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The Wemba-Wemba are an
The Wemba-Wemba 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 in north-Western Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
and south-western New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, including in the Mallee
The Mallee covers the most northwesterly part of Victoria, bounded by the South Australian and New South Wales borders. Definitions of the south-eastern boundary vary, however, all are based on the historic Victorian distribution of mallee ...
and the Riverina
The Riverina
is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation ...
regions. They are also known as the Wamba-Wamba.
Language
Wemba-Wemba
The Wemba-Wemba are an Aboriginal Australian people in north-Western Victoria and south-western New South Wales, Australia, including in the Mallee and the Riverina regions. They are also known as the Wamba-Wamba.
Language
Wemba-Wemba bears ...
bears strong similarities to Woiwurrung
The Woiwurrung, also spelt Woi Wurrung, Woiwurrong, Woiworung, Wuywurung, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin alliance.
The Woiwurrung people's territory in Central Victoria extended from north o ...
. When Moravian missionaries came and started to learn a language in Wemba Wemba territory, at Archibald Macarthur Camppbell's ''Gannawarra'' station, they quickly noted that the Aboriginal people, perceiving they were understood, slipped into using another language, not willing to allow this "cultural conquest" to enable the white men to learn of matters they wished to keep secret from outsiders.
Country
Before European settlement in the nineteenth century, the Wemba-Wemba occupied the area around theLoddon River
The Loddon River, an inland river of the northcentral catchment, part of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the lower Riverina bioregion and Central Highlands and Loddon Mallee regions of the Australian state of Victoria. The headwater ...
, reaching northwards from Kerang, Victoria
Kerang is a rural town on the Loddon River in northern Victoria in Australia. It is the commercial centre to an irrigation district based on livestock, horticulture, lucerne and grain. It is located north-west of Melbourne on the Murray V ...
to Swan Hill
Swan Hill is a city in the northwest of Victoria, Australia on the Murray Valley Highway and on the south bank of the Murray River, downstream from the junction of the Loddon River. At , Swan Hill had a population of 11,508.
Indigenous Peo ...
, and including the area of the Avoca River
The Avoca River, an inland intermittent river of the northcentral catchment, part of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the lower Riverina bioregion and Central Highlands and Wimmera regions of the Australian state of Victoria. The head ...
, southwards towards Quambatook. In a northeasterly direction, their territory ran up, over the New South Wales-Victorian border to Booroorban and Moulamein
Moulamein is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, in the Murray River Council local government area. At the , Moulamein had a population of 484 . Moulamein is the oldest town in the Riverina.
The town is located between Balranald, Hay, ...
, and extended to the vicinity of Barham. Lake Boga
Lake Boga () is a town in Victoria, Australia, located next to the lake of the same name. It is situated within the Rural City of Swan Hill within the Mallee region of north-west Victoria. At the 2016 census, Lake Boga had a population of 985 ...
and Boora in Victoria also fell within their domain. The overall extension of their territory has been calculated by Norman Tindale to be roughly .
Social structure
The Wembawemba were registered as consisting of five hordes. Stone lists these hordes, residing around Towaninny, Meelool Station (with a name indicating they were thought to be quarrelsome), Lake Boga, Gonn on the Murray River (called the ''Dietjenbaluk'' ("always on the move"), and Bael Bael.Contact history
The explorer Thomas Mitchell was the first white man to cross Wembawemba territory, in 1836.Attempt to evangelize the Wembawemba
The Wembas-Wemba's religio-cultural worldview was centered on a dreaming, which they called ''yemurraki''. Two German Moravian missionaries, Reverend A.F.C. Täger and Reverend F.W. Spieseke, convinced that the Wembawemba, whom they called ''culli'', were "the most wretched and bleakest (people), who live on God's earth", establishedLake Boga mission
Lake Boga Mission station was established on the south-eastern shores of Lake Boga, Victoria, Australia in 1851 by the Moravian Church on the land of the Wemba-Wemba. The mission was established by two Moravian missionaries from Germany, Andreas ...
in 1851. The mission closed in 1856 due to lack of converts, disputes with local authorities and hostilities from local landholders. The Moravian Church established a subsequent mission site in Wergaia
The Wergaia or Werrigia people are an Aboriginal Australian group in the Mallee and Wimmera regions of north-Western Victoria, made up of a number of clans. The people were also known as the Maligundidj (in the Wotjobaluk language) which mea ...
territory near Lake Hindmarsh in 1856 (see Ebenezer Mission
Ebenezer Mission, also known as Wimmera mission, Hindmarsh mission and Dimboola mission, was a mission station for Aboriginal people established near Lake Hindmarsh in Victoria, Australia (near Jeparit) in 1859 by the Moravian Church on the lan ...
).
Notes
Citations
Sources
* * * * * * * * {{authority control Aboriginal peoples of New South Wales Aboriginal peoples of Victoria (Australia) Mallee (Victoria) Riverina