The Maraura or Marrawarra people are an Aboriginal group whose traditional lands are located in Far West New South Wales and South Australia , Australia .
25-592: The Maraura spoke the southernmost dialect of Paakantyi . A wordlist of the language was taken down by John Bulmer. According to Tindale , the Maraura's traditional domain lands consisted of some 2,200 square miles (5,700 km) of territory extending west from Wentworth along the northern bank of the Murray River downstream to Chowilla and Ral Ral, in South Australia. Inland they extended west to
50-722: A propaedeutic function in helping to pass on to initiands the legendary lore of the elders. Tindale recorded their legends, particularly regarding the crow and eagle, in a work published in 1939. According to hearsay recorded by George Taplin , between the years 1831 and 1836 the Maraura migrated down the Darling River to their modern lands. According to an early report (1842) the South Australian Kaurna referred to this area as Mettelittela Yerta ("the stolen land" or "the land of thieves"). They ambushed and killed stockmen, which resulted in many if not most of
75-457: A high incidence of inter-group and domestic violence. The Paakantyi were considered to be a "vanishing tribe" by the mid-twentieth century. In recent times their descendants are concentrated in Wilcannia. At a conservative estimate of Wilcannia's approximately 600 residents, 68% are of Paakantyi descent. The town enjoyed a colonial boom, being the third largest inland port in those times, and
100-470: A separate language, though Hercus includes it because of its almost identical vocabulary. Dixon adds several other names, some perhaps synonyms; Bulaali (Bulali) may have been an alternative name for Wilyakali, but also for a different language, Maljangapa . However Tindale (1940) mapped the 'Rite of Circumcision' border around Wanyiwalku, separating it from the rest of Paakantyi. Tindale instead grouped Wanyiwalku with Maljangapa, Wadikali and Karenggapa of
125-471: Is not known to have been the motive, sometime around 1863 two members of the Nanya branch of the Maraura left their horde near settlement of Wentworth near the Murray River and fled into bushland. They and their descendants, by then grown to some 28 people, were found in the 1890s, some three decades later. Shortly afterwards, within 3 years, they were rounded up and forced to become "civilized". The outline of
150-706: Is purchased at the cost of the welfare, nay, even the lives of the possessors of the soil", and illustrated the point in the following words: A few years ago the aboriginals of the Upper Darling were comparatively numerous; now they, in common with other tribes wherever the European has settled, have nearly passed away. This has been brought about by no epidemic, nor the use of intoxicants, or cold, or hunger; none of these have had much to do with it. I can vouch for their being well fed and clothed, and for years spirits were almost entirely kept from them; yet they died off,
175-753: The Darling River in New South Wales from the present-day Queensland border to Bourke , then along the river to Wentworth . It includes much of the backcountry around the Paroo River , plus an area along Coopers Creek into Queensland and also through the Broken Hill district. The name of the people and the language refers to the Paaka (Darling River, known today as the Darling-Barka). The suffix -ntyi means "belonging to". Speakers of
200-465: The Makwara/Makgara . In relating their tribal mythology to Tindale, -the tale in question was an account of how the hero Wa:ku sought to marry two sisters- his informants, he recorded, would draw pictures on the ground, illustrating the narrative. A. P. Elkin cites this as an example corroborating a theory he advanced according to which rock art engravings functioned as mnemonics , with
225-519: The Yarli language . A 2012 report indicated that two people could speak the Darling language fluently, while in the 2021 census, 111 individuals said they spoke Paakantyi at home. Voiceless stops can also be heard as voiced [b, d̪, d, ɟ, ɖ, ɡ]. Paakantyi The Paakantyi , or Barkindji or Barkandji , are an Australian Aboriginal tribal group of the Darling River (known to them as
250-455: The anabranch of the Darling River as far as Popilta Lake, and upstream to Avoca . The Maraura is known to have been divided into at least 5 hordes A Nanya group is also recorded. A. A. Radcliffe-Brown mentions also a Yakumku sub-tribe of the Maraura, dwelling around Lake Victoria . The social organization was dual, centered on the relations between two moieties , the Kilpara and
275-508: The dreamtime rainbow serpent This figure is still believed to travel underground from waterhole to waterhole, and should not be disturbed. His presence is seen in such phenomena as when whirly breezes stir up the Darling's waterways. The first colonizer who travelled through their territory, Thomas Mitchell , appears to be referring to the Barkindji when he mentions the Occa tribe in
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#1732773353069300-712: The Baaka ) basin in Far West New South Wales , Australia. The ethnonym Paakantyi means "River people", formed from paaka river and the suffix -ntyi , meaning "belonging to", thus "belonging to the river". They refer to themselves as wiimpatya . The name Paakantyi therefore simply means the River People. Traditionally they speak the Paakantyi language of the Pama–Nyungan family, and one of
325-518: The Paakantyi and the neighbouring Naualko , affecting their numbers drastically tribes, killing off an estimated third of each tribe. Panic overtook the two peoples, they took flight, leaving those struck by the illness unburied in the sandhills - the mortality was particularly high around Peri Lake - as they sought refuge at the Paroo river, where the disease was unknown. Frederic Bonney was one of
350-433: The Paakantyi, stating that they were "naturally honest, truthful, and kind-hearted. Their manner is remarkably courteous and to little children, they are very kind. Affectionate and faithful to chosen companions, also showing exceeding respect to aged persons and willingly attending to their wants." With the disintegration of traditional tribal ways, the Paakantyi have been afflicted by alcoholism, high unemployment, and have
375-478: The area of Wilcannia. One estimate of the population for the period immediately before contact with whites, taking into account the hard climatic conditions, suggested that the 2,000 square miles (5,200 km ) could have sustained no more than 100 people. On the other hand, Simpson Newland , a contemporary familiar with the district where they lived, wrote in illustration of the point that: "we cannot but admit that our happy prosperous lot in these bright colonies
400-624: The back country from the river, around the Paroo River and Broken Hill . They were close neighbours of the Maraura , further down the Great Darling Anabranch . The landscape is characterized by brick-red sandhills and grey clay flats. The Barkindji today derive from several dialects, all speaking variations of the same language or Barlku. Historically these dialects were distinct groups, but with colonisation these groups are more singularly recognised as Barkindji today, with
425-408: The earliest settlers in their area, and ran stock there for 15 years. In the nineteenth century, they were much reduced by disease and they ended up working for the immigrants who had invaded their lands. Pictures were taken by Bonney at Momba Station over 15 years from the mid-1860s down to 1880 which have provided a sympathetic and accurate picture of these people. Bonney wrote sympathetically of
450-454: The extraction of water for cotton farming higher up on the northern reaches of the Darling has drastically reduced water flow through this area for tribes once known as the "people of the river". In 1997, the Barkindji people filed a lawsuit claiming the national native title tribunal . To support their claim they collected documents from traditional owners and reports written by anthropologists, historians and linguists. Their native title
475-413: The language (Paakantyi palku) and intermarriage linking these smaller dialect groups together in far western NSW: The land was harsh: drought was not rare. When parched conditions set in, the Paakantyi would withdraw into the backcountry around the few perennial springs, and hunt the wildlife that came to drink water there. In Paakantyi lore, the landscape of and around the river was created by Ngatji ,
500-651: The language are known as the Paakantyi (or variant spellings). The variant is slightly different along the river proper and ceases at the confluence of the Darling-Barka and the Murray rivers. The major work on the Paakantyi language has been by linguist Luise Hercus . Dialects of Paakantyi include Southern Paakantyi (Baagandji, Bagundji), Kurnu (Kula), Wilyakali (Wiljagali), and Pantyikali-Wanyiwalku (Wanyuparlku, Bandjigali, Baarundji), Parrintyi (Barrindji) and Marawara (Maraura). Bowern (2011) lists Gurnu/Guula as
525-464: The old and young, the strong and weakly alike, sometimes with startling suddenness, at others by a wasting sickness of a few days, weeks, or months. The people the explorer Mitchell encountered and called Occa , are, according to Norman Tindale , probably to be identified with the Paakantyi. Tindale argues that Mitchell misheard the name for their section of the river, Ba:ka . Sometime around 1850, according to elders' memories, an epidemic attacked
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#1732773353069550-530: The story, the locale and the dates, coincide with an oral history taken from the informant Pinkie Mack, in which however, the couple were members of the Yaraldi people. Paakantyi (Darling language) The Paakantyi language, also spelt Paakantji , Barkindji , Barkandji , and Baagandji , and is also known as the Darling language , is a nearly extinct Australian Aboriginal language spoken along
575-565: The three major Aboriginal languages for the people of present-day Broken Hill region. The major work on the Paakantyi language has been that of the late linguist Luise Hercus . The Paakantyi dwelt along the Darling River, from Wilcannia downstream almost to Avoca . Inland from either side of the Darling, their territory extended to a distance of roughly 20–30 miles. According to Norman Tindale , they inhabited an area of some 7,500 square miles (19,000 km ). They lived also in
600-577: The tribe are said to have been killed, during 1839–1846, by European explorers and aggressive overlanders —e.g. at the Rufus River massacre (where the South Australian Police were also involved). Lockhart indicated that in 1857 the Maraura frequented Lake Victoria in summer and the back plains in winter after rains had filled small waterholes. Though elopement, which was severely frowned on and subject to sanctions by tribal law,
625-587: Was occasionally referred to, humorously and ironically, as "Queen City of the West", alluding to the nickname of the powerful river port in the US, Cincinnati. Overgrazing by cattle and sheep, the arrival of rabbits in the early 1890s and the Federation drought led to soil degradation and extensive loss of vegetation. Non-native species of fish introduced into the river system also damaged its ecology. In later periods
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