The Warruŋu, also known as the Warungu/Warrongo, were an
Indigenous Australian people
Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups, w ...
of the northern Queensland rainforest areas south of Cairns.
Language
The
Warrongo language
Warrongo (or War(r)ungu) is an Australian Aboriginal language, one of the dozen languages of the Maric branch of the Pama–Nyungan family. It was formerly spoken by the Warrongo people in the area around Townsville, Queensland, Australia. ...
, extinct since the death of the last speaker
Alf Palmer
Alf Palmer (–1981), or in the Warrongo language, was the last native speaker of the Australian aboriginal language Warrongo. He lived in Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
He worked together with linguists Drs. Tasaku Tsunoda from Japan ...
in 1981, is classified as a member of the
Maric branch of the
Pama–Nyungan languages
The Pama–Nyungan languages () are the most widespread language family, family of Australian Aboriginal languages, containing 306 out of 400 Aboriginal languages in Australia. The name "Pama–Nyungan" is a merism: it is derived from the two e ...
.
Tsunoda Tasaku made a claim for Warungu having "the strongest syntactic
ergativity" of all the world's languages. The claim has been challenged by
Robert M. W. Dixon who believes that the conversational material on which it is based is vitiated by confusions in the informant.
Country
Mount Garnet
Mount Garnet is a rural town and locality in the Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Mount Garnet had a population of 532 people.
Geography
Various small communities populate the area around Mount Garnet. These ...
marks their northern border. From there their territory extended southeast along the
Herbert River
The Herbert River is a river in Far North Queensland, Australia. The southernmost of Queensland's wet tropics river systems, it was named in 1864 by George Elphinstone Dalrymple explorer, after Robert Herbert, Robert George Wyndham Herbert, th ...
.
Society
The Warrongo bore close linguistic and cultural affinities with the
Gudjal and
Gugu Badhun
The Gugu Badhun are an Aboriginal nation whose country is located in the Upper Burdekin region of northern Queensland. Gugu Badhun country is approximately 220 km northwest of Townsville and includes the small township of Greenvale as we ...
peoples, all three occupying the
Herbert
Herbert may refer to:
People
* Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert
* Herbert (given name)
* Herbert (surname)
Places Antarctica
* Herbert Mountains, Coats Land
* Herbert Sound, Graham Land
Australia
* Herbert, Northern Territor ...
and
Upper Burdekin rivers.
Like other contiguous groups of this area, the Warrango divided their members into four "skin" sections:
* ''gorgorro'' (polite form:''goynba''), totem = carpet snake(''gabol'')/sparrowhawk (''garrgay'')
* ''gorgilla'' (polite form:''woragaja''), totem = crow (''wajagan'')/eaglehawk (''gorrijala'')
* ''won.go'' (polite form:''wolmirri''), totem = echnidna (''barrbira'')/dove (?''gorraga'')
* ''wojorro'' (polite formn:''yawonya''), totem = eagelhawk/carpet snake/emu (''gondolo'')
History of contact
Tin was discovered in the vicinity of Warrongo territory, in the Wild river area in 1880.
John Atherton's Cashmere station, and the Gunnawarra station, were established on their territory in the mid-1870s. The surging influx of miners led to many clashes and massacres. At
Blencoe Falls, a group of Warrongo were driven off the cliffs to plunge into the gorge. Very little knowledge survived of these people.
Last speakers
* Alf Palmer, boatbuilder, who also knew
Jirrbal, Girramay, and Warrgamay. His mother Lucy was one of the people pushed into the gorge to drown at Blencoe Falls.
Some words
* warrngu (woman)
Notes
Citations
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Waruŋu
Aboriginal peoples of Queensland
Far North Queensland