Road runs from Parachilna on the plain ...

only in the

Flinders Ranges The Flinders Ranges are the largest mountain range in South Australia, which starts about north of Adelaide. The ranges stretch for over from Port Pirie to Lake Callabonna. The Adnyamathanha people are the Aboriginal group who have inhabi ...

. Their eastern extension ran above Wooltana. An early report by a police trooper in the area, Henry Quincy Smith, placed these '

hill people Hill people, also referred to as mountain people, is a general term for people who live in the hills and mountains. This includes all rugged land above and all land (including plateaus) above elevation. The climate is generally harsh, with s ...

' at Mount Freeiing, Umberatana, Angipena, Ameandana. Lollabollana, Illawortina, the Daly and Stanley Mine (Poondinna).

Social organization and customs

The Wailpi practiced both circumcision and

subincision Penile subincision is a form of genital modification or mutilation consisting of a urethrotomy, in which the underside of the penis is incised and the urethra slit open lengthwise, from the urethral opening (meatus) toward the base. The slit can ...

Mythology

According to Henry Quincy Smith:-

They believe that two old women called ''Yammutu'' live towards the east a long way (''paldrupa''), and that when rain comes they lie down on their backs with their legs open, and the water runs into their person and causes them to bear a lot of young blacks called ''Muree''; who, as they grow up, start westward, always throwing a small
waddy A waddy, nulla-nulla or boondi is an Aboriginal Australian hardwood club or hunting stick for use as a weapon or as a throwing stick for hunting animals. ''Waddy'' comes from the Darug people of Port Jackson, Sydney.Peters, Pam, ''The Cambrid ...
, called ''weetchu'', before them, till one of them meets a blackfellow with hi
lubra
The Muree, being invisible, then walks in the blackfellow' s tracks to make him or her look like the blackfellow, and then throws the small waddy under the thumb-nail or great toe-nail, and so enters into the woman's body. She is soon pregnant, and in due time gives birth to an ordinary child.'

Alternative names

* ''Anjamutina, Andyamatana'' * ''Anjimatana'' (

Kuyani The Kuyani people, also written Guyani and other variants, and also known as the Nganitjidi, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of South Australia who speak the Kuyani language. Their traditional lands are to the west of the Flinder ...

exonym = 'hill people.') * ''Anyamatana, Adnjamatana, Adnjamadana, Adjnjamatana, Adyamatana'' * ''Archualda'' * ''Atjualda''. (mishearing of preceding) * ''Benbakanjamata''. (

exonym meaning "Pine Hills people") * ''Binbarnja''. (

Wadikali Yarli (Yardli) was a dialect cluster of Australian Aboriginal languages spoken in northwestern New South Wales and into Northeastern South Australia individually Malyangapa (Maljangapa), Yardliyawara, and Wadikali (Wardikali, Wadigali). Bowe ...

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, ...

from ''binba'' =

Callitris ''Callitris'' is a genus of coniferous trees in the Cupressaceae (cypress family). There are 16 recognized species in the genus, of which 13 are native to Australia and the other three (''C. neocaledonica, C. sulcata'' and ''C. p ...

) * ''Gadjnjamadja'' * ''Kanjamata, Kanjimata''. ( Wongkanguru exonym)) * ''Keidnamutha'' * ''Keydnjamarda'' * ''Kudnamietha''. (eastern tribal exonym, ''kudna'' = feces, i.e. shit-eaters). * ''Kutchnamootha'' * ''Mardala''. (

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 K ...

exonym from Wailpi ''ma:dəla'', meaning 'no'.) * ''Mardula'' * ''Ngatjuwalda''. ("our speech," language name), * ''Nimalda'' * ''Nimbalda, Nimbaldi''. (misprint). * ''Nuralda'' * ''Umbertana''. (error for Umberatana, a

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

) * ''Unyamatana, Unyamootha'' * ''Wadla''. ("Scrub wallabies," Diyari pejorative exonym) * ''Wailbi''. (in

Barngarla The Barngarla, formerly known as Parnkalla and also known as Pangkala, are an Aboriginal people of the Port Lincoln, Whyalla and Port Augusta areas. The Barngarla are the traditional owners of much of Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. Languag ...

Country

Social organization and customs

Mythology

Alternative names

Notes

Citations

Sources