The Miriwoong people, also written Miriwung and Miriuwung, 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 Isl ...

people of the Kimberley region of northern

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

Language

Miriwoong language Miriwoong, also written Miriuwung and Miriwung, is an Aboriginal Australian language which today has fewer than 20 fluent speakers, most of whom live in or near Kununurra in Western Australia. All of the fluent speakers are elderly and the Mi ...

( AIATSIS "Miriwoong / Miriuwung") is one of the three surviving tongues of the

Jarrakan languages The Jarrakan (formerly Djeragan) languages are a small family of Australian Aboriginal languages spoken in northern Australia. The name is derived from the word , which means "language" in Kija. The three main Jarrakan languages are: * Kija (ab ...

, the word ''jarrak'' meaning ''language, talk, speech''. Miriwung is on the verge of extinction with only 20 fluent speakers remaining.

Country

Miriwoong traditional lands stretched over some , from the south at the Ord River valley, north to present day

Carlton Hill Station Carlton Hill Station is a pastoral lease and cattle station located in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Situated approximately to the north-west of Kununurra and east of Wyndham, the station covers an area of . The property li ...

, and upriver to

Ivanhoe Station Ivanhoe or Ivanhoe Station is a pastoral lease and cattle station located just north of Kununurra in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Founded in 1893 by the Durack brothers, station is presently owned by the Consolidated Pastoral C ...

. Its eastern flank lay just across the border with the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

, at Newry Station. They dwelt also along the

Keep River The Keep River is a river located in the Victoria Bonaparte bioregion of Western Australia and the Northern Territory in Australia. Location and features The river rises just south of the Newry Station homestead then flows in a northerly dir ...

down to the coast. Running clockwise from the north, the neighbours of the Miriwung (excluding the poorly attested Doolboong, were the

Gajirrawoong The Gajirrawoong people, also written Gadjerong, Gajerrong and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory, most of whom now live in north-eastern Western Australia. Language Geoffrey O'Grady classified their ...

, then on the northeastern flank the Jamindjung, followed by the Ngarinman due east, the Gija at their southern confines and the

Ngarinyin The Ngarinyin or Ngarinjin are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Their language, Ngarinyin, is also known as Ungarinyin. When referring to their traditional lands, they refer to themselves as Wilinggi ...

to their west. The Miriwoong people were represented in a successful native title claim by the

Kimberley Land Council Kimberley Land Council Aboriginal Corporation, known as Kimberley Land Council (KLC), is an association of Aboriginal people in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The land council was formed at a meeting at Noonkanbah Station in May 1 ...

in two joint claims with the

people, as "Miriuwung Gajerrong". The Federal Court recognised the native title rights of the two peoples on 9 December 2003, nearly ten years after the claim had been lodged. The claim covers , and includes Kununurra in the east Kimberley,

Lake Argyle Lake Argyle is Western Australia's largest and Australia's second largest freshwater man-made reservoir by volume. The reservoir is part of the Ord River Irrigation Scheme and is located near the East Kimberley town of Kununurra. The lake ...

, the Keep River and the

Ord River Irrigation scheme The Ord River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The river's catchment covers . The lower Ord River and the conjunction with Cambridge Gulf create the most northern estuarine environment in Western Australia. The Ord ...

. Another claim, determined in November 2006, covers , with the

and the WA pastoral leases of the

Rosewood Station Rosewood refers to any of a number of richly hued timbers, often brownish with darker veining, but found in many different hues. True rosewoods All genuine rosewoods belong to the genus ''Dalbergia''. The pre-eminent rosewood appreciated in ...

Exclusive possession In law, possession is the control a person intentionally exercises toward a thing. Like ownership, the possession of anything is commonly regulated by country under property law. In all cases, to possess something, a person must have an intent ...

was recognised across several community-leased areas.

Alternative names

* ''Miriwun'', ''Miriwong'', ''Mirriwong'' * ''Miriwu'' (a Gija

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, ...

) * ''Moreng'' ("westerners"), ''Mirong'', ''Mirung''

Modern times

Most traditional Miriwung live in Kununurra and outlying stations.

Some words

* ''jendoobang'' (meaning "string" with a

comitative In grammar, the comitative case (; abbreviated ) is a grammatical case that denotes accompaniment. In English, the preposition "with", in the sense of "in company with" or "together with", plays a substantially similar role (other uses of "with", l ...

suffix)

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * * {{authority control Aboriginal peoples of Western Australia Kimberley (Western Australia)