Ngarrindjeri
Encyclopedia
The Ngarrindjeri are a nation of eighteen "tribe
s" (lakinyeri) consisting of numerous family clans who speak similar dialect
s of the Ngarrindjeri language and are the traditional Aboriginal people of the lower Murray River
, western Fleurieu Peninsula
, and the Coorong of southern, central Australia
.
Ngarrindjeri is in fact the name of the language group, Europeans subsequently used it as a collective name for the lakinyeri following colonisation. Variations in spelling are common due to their use as clan names and include Narinyerrie, Narrin’yerree, Narrinjeri and Narrinyeri. In Ngarrindjeri grammar the –nyeri -ndjeri suffix means belonging to a specific place or area.
downstream through Murray Bridge
and Victor Harbor
and along the coast through Goolwa
to Cape Jervis
, including Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert.
and sealers
had been visiting the South Australian coast since 1802 and by 1819 there was a permanent camp on Kangaroo Island
. Many of these men were escaped convicts who had brought Tasmanian Aboriginal women with them but they also raided the mainland for women. Originally the most heavily populated area in Australia, a Smallpox
epidemic had travelled down the river Murray before colonisation, possibly killing a majority of the Ngarrindjeri. Funeral rites and cultural practices were disrupted, clans merged and land use altered. Songs from the time tell of the smallpox that came out of the Southern Cross
in the east with a loud noise like a bright flash. In 1830 the first exploratory expedition reached the Ngarrindjeri lands and Charles Sturt
noted that the people were already familiar with firearms.
Numbering only 6,000 at the time of white settlement in 1836 due to the epidemic, they are the only tribal group in Australia whose land lay within 100 km (62.1 mi) of a Capital City to have survived as a distinct people with a population still living on the former mission at Raukkan (formerly Point McLeay). Pomberuk (Ngarrindjeri for crossing place), on the banks of the River Murray in Murray Bridge was the most significant Ngarrindjeri site. All 18 lakinyeri would meet there for corroborees. Around 22 km (13.7 mi) further down the river was Tagalang (Tailem Bend
), a traditional trading camp where lakinyeri would gather to trade ochre
, weapons and clothing. In the 1900s, Tailem Bend was assigned as a government ration depot supplying the Ngarrindjeri.
Following settlement of South Australia and encroachment of Europeans into Ngarrindjeri lands; Pomberuk, remained until the 1940s the last traditional campsite with the remaining Aboriginal occupants forced to leave in 1943 by the land owners, the Hume Pipe Company, and resettled by the local council and South Australian Government. After hearing that the Aboriginal settlement was to be cleared, Ronald
and Catherine Berndt
, who were researching Aboriginal Culture in the area, approached the last Chief Protector of Aborigines William Penhall
and obtained a verbal promise that the clearance would not proceed as long as the senior Ngarrindjeri elder, 78 year old Albert Karloan (Karloan Ponggi), was living. Shortly after the Berndt's left to return to Sydney
, Karloan was given an eviction order effective immediately. Adamant that only death would separate him from his land, Karloan travelled to Adelaide to seek help but returned to his former home in Pomberuk on February 2, 1943. Willing himself to die he passed away the following morning.
Now known as the Murray Bridge Railway Precinct and Hume Reserve, the Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority seeks the re-naming of Hume Reserve to Karloan Ponggi Reserve (after Albert Karloan) in honour of the old people who fought to retain the old ways. They have presented a development and management plan to preserve and develop the site as a memorial and an educational aid to reconciliation.
The Ngarrindjeri achieved a great deal of publicity in the 1990s due to their opposition to the construction
of a bridge from Goolwa to Hindmarsh Island
, which resulted in a Royal Commission
and a High Court
case in 1996. The Royal Commission found that claims of "secret women's business" on the island had been fabricated. However, in a case brought by the developers seeking damages for their losses, Federal Court judge, Mr John von Doussa took issue with the findings of the Royal Commission and in rejecting the claims stated:
As a result of the Australia wide 1995 - 2009 drought
, water levels in Lakes Albert and Alexandrina dropped to the extent that traditional burial grounds, which had been under water, were now exposed.
to their enmity with the Kaurna to the west, who practised circumcision
and monopolised red ochre, the Merkani (Ngarrindjeri for "enemy") to the east, who stole Ngarrindjeri women and were reputed to be cannibals and to the north the Ngadjuri
who were believed to send mulapi ("clever men" i.e.:sorcerers) and, although not sharing a border, the Nukunu
who were thought to be sorcerers, incestuous and prone to commit rape. By way of contrast and due to a shared dreaming
, the relationship between the Ngarrindjeri and the Walkandi-woni (the people of the warm north-east wind), their collective name for the various groups living along the River as far as Wentworth
in New South Wales
, was of significant mutual importance and the groups regularly met at Wellington
, Tailem Bend
, Murray Bridge
, Mannum
or Swan Reach
to exchange songs and conduct ceremonies. Quarrels with the Walkandi-woni were not unknown and in 1849 the Rev George Taplin recorded a fight between 500 Ngarrindjeri and up to 800 Ngaiawang who shared a border with them at Mannum. Each of the 18 lakinyeri had their own specific funeral customs, some smoke dried bodies before being placed in trees, on platforms, in rock shelters or buried depending on local custom. Some placed bodies in trees and collect the fallen bones for burial. Some removed the skull, which was then used for a drinking vessel. Some clans peeled the skin from their dead to expose the pink flesh. The body was then called grinkari, a term that they used to refer to the Europeans in the first years of settlement.
Differing from most Australian Aboriginal communities, the fertility of their land allowed the Ngarrindjeri and Merkani to live a semi sedentary life, moving between permanent summer and winter camps. In fact, one of the major problems encountered by Europeans was the determination of the Ngarrindjeri to rebuild their camps on land claimed for grazing. Unlike the rest of Australia, the South Australia Act 1834
(Foundation Act) which enabled the province of South Australia to be established, acknowledged Aboriginal ownership and stated that no actions could be undertaken that would affect the rights of any Aboriginal natives of the said province to the actual occupation and enjoyment in their own persons or in the persons of their descendants of any land therein now actually occupied or enjoyed by such natives. Effectively this guaranteed the land rights of Aboriginals under force of law but was interpreted by the colonists as simply meaning Aborigines could not be dispossessed of sites they permanently occupied. In May 1839, the protector of Aborigines William Wyatt announced publicly, it appeared that the natives occupy no lands in the especial manner described in the instructions. Bowing to the interests of prominent colonists and the Resident Commissioner who wanted to survey and sell the land without hindrance, Wyatt in his reports on Aboriginal culture and practices, never recorded that sites were permanently occupied.
The Ngarrindjeri were widely known as "outstanding craftsmen" specialising in basketry, matting and nets with records indicating that nets of more than 100 metres (328.1 ft) long were used to catch Emu
s. It was claimed by colonists that the nets they made for fishing were superior to those used by Europeans. The nets, made by chewing the roots of Bulrush
(Typha shuttleworthii) until only the fibre remained which was spun into threads by the women to be then woven into nets by the men, were "considered to be a sort of fortune to its owner." While the Aboriginals of the east coast of Australia also made nets, they were used for carry bags and there are no records of their use in hunting.
A wide range of foods were subject to narambi (taboo
) prohibitions. In regards to ngaitji (clan totems), eating them was not narambi but depended on the clans own attitude. Some clans banned eating them, some could eat them only if they had been caught by members of another clan and some had no restrictions. Once dead the animal was no longer considered ngaitji which is Ngarrindjeri for "friend". A ngaitji was not actually sacred in the western sense but considered a "spiritual advisor" to the clan. Other foods were narambi but had no supernatural sanctions and these relied on attitudes to the species. Male dogs were friends of the Ngarrindjeri so were not eaten while female dogs were not eaten because they were "unclean". Snakes were not eaten because of the "feel of their skin". Some bird species considered to act cruelly to other animals were narambi and Magpie
s were because they warned other birds to flee if any were killed. Some bird species were narambi because they were the spirits of people who had died. Birds became narambi during nesting season and the Malleefowl
was narambi because its eggs were considered more valuable for food although there were no penalties for violation. Foods with supernatural sanctions were limited to Bat
s, White Owl
s and certain foods that were narambi only to women or to pregnant women. A separate category of narambi was young boys going through intitiation. They were themselves considered narambi and any food they caught or prepared was narambi to all women who were even forbidden to see or smell it. Violation, whether accidental or deliberate, resulted in physical punishments including spearings that applied not only to the woman but to her relatives. Taplin in 1862 noted that narambi prohibitions were regularly being broken by children due to European influence and in the 1930s Berndt recorded that most narambi had been forgotten and if known, ignored.
called Muldjewangk
. An ancestral hero named Ngurunderi chased an enormous Murray Cod
named Ponde from a river in central New South Wales
, creating the River Murray from its attempts to escape. Kauwira (Mannum
) is where Ngurunderi forced Ponde to turn sharply south. The straight section of river to Peindjalong (near Tailem Bend) resulted from Ponde fleeing in fear after being speared in the tail. The twin peaks of Mount Misery on the eastern shore of Lake Alexandrina are known as Lalangenggul (Two watercraft) and represent where Ngurunderi brought his rafts ashore to make camp. Ngurunderi cut up Ponde, throwing the pieces into the water, where each piece became a species of fish.
While an established Dreaming existed, the various clans each had their own variations. For example, some said Ngurunderi created the fish on the coast, other clans believe he created them where the river enters Lake Alexandrina and some said that it was where the fresh water meets the salt. They also shared some Dreaming stories with tribes in New South Wales and Victoria. In the late 1980s, the Dreaming stories were collected and one related to a creation story involving Thukabi, a turtle. There was no mention of Thukabi in the anthropological record and this example was later used as evidence for the survival of Ngarrindjeri stories that were unknown to anthropologists in support of the secret women's business
.
. Every member of a lakinyeri is related by blood and it is forbidden to marry any member of the same lakinyeri. A couple also may not marry a member of another lakinyeri if they have a great-grandparent (or closer relation) in common.
Missionary ethnographer the Rev. George Taplin, who established Point McLeay mission in 1859, using a "high quality" linguistics
study conducted by the Lutheran missionary H.A.E. Meyer in 1879 recorded that the Ngarrindjeri nation comprised 18 Lakinyeri, each with it own Ngaitji (Totem).
Note: In Ngarrindjeri grammar -dj- is pronounced "somewhere between a d and a y" but is usually pronounced y by Europeans. However, mispronunciation is considered offensive by the Ngarrindjeri.
Norman Tindale's research in the 1920s and Ronald
and Catherine Berndt
's ethnographic study, which was conducted in the 1930s, established only 10 lakinyerar. Neither Tindale or the Berndt's had any formal linguistic training and although they remain a major source of material for the Ngarrindjeri people today their accuracy in this area should not be assumed. Tindale worked with Clarence Long (a Tangani man) while the Berndts worked with Albert Karloan (a Yaraldi man).
Some lakinyeri may have disappeared and others may have merged as a result of population decline following colonisation. Additionally, Clan groups within the lakinyerar would use the local dialect or their own clan name for lakinyeri names also leading to confusion. For example, Jaralde, Jaraldi, Jarildekald and Jarildikald were separate clan names as were Ramindjari, Ramindjerar, Ramindjeri, Ramingara, Raminjeri, Raminyeri. Several of these are also used as names for the lakinyerar. Clans could also change their lakinyeri, Berndt found that two Tangani clans who lived close to a Yaraldi clan had picked up their dialect and were thus now considered to be Yaraldi.
Tribe
A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists...
s" (lakinyeri) consisting of numerous family clans who speak similar dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
s of the Ngarrindjeri language and are the traditional Aboriginal people of the lower Murray River
Murray River
The Murray River is Australia's longest river. At in length, the Murray rises in the Australian Alps, draining the western side of Australia's highest mountains and, for most of its length, meanders across Australia's inland plains, forming the border between New South Wales and Victoria as it...
, western Fleurieu Peninsula
Fleurieu Peninsula
The Fleurieu Peninsula is a peninsula located south of Adelaide in South Australia, Australia. It was named after the French explorer and hydrographer Charles Pierre Claret de Fleurieu by the French explorer Nicolas Baudin as he mapped the south coast of Australia in 1802.Towns of interest in the...
, and the Coorong of southern, central Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Ngarrindjeri is in fact the name of the language group, Europeans subsequently used it as a collective name for the lakinyeri following colonisation. Variations in spelling are common due to their use as clan names and include Narinyerrie, Narrin’yerree, Narrinjeri and Narrinyeri. In Ngarrindjeri grammar the –nyeri -ndjeri suffix means belonging to a specific place or area.
Traditional lands
The Ngarrindjeri's traditional areas extend from Mannum, South AustraliaMannum, South Australia
Mannum is an historic town on the west bank of the Murray River in South Australia, east of Adelaide. At the 2006 census, Mannum had a population of 2,042. Mannum headquarters the Mid Murray Council, and is situated in both the State Electoral District of Schubert and the federal Division of...
downstream through Murray Bridge
Murray Bridge, South Australia
Murray Bridge is the fourth most populous city in South Australia after Adelaide, Mount Gambier and Whyalla. It is located east-southeast of Adelaide and north of Meningie....
and Victor Harbor
Victor Harbor, South Australia
Victor Harbor is a city located on the coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula, about 80 km south of Adelaide, South Australia. The city is the largest population centre on the peninsula, with an economy based upon agriculture, fisheries and various industries...
and along the coast through Goolwa
Goolwa, South Australia
Goolwa is a historic river port on the Murray River near the Murray Mouth in South Australia, and joined by a bridge to Hindmarsh Island. The name "Goolwa" means "elbow" in Ngarrindjeri, the local Aboriginal language....
to Cape Jervis
Cape Jervis, South Australia
Cape Jervis is a town at the southwestern tip of Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia, approximately 108 km south of Adelaide. The population is approximately 300 people and growing rapidly, with a new estate situated behind the main town...
, including Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert.
History
WhalersWhaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales...
and sealers
Seal hunting
Seal hunting, or sealing, is the personal or commercial hunting of seals. The hunt is currently practiced in five countries: Canada, where most of the world's seal hunting takes place, Namibia, the Danish region of Greenland, Norway and Russia...
had been visiting the South Australian coast since 1802 and by 1819 there was a permanent camp on Kangaroo Island
Kangaroo Island
Kangaroo Island is Australia's third-largest island after Tasmania and Melville Island. It is southwest of Adelaide at the entrance of Gulf St Vincent. Its closest point to the mainland is off Cape Jervis, on the tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula in the state of South Australia. The island is long...
. Many of these men were escaped convicts who had brought Tasmanian Aboriginal women with them but they also raided the mainland for women. Originally the most heavily populated area in Australia, a Smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
epidemic had travelled down the river Murray before colonisation, possibly killing a majority of the Ngarrindjeri. Funeral rites and cultural practices were disrupted, clans merged and land use altered. Songs from the time tell of the smallpox that came out of the Southern Cross
Crux
Crux is the smallest of the 88 modern constellations, but is one of the most distinctive. Its name is Latin for cross, and it is dominated by a cross-shaped asterism that is commonly known as the Southern Cross.-Visibility:...
in the east with a loud noise like a bright flash. In 1830 the first exploratory expedition reached the Ngarrindjeri lands and Charles Sturt
Charles Sturt
Captain Charles Napier Sturt was an English explorer of Australia, and part of the European Exploration of Australia. He led several expeditions into the interior of the continent, starting from both Sydney and later from Adelaide. His expeditions traced several of the westward-flowing rivers,...
noted that the people were already familiar with firearms.
Numbering only 6,000 at the time of white settlement in 1836 due to the epidemic, they are the only tribal group in Australia whose land lay within 100 km (62.1 mi) of a Capital City to have survived as a distinct people with a population still living on the former mission at Raukkan (formerly Point McLeay). Pomberuk (Ngarrindjeri for crossing place), on the banks of the River Murray in Murray Bridge was the most significant Ngarrindjeri site. All 18 lakinyeri would meet there for corroborees. Around 22 km (13.7 mi) further down the river was Tagalang (Tailem Bend
Tailem Bend, South Australia
Tailem Bend is a town on the Murray River in South Australia. The town was proclaimed in 1887, the year after the main railway came through. At the 2006 census, Tailem Bend had a population of 1,457....
), a traditional trading camp where lakinyeri would gather to trade ochre
Ochre
Ochre is the term for both a golden-yellow or light yellow brown color and for a form of earth pigment which produces the color. The pigment can also be used to create a reddish tint known as "red ochre". The more rarely used terms "purple ochre" and "brown ochre" also exist for variant hues...
, weapons and clothing. In the 1900s, Tailem Bend was assigned as a government ration depot supplying the Ngarrindjeri.
European settlement
The Ngarrindjeri were the first South Australian Aborigines to work with Europeans in large-scale economic operations, working as famers, whalers and labourers.Following settlement of South Australia and encroachment of Europeans into Ngarrindjeri lands; Pomberuk, remained until the 1940s the last traditional campsite with the remaining Aboriginal occupants forced to leave in 1943 by the land owners, the Hume Pipe Company, and resettled by the local council and South Australian Government. After hearing that the Aboriginal settlement was to be cleared, Ronald
Ronald Berndt
Ronald Murray Berndt was an Australian anthropologist. With his wife Catherine Berndt, they worked in the Northern Territory, in the Daly River....
and Catherine Berndt
Catherine Berndt
Catherine H. Berndt , born in Auckland, was an Australian anthropologist. She published valuable monographs on Aboriginal Australia, including Changing ceremonies in Northern Australia ....
, who were researching Aboriginal Culture in the area, approached the last Chief Protector of Aborigines William Penhall
William Penhall
William Penhall was an English mountaineer.-Life and family:The son of Dr John Penhall MRCS LSA , Penhall was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated BA in 1881...
and obtained a verbal promise that the clearance would not proceed as long as the senior Ngarrindjeri elder, 78 year old Albert Karloan (Karloan Ponggi), was living. Shortly after the Berndt's left to return to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Karloan was given an eviction order effective immediately. Adamant that only death would separate him from his land, Karloan travelled to Adelaide to seek help but returned to his former home in Pomberuk on February 2, 1943. Willing himself to die he passed away the following morning.
Now known as the Murray Bridge Railway Precinct and Hume Reserve, the Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority seeks the re-naming of Hume Reserve to Karloan Ponggi Reserve (after Albert Karloan) in honour of the old people who fought to retain the old ways. They have presented a development and management plan to preserve and develop the site as a memorial and an educational aid to reconciliation.
The Ngarrindjeri achieved a great deal of publicity in the 1990s due to their opposition to the construction
Hindmarsh Island bridge controversy
The Hindmarsh Island bridge controversy was a 1990s Australian legal and political controversy that involved the clash of Indigenous Australian religious beliefs and property rights...
of a bridge from Goolwa to Hindmarsh Island
Hindmarsh Island
Hindmarsh Island is an island in the lower Murray River near the town of Goolwa, South Australia. Located on the Fleurieu Peninsula, it is a popular tourist destination, which has increased in popularity since the Hindmarsh Island bridge was opened in 2001...
, which resulted in a Royal Commission
Hindmarsh Island Royal Commission
The Hindmarsh Island Royal Commission was a legal investigation into the nature of female aboriginal religious myths that existed around Goolwa and Hindmarsh Island in South Australia. It was a product of the Hindmarsh Island bridge controversy....
and a High Court
High Court of Australia
The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...
case in 1996. The Royal Commission found that claims of "secret women's business" on the island had been fabricated. However, in a case brought by the developers seeking damages for their losses, Federal Court judge, Mr John von Doussa took issue with the findings of the Royal Commission and in rejecting the claims stated:
The evidence received by the Court on this topic is significantly different to that which was before the Royal Commission. Upon the evidence before this Court I am not satisfied that the restricted women's knowledge was fabricated or that it was not part of genuine Aboriginal tradition.
As a result of the Australia wide 1995 - 2009 drought
2000s Australian drought
The 2000s drought in Australia is the worst since settlement. This drought began in 1995 and continued until late 2009....
, water levels in Lakes Albert and Alexandrina dropped to the extent that traditional burial grounds, which had been under water, were now exposed.
Culture
The Ngarrindjeri have their own language group and, apart from groups living along the river, share no common words with neighbouring peoples. Their patrilineal culture and ritual practices were also distinct from that of the surrounding people which has been attributed by Aboriginal historian Graham JenkinGraham Jenkin
Graham Jenkin is an Australian poet, historian, composer, and educator.Graham Jenkin was born in Adelaide and educated at various country schools and at Prince Alfred College, Wattle Park Teachers College, and the University of Adelaide. He spent two years working as a jackeroo on stations in...
to their enmity with the Kaurna to the west, who practised 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 monopolised red ochre, the Merkani (Ngarrindjeri for "enemy") to the east, who stole Ngarrindjeri women and were reputed to be cannibals and to the north the 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...
who were believed to send mulapi ("clever men" i.e.:sorcerers) and, although not sharing a border, the Nukunu
Nukunu
The Nukunu people are a tribe of indigenous Australians who inhabited the coastal region of South Australia which now contains Port Pirie and Port Augusta. They once widely spoke the Nukunu language.-External links:* South Australian Museum...
who were thought to be sorcerers, incestuous and prone to commit rape. By way of contrast and due to a shared dreaming
Dreaming (spirituality)
The Dreaming is a common term within the animist creation narrative of indigenous Australians for a personal, or group, creation and for what may be understood as the "timeless time" of formative creation and perpetual creating....
, the relationship between the Ngarrindjeri and the Walkandi-woni (the people of the warm north-east wind), their collective name for the various groups living along the River as far as Wentworth
Wentworth, New South Wales
Wentworth is a small border town in the far south west of the state of New South Wales, Australia. It lies at the confluence of Australia's two most important rivers, the Darling and the Murray, the latter forming the border with the state of Victoria to the south. The border with the state of...
in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, was of significant mutual importance and the groups regularly met at Wellington
Wellington, South Australia
Wellington is the small town in South Australia on the Murray River just upstream of where it empties into Lake Alexandrina. Its postcode is 5259. Wellington is in the Rural City of Murray Bridge...
, Tailem Bend
Tailem Bend, South Australia
Tailem Bend is a town on the Murray River in South Australia. The town was proclaimed in 1887, the year after the main railway came through. At the 2006 census, Tailem Bend had a population of 1,457....
, Murray Bridge
Murray Bridge, South Australia
Murray Bridge is the fourth most populous city in South Australia after Adelaide, Mount Gambier and Whyalla. It is located east-southeast of Adelaide and north of Meningie....
, Mannum
Mannum, South Australia
Mannum is an historic town on the west bank of the Murray River in South Australia, east of Adelaide. At the 2006 census, Mannum had a population of 2,042. Mannum headquarters the Mid Murray Council, and is situated in both the State Electoral District of Schubert and the federal Division of...
or Swan Reach
Swan Reach, South Australia
Swan Reach is a river port in South Australia located 127 km north east of Adelaide on the Murray River between Blanchetown and Mannum in South Australia. It is on the left bank of the river. The Swan Reach Ferry is a cable ferry crossing operated by the state government as part of the...
to exchange songs and conduct ceremonies. Quarrels with the Walkandi-woni were not unknown and in 1849 the Rev George Taplin recorded a fight between 500 Ngarrindjeri and up to 800 Ngaiawang who shared a border with them at Mannum. Each of the 18 lakinyeri had their own specific funeral customs, some smoke dried bodies before being placed in trees, on platforms, in rock shelters or buried depending on local custom. Some placed bodies in trees and collect the fallen bones for burial. Some removed the skull, which was then used for a drinking vessel. Some clans peeled the skin from their dead to expose the pink flesh. The body was then called grinkari, a term that they used to refer to the Europeans in the first years of settlement.
Differing from most Australian Aboriginal communities, the fertility of their land allowed the Ngarrindjeri and Merkani to live a semi sedentary life, moving between permanent summer and winter camps. In fact, one of the major problems encountered by Europeans was the determination of the Ngarrindjeri to rebuild their camps on land claimed for grazing. Unlike the rest of Australia, the South Australia Act 1834
South Australia Act 1834
The South Australia Colonisation Act 1834 is the short title of an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom with the long title...
(Foundation Act) which enabled the province of South Australia to be established, acknowledged Aboriginal ownership and stated that no actions could be undertaken that would affect the rights of any Aboriginal natives of the said province to the actual occupation and enjoyment in their own persons or in the persons of their descendants of any land therein now actually occupied or enjoyed by such natives. Effectively this guaranteed the land rights of Aboriginals under force of law but was interpreted by the colonists as simply meaning Aborigines could not be dispossessed of sites they permanently occupied. In May 1839, the protector of Aborigines William Wyatt announced publicly, it appeared that the natives occupy no lands in the especial manner described in the instructions. Bowing to the interests of prominent colonists and the Resident Commissioner who wanted to survey and sell the land without hindrance, Wyatt in his reports on Aboriginal culture and practices, never recorded that sites were permanently occupied.
The Ngarrindjeri were widely known as "outstanding craftsmen" specialising in basketry, matting and nets with records indicating that nets of more than 100 metres (328.1 ft) long were used to catch Emu
Emu
The Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae) is the largest bird native to Australia and the only extant member of the genus Dromaius. It is the second-largest extant bird in the world by height, after its ratite relative, the ostrich. There are three subspecies of Emus in Australia...
s. It was claimed by colonists that the nets they made for fishing were superior to those used by Europeans. The nets, made by chewing the roots of Bulrush
Typha
Typha is a genus of about eleven species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. The genus has a largely Northern Hemisphere distribution, but is essentially cosmopolitan, being found in a variety of wetland habitats...
(Typha shuttleworthii) until only the fibre remained which was spun into threads by the women to be then woven into nets by the men, were "considered to be a sort of fortune to its owner." While the Aboriginals of the east coast of Australia also made nets, they were used for carry bags and there are no records of their use in hunting.
Nutrition
The Ngarrindjeri were well known to Europeans for their cooking skills and the efficiency of their camp ovens, the remains of which can still be found throughout the River Murray area. Some species of fish, birds and other animals considered easily caught were reserved by law for the elderly and infirm, an indication of the abundance of food in Ngarrindjeri lands. In the early years of the colony, Ngarrindjeri would volunteer to catch fish for the “white fellow men”.A wide range of foods were subject to narambi (taboo
Taboo
A taboo is a strong social prohibition relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and or forbidden based on moral judgment, religious beliefs and or scientific consensus. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society...
) prohibitions. In regards to ngaitji (clan totems), eating them was not narambi but depended on the clans own attitude. Some clans banned eating them, some could eat them only if they had been caught by members of another clan and some had no restrictions. Once dead the animal was no longer considered ngaitji which is Ngarrindjeri for "friend". A ngaitji was not actually sacred in the western sense but considered a "spiritual advisor" to the clan. Other foods were narambi but had no supernatural sanctions and these relied on attitudes to the species. Male dogs were friends of the Ngarrindjeri so were not eaten while female dogs were not eaten because they were "unclean". Snakes were not eaten because of the "feel of their skin". Some bird species considered to act cruelly to other animals were narambi and Magpie
Australian Magpie
The Australian Magpie is a medium-sized black and white passerine bird native to Australia and southern New Guinea. A member of the Artamidae, it is closely related to the butcherbirds...
s were because they warned other birds to flee if any were killed. Some bird species were narambi because they were the spirits of people who had died. Birds became narambi during nesting season and the Malleefowl
Malleefowl
The Malleefowl is a stocky ground-dwelling Australian bird about the size of a domestic chicken...
was narambi because its eggs were considered more valuable for food although there were no penalties for violation. Foods with supernatural sanctions were limited to Bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
s, White Owl
Ninox
Ninox is a genus of owls comprising about 20 species found in Asia and Australasia. Many species are known as hawk owls or boobooks...
s and certain foods that were narambi only to women or to pregnant women. A separate category of narambi was young boys going through intitiation. They were themselves considered narambi and any food they caught or prepared was narambi to all women who were even forbidden to see or smell it. Violation, whether accidental or deliberate, resulted in physical punishments including spearings that applied not only to the woman but to her relatives. Taplin in 1862 noted that narambi prohibitions were regularly being broken by children due to European influence and in the 1930s Berndt recorded that most narambi had been forgotten and if known, ignored.
The Dreaming
Many sites of Dreaming significance are located along the River Murray. Near the confluence of the Murray River with Lake Alexandrina is Murungun (Mason's Hill), home to a bunyipBunyip
The bunyip, or kianpraty, is a large mythical creature from Aboriginal mythology, said to lurk in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds, and waterholes....
called Muldjewangk
Muldjewangk
The Muldjewangk is a water-creature in Australian Aboriginal mythology that inhabited the Murray River, particularly Lake Alexandrina. It was used as a deterrent for Aboriginal children who wished to play near the riverside after dark. Sometimes they are portrayed as evil merfolk , or times as a...
. An ancestral hero named Ngurunderi chased an enormous Murray Cod
Murray Cod
The Murray cod is a large Australian predatory freshwater fish of the Maccullochella genus and the Percichthyidae family. Although the species is a called cod in the vernacular, it is not related to the northern hemisphere marine cod species...
named Ponde from a river in central New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, creating the River Murray from its attempts to escape. Kauwira (Mannum
Mannum, South Australia
Mannum is an historic town on the west bank of the Murray River in South Australia, east of Adelaide. At the 2006 census, Mannum had a population of 2,042. Mannum headquarters the Mid Murray Council, and is situated in both the State Electoral District of Schubert and the federal Division of...
) is where Ngurunderi forced Ponde to turn sharply south. The straight section of river to Peindjalong (near Tailem Bend) resulted from Ponde fleeing in fear after being speared in the tail. The twin peaks of Mount Misery on the eastern shore of Lake Alexandrina are known as Lalangenggul (Two watercraft) and represent where Ngurunderi brought his rafts ashore to make camp. Ngurunderi cut up Ponde, throwing the pieces into the water, where each piece became a species of fish.
While an established Dreaming existed, the various clans each had their own variations. For example, some said Ngurunderi created the fish on the coast, other clans believe he created them where the river enters Lake Alexandrina and some said that it was where the fresh water meets the salt. They also shared some Dreaming stories with tribes in New South Wales and Victoria. In the late 1980s, the Dreaming stories were collected and one related to a creation story involving Thukabi, a turtle. There was no mention of Thukabi in the anthropological record and this example was later used as evidence for the survival of Ngarrindjeri stories that were unknown to anthropologists in support of the secret women's business
Hindmarsh Island bridge controversy
The Hindmarsh Island bridge controversy was a 1990s Australian legal and political controversy that involved the clash of Indigenous Australian religious beliefs and property rights...
.
Tribes of the Ngarrindjeri
There were eighteen Ngarrindjeri "tribes" known as Lakinyeri, each occupying a distinct area of land (ruwe). The lakinyerar in turn comprised 77 clan (family) groups in the 1930s, each with its own distinct dialectDialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
. Every member of a lakinyeri is related by blood and it is forbidden to marry any member of the same lakinyeri. A couple also may not marry a member of another lakinyeri if they have a great-grandparent (or closer relation) in common.
Missionary ethnographer the Rev. George Taplin, who established Point McLeay mission in 1859, using a "high quality" linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
study conducted by the Lutheran missionary H.A.E. Meyer in 1879 recorded that the Ngarrindjeri nation comprised 18 Lakinyeri, each with it own Ngaitji (Totem).
Note: In Ngarrindjeri grammar -dj- is pronounced "somewhere between a d and a y" but is usually pronounced y by Europeans. However, mispronunciation is considered offensive by the Ngarrindjeri.
- Kaikalabindjeri - (possibly Yaraldi also spelt Jaraldekald), south and eastern shores of Lake AlbertLake Albert (South Australia)Lake Albert is a notionally fresh water lake near the mouth of the Murray River. It is filled by water flowing in from Lake Alexandrina at its mouth near Narrung. It is separated on the south by the Narrung Peninsula from the salt-water Coorong. The only major town on the lake is Meningie...
. - Ngaitji Bull antMyrmeciaMyrmecia, often called bulldog ants, bull ants, inch ants, sergeant ants, jumper ants or jack-jumpers , is a genus of ants. Bull ants can grow to over in length, with the smallest species long... - Kanmerarorn - CoorongCoorong National ParkThe Coorong is a national park and lagoon ecosystem in South Australia , 156 km southeast of Adelaide. Its name is thought to be a corruption of the local Aboriginal people's word kurangh, meaning "long neck"; a reference to the shape of the lagoon system...
between the Pakindjeri and Ngrangatari Lakinyerar - Ngaitji MulletMullet (fish)The mullets or grey mullets are a family and order of ray-finned fish found worldwide in coastal temperate and tropical waters, and in some species in fresh water. Mullets have served as an important source of food in Mediterranean Europe since Roman times... - Karatinderi - Eastern side of Lake Alexandrina around Point Malcolm - Ngaitji Wild dog, light colour
- Kondarlindjeri - (possibly Prillthinyeri also spelt Prullthunyeri), southern shores of Lake AlexandrinaLake Alexandrina (South Australia)Lake Alexandrina is a lake in South Australia adjacent to the coast of the Southern Ocean, about 100 kilometres south-east of Adelaide.-Name:The lake was named after Princess Alexandrina, niece and successor of King William IV of Great Britain and Ireland...
west of the Murray MouthMurray MouthMurray Mouth is the point at which the River Murray meets the southern Southern Ocean. The Murray Mouth's location is changeable. Historical records show that the channel out to sea moves along the sand dunes over time...
- Ngaitji WhaleWhaleWhale 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... - Korowalie - (also spelt Warrawaldie or Waruwaldi) north of Lake Alexandrina - Ngaitji WhipsnakeDemansia psammophisThe Yellow-faced Whip-Snake is a species of snake in the Elapidae family. A family containing many dangerous snakes. It is endemic to Australia....
- Lungundi - East side of Murray Mouth. - Ngaitji TernTernTerns are seabirds in the family Sternidae, previously considered a subfamily of the gull family Laridae . They form a lineage with the gulls and skimmers which in turn is related to skuas and auks...
- Luthindjeri - River Murray, Swanport area between Murray Bridge and Tailem BendTailem Bend, South AustraliaTailem Bend is a town on the Murray River in South Australia. The town was proclaimed in 1887, the year after the main railway came through. At the 2006 census, Tailem Bend had a population of 1,457....
- Ngaitji Black snakePseudechisThe genus Pseudechis contains the group of elapids commonly referred to as the Black Snakes. These snakes are found in every Australian state with the exception of Tasmania and some species are found in Papua New Guinea....
, TealAustralasian ShovelerThe Australasian Shoveler is a species of dabbling duck in the genus Anas. It ranges from 46–53 cm. It lives in heavily vegetated swamps. In Australia it is protected under the National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1974...
, Grey belly black snake - Mungulindjeri - (also spelt Marunggulindjeri or Manggurupa). Eastern side of Lake Albert - Ngaitji Chocolate SheldrakeShelduckThe shelducks, genus Tadorna, are a group of large birds in the Tadorninae subfamily of the Anatidae, the biological family that includes the ducks and most duck-like waterfowl such as the geese and swans....
- Ngrangatari - (possibly Potaruwutj), Naracoorte west to within sixteen kilometres of the ocean along the third inland dune range of the Coorong. - Ngaitji Kangaroo ratKangaroo ratKangaroo rats, genus Dipodomys, are small rodents native to North America. The common name derives from their bipedal form: as they hop in a manner similar to the much larger kangaroo, although they are not related...
- Piltindjeri - Eastern side of Lake Alexandrina - Ngaitji LeechLeechLeeches are segmented worms that belong to the phylum Annelida and comprise the subclass Hirudinea. Like other oligochaetes such as earthworms, leeches share a clitellum and are hermaphrodites. Nevertheless, they differ from other oligochaetes in significant ways...
es, CatfishCatfishCatfishes are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores... - Punguratpular - Western side of Lake Alexandrina around Milang - Ngaitji Musk duckMusk DuckThe Musk Duck is a highly aquatic, stiff-tailed duck native to southern Australia. It is the only living member of the genus Biziura. An extinct relative, the New Zealand Musk Duck or de Lautour's Duck , once occurred on New Zealand, but is only known from prehistoric subfossil bones...
- Pakindjeri - Coorong east of Lake Albert - Ngaitji Butterfish
- RamindjeriRamindjeriRamindjeri are a clan of Australian Aboriginal people forming part of the Ngarrindjeri people. Ramindjeri land is the most westerly of the Ngarrindjeri, covering the area around Encounter Bay in southern South Australia, including Victor Harbor and Port Elliot, however an ongoing native title...
- (also spelt Ramijeri, Ramidjeri, Raminyeri or Ranijeri), Encounter BayEncounter BayEncounter Bay is located on the south central coast of South Australia, some 100 km south of Adelaide, South Australia. It is named after the encounter on 8 April 1802 between Matthew Flinders and Nicolas Baudin, both of whom were charting the Australian coastline for their respective countries...
and Cape Jervis. - Ngaitji Wattle gumAcaciaAcacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not... - Rangulindjeri - (possibly Thooree), western shore of Lake Albert. - Ngaitji Wild dog, dark colour
- Tanganarin - (also spelt Tangani or Tangane), Goolwa to the Coorong. - Ngaitji PelicanPelicanA pelican, derived from the Greek word πελεκυς pelekys is a large water bird with a large throat pouch, belonging to the bird family Pelecanidae....
- Turarorn - Mundoo Island in Lake Alexandrina - Ngaitji CootCootCoots are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family Rallidae. They constitute the genus Fulica. Coots have predominantly black plumage, and, unlike many of the rails, they are usually easy to see, often swimming in open water...
- Welindjeri - (possibly WarkiWarkiThe Warki are a lakalinyeri of the Ngarrindjeri Australian Aboriginal people of southern Australia. The Warki's traditional land covered the northern shores of Lake Alexandrina.-Sources:...
or Portawalun also spelt Portaulan), northern shore of Lake Alexandrina. - Ngaitji Black duckPacific Black DuckThe Pacific Black Duck is a dabbling duck found in much of Indonesia, New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, and many islands in the southwestern Pacific, reaching to the Caroline Islands in the north and French Polynesia in the east. It is usually called the Grey Duck in New Zealand...
, Red belly black snakeRed-bellied Black SnakeThe Red-bellied Black Snake, Pseudechis porphyriacus, is a species of elapid snake native to eastern Australia. Though its venom is capable of causing significant morbidity, it is not generally fatal and less venomous than other deadly Australian snakes. It is common in woodlands, forests and... - Wunyakulde - (possibly Ngaralta), along the Murray where Murray Bridge is now situated. - Ngaitji Black duck
Norman Tindale's research in the 1920s and Ronald
Ronald Berndt
Ronald Murray Berndt was an Australian anthropologist. With his wife Catherine Berndt, they worked in the Northern Territory, in the Daly River....
and Catherine Berndt
Catherine Berndt
Catherine H. Berndt , born in Auckland, was an Australian anthropologist. She published valuable monographs on Aboriginal Australia, including Changing ceremonies in Northern Australia ....
's ethnographic study, which was conducted in the 1930s, established only 10 lakinyerar. Neither Tindale or the Berndt's had any formal linguistic training and although they remain a major source of material for the Ngarrindjeri people today their accuracy in this area should not be assumed. Tindale worked with Clarence Long (a Tangani man) while the Berndts worked with Albert Karloan (a Yaraldi man).
- Malganduwa - No references before Berndt. No clans identified.
- Marunggulindjeri - No references before Berndt. Two clans.
- Naberuwolin - No references before Berndt. No clans identified, may be related to Potawolin.
- Potawolin - Also spelt Porthaulun and Porta'ulan. David UnaiponDavid UnaiponDavid Unaipon was an Australian Aboriginal of the Ngarrindjeri people, a preacher, inventor and writer. He was the most widely known Aboriginal in Australia, and broke stereotypes of Aboriginals...
said this was the language name and that the lakinyeri was called Waruwaldi. No clans identified but recorded by Radcliffe-Brown (1918: 253) - Ramindjeri - Also spelt Raminyeri, Raminjeri, Raminderar or Raminjerar (ar = plural), also known as Ramong and Tarbana-walun. 27 clans.
- Tangani - Also spelt Tangane, Tanganarin, Tangalun and Tenggi. 19 clans confirmed and eight recorded but not located. The Kanmerarorn and Pakindjeri lakinyeri named by Taplin are recorded as Tangani clans.
- Wakend - Also spelt Warki, Warkend, also known as Korowalle, Korowalde and Koraulun. One clan.
- Walerumaldi - Also spelt Waruwaldi (see Potawolin) Two clans.
- Wonyakaldi - Also spelt Wunyakulde and Wanakalde. One clan.
- Yaraldi - Also spelt Yaralde, Jaralde and Yarilde. 14 clans. In the 1930s, the ruwe (land) of six of these clans extended along the coast from Cape Jervis to a few kilometers south of Adelaide, land traditionally believed to be KaurnaKaurnaThe Kaurna people are a group of Indigenous Australians whose traditional lands include the area around the Adelaide Plains of South Australia. Pronunciation of the word "Kaurna" varies slightly by the background and origin of the speaker; the most common is English , sometimes , native or, less...
. The Rev. George Taplin recorded in 1879 that the Ramindjeri occupied the southern section of the coast from Encounter Bay, some 100 km south of Adelaide, to Cape Jervis but made no mention of any more northerly Ngarrindjeri occupation. Berndt posits that Ngarrindjeri clans may have expanded along trade routes as the Kaurna were dispossessed by colonists.
Some lakinyeri may have disappeared and others may have merged as a result of population decline following colonisation. Additionally, Clan groups within the lakinyerar would use the local dialect or their own clan name for lakinyeri names also leading to confusion. For example, Jaralde, Jaraldi, Jarildekald and Jarildikald were separate clan names as were Ramindjari, Ramindjerar, Ramindjeri, Ramingara, Raminjeri, Raminyeri. Several of these are also used as names for the lakinyerar. Clans could also change their lakinyeri, Berndt found that two Tangani clans who lived close to a Yaraldi clan had picked up their dialect and were thus now considered to be Yaraldi.
Famous Ngarrindjeri
- Poltpalingada BooboorowiePoltpalingada BooboorowiePoltpalingada Booboorowie was a Ngarrindjeri Aboriginal of the Thooree clan prominent among the community of Fringe dwellers in Adelaide, South Australia during the 1890s...
(Tommy Walker), a popular AdelaideAdelaideAdelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
personality in the 1890s. - Ruby HunterRuby HunterRuby Charlotte Margaret Hunter was an Australian singer and songwriter. She was a member of the Ngarrindjeri Aboriginal nationality, and often performed with her partner, Archie Roach, whom she met at the age of 16, while both were homeless teenagers...
, musician. - Natascha McNamaraNatascha McNamaraNatascha Duschene McNamara, MBE, AM is an Ngarrindjeri Australian academic, activist, and researcher.-Career:...
, academic and activist. - David UnaiponDavid UnaiponDavid Unaipon was an Australian Aboriginal of the Ngarrindjeri people, a preacher, inventor and writer. He was the most widely known Aboriginal in Australia, and broke stereotypes of Aboriginals...
, inventor and author. His picture is featured on the Australian $50 banknote. - James UnaiponJames UnaiponJames Unaipon was an Australian Indigenous preacher of the Warrawaldie Lakalinyeri of the Ngarrindjeri....
, first Aboriginal deacon.
Sources
- Bell, D. (1998) Ngarrindjeri wurruwarrin: a world that is, was, and will be, Spinifex Press, Adelaide. ISBN 9781875559718.
- Jenkin, GGraham JenkinGraham Jenkin is an Australian poet, historian, composer, and educator.Graham Jenkin was born in Adelaide and educated at various country schools and at Prince Alfred College, Wattle Park Teachers College, and the University of Adelaide. He spent two years working as a jackeroo on stations in...
. (1979), Conquest of the Ngarrindjeri, Rigby. ISBN 072701112X. - McHughes, E., Williams, P. Koolmatrie, V. & Gale, M. (2009) "Lakun Ngarrindjeri thunggarri: Weaving the Ngarrindjeri language back to health", AIATSIS Conferences Papers, October 2009.
- Smith, C. & Wobst, H. (2005) Indigenous archaeologies: decolonizing theory and practice, Routledge. ISBN 0415309654.
- Unaipon, D.David UnaiponDavid Unaipon was an Australian Aboriginal of the Ngarrindjeri people, a preacher, inventor and writer. He was the most widely known Aboriginal in Australia, and broke stereotypes of Aboriginals...
(2001) Legendary Tales of the Australian Aborigines, The Miegunyah Press, Mebourne. ISBN 0 52285246 2.
External links
- Ngarrindjeri people
- Ngarrindjeri history
- Wilson v Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs (Hindmarsh Island Case) (1996) 138 ALR 220 AustLII
- http://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/