The Mirning people are a group of Indigenous Australians

Indigenous Australians

Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....

 whose traditional lands lie in the coastal region of the Great Australian Bight

Great Australian Bight

The Great Australian Bight is a large bight, or open bay, off the central and western portions of the southern coastline of mainland Australia.-Extent:...

 in the south-west of South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

 and bordering Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

.

People and Culture

The Mirning language is Ngandatha, based on the phrase 'What is it?'. They are relatively short in stature and practice rites of circumcision

Circumcision

Male circumcision is the surgical removal of some or all of the foreskin from the penis. The word "circumcision" comes from Latin and ....

 and subincision

Subincision

Penile subincision is a form of body modification consisting of a urethrotomy, in which the underside of the penis is incised and the urethra slit open lengthwise, from the urethral opening toward the base...

.

The Mirning people were one of the founding members of the "People of the Whale", a project to research the relationship between whale

Whale

Whale is the common name for various marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale sometimes refers to all cetaceans, but more often it excludes dolphins and porpoises, which belong to suborder Odontoceti . This suborder also includes the sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and beluga...

s and indigenous people. Part of the project was the making of a documentary film, "Eyes of the Soul", which was conceived by Kim Kindersley and Julian Lennon

Julian Lennon

John Charles Julian Lennon is an English musician, songwriter, actor, and photographer. He is the son of John Lennon and Lennon's first wife, Cynthia Powell. Beatles manager Brian Epstein was his godfather. He has a younger half-brother, Sean Lennon. Lennon was named after his paternal...

 in 1994; but, by 1998, the funding had run out and the film project was abandoned. However a new documentary called "Whaledreamers - The Gathering", about the tribes of indigenous people was made in 2006.

See also

Other indigenous ethnic groups in South Australia:

• Adynyamathanha
• Arabunna
• Kaurna
• Kokatha
• Ngadjuri
  Ngadjuri
  The Ngadjuri people are a group of Indigenous Australians whose traditional lands lie in the mid north of South Australia with a territory extending from Gawler in the south to Orroroo in the north...
  
  
• Ngarrindjeri
  Ngarrindjeri
  The Ngarrindjeri are a nation of eighteen "tribes" consisting of numerous family clans who speak similar dialects of the Ngarrindjeri language and are the traditional Aboriginal people of the lower Murray River, western Fleurieu Peninsula, and the Coorong of southern, central...
  
  
• Narungga
  Narungga
  The Narungga are a group of Indigenous Australians whose traditional lands are located on Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. The boundary of their traditional lands runs roughly between the towns of Port Broughton and Port Wakefield....
  
  
• Pitjantjatjara
• Yankuntjara