The Yirrganydji (Irrukandji) people are an
Indigenous Australian
Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
people of
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, establishe ...
who trace their descent from the ''Irukandji'' and, as such, are the original custodians of a narrow coastal strip within
Djabugay country that runs northwards from
Cairns, Queensland
Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...
to
Port Douglas
Port Douglas is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Douglas, Queensland, Australia, approximately 60 km north of Cairns. In the , Port Douglas had a population of 3,504 people. The town's population can often double, however, with the in ...
. Their traditional lifestyle was that of fishers along this coastal strip and around the river mouths, islands and seas between the Barron River and Port Douglas
Language
The Irukandji spoke ''
Yirrgay'', one of the five dialects of the language group generally known as
Djabugay. These dialects indicate that Djabugay was genetically related to
Yidiny, with a lexical overlap of 53%.
Country
Irukandji country, 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 ...
, extended over some , running along the narrow coastal strip from Cairns to the Mowbray River at Port Douglas. Their inland extension went some 7 miles northwest of Cairns, around the tidal waters of the
Barron River around
Redlynch. Dialects defined tribal distinctions, and the Irukandji dialect Yirrgay, was the southernmost of the group, with the
Yidinji people to their immediate south, while, northwards, one encountered, in geographic order, Guluy, Ngakali and finally Djabugay. The Bulway-speakers lay to their west, from
Woree to
Mareeba
Mareeba is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Mareeba in Far North Queensland, Australia. Between 2008 and 2013, it was within the Tablelands Region. The town's name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning ''meeting of the waters'' ...
.
History
The Irukandji as a distinct tribal identity were close to extinction by the end of the 19th century.
William Parry-Okeden, in a short report on Queensland Aboriginal people written in his capacity as
Police Commissioner, wrote in 1897 that he counted 6 ''Yettkie'', a name now thought to refer to a remnant of the Irukandji. The following year Billy Jagar, leader of the Irukandji, received a
King plate, designating him as 'King of Barron', a gesture repeated in 1906 with a second plate bearing the same inscription. Jagar died at the age of 60 in 1930 in his traditional
''payu'' hut at the northern end of the Cairns Esplanade. Writing in 1974 Tindale stated:
'The term Irukandji for the people on the coast near Redlynch in the area around Cairns has been in dispute because of their early demise as a tribe. By 1952 remembrance of their existence had almost died out and a mixed Tjapukai and Mamu group, from higher up the Barron River, and from the south had usurped their territory. They call themselves the Djumbandji. The coastal Irukandji were said to have been a taller people than the rain forest dwellers. In 1964 Jack Doolan questioned several informants, none from the Cairns area, who believed the Irukandji did not exist. They based their ideas on information that ''irukandji'' meant “from the north.” They suggested that if a Keramai (Giramai) or a Mamu was questioned about the country from which a northern stranger might have come he would simply refer to him as an Irukandji, that is, a “northerner.” In similar fashion he might refer to a man from the west as ''gambilbara'', a rain forest man, or from the east as a ''djindigal'' (Jindigal).'
Modern times
In recent times there have been clashes in claims advanced respectively by the Yirrganydji Aboriginal Tribal Corporation (''Dawul Wuru Aboriginal Corporation'') and the Djabugay Aboriginal Tribal Corporation, the former insisting that any development projects by the Djabugay in the historic territories of their Irukandji forebears, require their consent and participation.
The
Irukandji jellyfish
The Irukandji jellyfish ( ) are any of several similar, extremely venomous species of rare jellyfish. With a very small adult size of about a cubic centimetre (1 cm3), they are both the smallest and one of the most venomous jellyfish in th ...
are named after Irrukandji country.
Alternative names
* ''Irakanji, Yirkandji, Yirkanji.''
* ''Yirgay.''
* ''Yettkie.'' (Parry-Okeden 1897, misreading of ''Yerrkie.'')
* ''Illagona.''
* ''Wongulli.'' (camp toponym, at Cairns' southern city limit (1974)
* ''Dungara.'' (
horde on Lower Barron River)
* ''Tingaree.''
* ''Dungarah.''
* ''Dingal.''
Notes
Citations
Sources
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External links
Ausanthrop Australian Aboriginal tribal database*
ttp://www.abc.net.au/speakingout/stories/s1838005.htm ABCs 'Speaking Out' The Long Journey of Billy Jagar's King Plate, regarding Yirrganydji ancestor 'King Billy Jagar
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Aboriginal peoples of Queensland
Far North Queensland