Language
Yir-Yoront belongs to the Pama-Maric group of the Pama-Nyungan language family. Etymologically their language and the ethnonym derived from it are composed of ''yirrq'' (speech) and ''yorront''. Several roots for ''Yorront''have been proposed, one suggesting it is derived from ''yorr(l)'' (thus, like this), this-style denominations for tribal languages being not infrequent in Australia. Alpher argues that the more convincing etymon is ''yorr'' (sand), sandridges constituting the core geomorphic feature of Yir Yoront traditional territory. To support this interpretation he notes that an alternative voice for both the people and the language is ''Yirr-Thuchm'', where ''thuch'' denotes a sandridge. The Yoront adopt sign language when people withdraw from their social world, or are ashamed of themselves.Country
The earliest explorers came across the Yir-Yoront in their traditional lands, each sectioned according to patrilineal clan divisions, at the separate mouths of theMythology
''Pam-nhing'' were the ancestral supernatural beings responsible for both the creation of the world and for the way the group was organized socially. Every site was associated with its ancestral ''pam-nhing'' owner, to whom living Yir-Yoront owners were related through the male line. The word also signified a doppelganger or guardian spirit, distinct from both one's ''mang'' (reflection, image) and the ''pam-ngerrr'' or inner soul, pulse, breath of a person.Society
Yir-Yoront land divisions were based on patrilineal clans, each of which had a swathe of territory segments of which, on the birth of individual clan-members was then assigned to members according to their respective conception totems (). That is, their names () were drawn from their clan totems (). This territory extended into the tribal areas of the Kuuk-Thaayorre and Yirrq-mayn (Bakanh) to their north and northwest through political alliances and exogamous marriages that led to Yir-Yoront people adopting other languages ). Their clan system was composed of two moieties, the ''Pam-Pip'' and the ''Pam-Lul''.Ontology
The Yir-Yoront distinguishes ordinary humans () where denotes 'real', from beings in the other world or realm of the dead, spirits and malevolent beings (), from dreamed entities (), and the ancestral beings of the primal time of Creation (). By metaphoric extension whites fall outside the category of real beings () and are classified under , vagrant other world beings of malevolent intent. ''Lerrn nerp'', literally spirit-child, was the animating figure at conception, the natural object that was the agent of concept was conceived of as an 'image' (''mang''). While the father's role in conception is acknowledged, pregnancy itself takes place only when the immigrates into the body during copulation.History
The Dutch exploratory mission under Jan Carstenszoon landed in 1623 on the coast where the Yir-Yoront dwelt, in order to trade for necessities. The logbook reports that the Dutch found a people who had "no knowledge of precious metals or spices". All the goods the Dutch gave in exchange were still in use among the Yir-Yoront save for pieces of iron and beads. The iron had never been incorporated into their totemic ideology. A clash that in whiteman's memory became known as the "Battle of the Mitchell River," in 1864 between European colonists driving cattle under Francis Lascelles Jardine to the newly established station at Somerset and the probable forebears of the Yir-Yoront led to the death of some 30 odd tribesman with many more probably injured. It is judged to have been one of the rare instances in which Australian aboriginals stood their ground in the face of withering European gunfire for any length of time. During intensive field work in 1933–1935 the American anthropologist"They don't work"
In 1958 Lauriston Sharp argued that the Yir-Yoront were devoid of politics because they could only think of relationship in terms of kinship system. This was cited in turn byAlternative names
* ''Koka-mungin'' * ''KokoMandjoen, Koko-manjoen'' * ''Kokomindjan'' * ''KokoMindjin, Kokominjan, KokoMinjen'' * ''Yir-yiront'' Source:Some words
* ''wart'.'' (bad) * ''wart'uwər.'' (woman)Notes
Citations
Sources
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{authority control Aboriginal peoples of Queensland Far North Queensland