The Ngadju 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 the
Goldfields-Esperance region of the
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 ...
.
Country
Ngadju traditional land took in some , running south from Goddard Creek to
Mount Ragged,
Israelite Bay and Point Malcolm. The last named area was land they claim in contention with the
Nyunga branch of the Wudjari. Their western borders were around
Fraser Range. The eastern frontier was in the vicinity of Narethal and
Point Culver. Mount Andrew and
Balladonia were also part of Ngadju territory.
In 2014 and 2017 the Federal Court recognized Ngadju traditional ownership of over 102,000 square kilometres, after a long legal proceeding which began in 1995. The land includes exclusive native title over approximately 45,000 square kilometres, east and west of the town of
Norseman.
In 2020 the
Ngadju Indigenous Protected Area
Ngadju Indigenous Protected Area is an Indigenous Protected Area in Western Australia. It covers an area of 43.993.01 km2 in the Goldfields-Esperance region.
The protected area was established in 2020. The Ngadju people serve as traditional cu ...
was dedicated on Ngadju land.
[Ngadju IPA and Rangers]
National Indigenous Australians Agency. Accessed 14 May 2022. The Ngadju serve as traditional custodians of the area, which covers 43,993.01 km
2, about a quarter of the
Great Western Woodlands.
The Ngadju Rangers combine traditional land management and contemporary science to conserve biodiversity, manage fire, weeds, and feral animals, and protect cultural sites within the protected area.
[
]
Curiosity
Richard Helms
Richard McGarrah Helms (March 30, 1913 – October 23, 2002) was an American government official and diplomat who served as Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) from 1966 to 1973. Helms began intelligence work with the Office of Strategic Ser ...
, in his account of the Elders Expedition, writes of a case of polydactyly
Polydactyly or polydactylism (), also known as hyperdactyly, is an anomaly in humans and animals resulting in supernumerary fingers and/or toes. Polydactyly is the opposite of oligodactyly (fewer fingers or toes).
Signs and symptoms
In human ...
he came across among a people of this region:-
A remarkable lusus naturae was observed among the women of the Frazer Range, one of whom had six perfect fingers on each hand and the same number of toes on each foot. Not only were these limbs perfectly formed, but the corresponding metacarpal and metatarsal bones were also perfect. Two of her brothers and a sister had, I was told, exactly the same deformity.
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 ...
identified the tribe here as the Ngadjunmaia.
Alternative names
* ''Ngadjunpakara, Ngadjunpukara.''
* ''Ngadjunma''
* ''Ngadju: (''nadan'' is their word for yes)
* ''Ba:donjunga ( a Wudjari
The Wudjari were an Aboriginal Australian people of the Noongar cultural group of the southern region of Western Australia.
Country
The Wudjari's traditional lands are estimated to have extended over some , encompassing the southern coastal are ...
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, ...
referring to subincised men
* ''Bardok''. ('subincised')
* ''Pardoak'' (Wiilman
Wiilman are an indigenous Noongar people from the Wheatbelt, Great Southern and South West regions of Western Australia. Variant spellings of the name include Wilman, Wilmen and Wheelman. ''Wiilman'' is the endonym.
Language
Their original lan ...
exonym).
* ''Ngadjumaja.''(of Njunga
The Njunga or Nyunga are an indigenous Noongar people of Western Australia.
Name
''Njunga/nyunga'' reflects a root (''njoŋa/njuŋa/njuŋar'') that signifies 'man'. They adopted the term, perhaps defensively, in response to a number of tribes w ...
tribe to south)
* ''Malba.'' (southernj tribal name, meaning 'the circumcised') for their language, and also those of the Kalaako and Kalamaia)
* ''Fraser Range tribe.''
* ''Minninng.''
* ''West Meening, West Mining.''
* ''Buljigu.'' (name of a dialect spoken by northern bands).
References
Sources
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{{authority control
Aboriginal peoples of Western Australia