Barindji

Barindji people are an Aboriginal group whose traditional lands are located in the Far West of New South Wales, Australia.[1][2]

Name

According to one theory, the tribal name meant forest dwellers in the local languages.[3][4] Tindale glosses this attribution by suggesting that the term may derive from a creek name, called the Paroo, reflecting prior tribal links. An exonym for them once used by the Darling River aborigines, who were terrified by the Barindji, called them mamba (devils). [4]

Country

Aboriginal Tribes of Riverina.

Norman Tindale stated that their traditional lands covered some 9,000 sq. miles of territory, of predominantly mallee, mulga, sand and swamp land encompassing parts of the Mallee, and the area running parallel with and east of the Darling River. It reaches down from Moira to within 30 miles (48 km.) of Euston, and includes Ivanhoe, the Manara Range ; eastward to near Ivanhoe, New South Wales, Albermarle, Carowra, Kilfera, and Manfred[4] and Willandra Lakes.[3]

Social divisions

The Barindji were divided into at least 8 distinct hordes:-

  • Lagerung.
  • Murro.
  • Milparo.
  • Boanjilla.
  • Pularli.
  • Nielyi-gulli.
  • Kurlkgulli.
  • Karndukul.[4]

Traditional Culture

Their water often was obtained from the roots of water mallee (Eucalyptus) trees and Hakea, hence their camping places were widely dispersed and often were casual. Some of the neighbors had more disparaging names for them.The Barindji, living in dry country, extracted water from hakea and mallee. In periods of drought, they would resort, in large mobs, to riverine areas in other tribal lands, engendering fear among, and conflict with, the riverine tribal groups.[3][4]

Despite a similar language they saw themselves as distinct from the Barkinji, who they called the spitting people.[3]

Limited records from colonial times indicate either nonexistent, or a rudimentary repertoire of gestures typical of aboriginal signing language.[5]

History

Their burial practices are similar to the very ancient burials at nearby Mungo Lake indication a long time in the area. The Barindji were described by Thomas Mitchell and Charles Sturt on their respective explorations of the area and described in colonial times by local landowners A.L.P. Cameron and A.W. Howitt.

Alternative Names

  • Barrengee
  • Beriait
  • Berri-ait
  • Parintyi
  • Paru
  • Paroo
  • Bpaaroo (Darling River creek name, not the Paroo River)
  • Bpaa'roon-jee (reflects exonym for the Barindji used by the Maraura)[4]

Notes

    Citations

    1. ↑ Barindji.
    2. ↑ Barindji AIATSIS Language and Peoples Thesaurus.
    3. 1 2 3 4 Douglas 2010, p. 145.
    4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Tindale 1974.
    5. ↑ Kendon 1988, pp. 34,39-40.

    References

    • Berndt, Ronald Murray; Berndt, Catherine Helen; Stanton, John E. (1993). A World that was: The Yaraldi of the Murray River and the Lakes, South Australia. UBC Press. ISBN 978-0-774-80478-3.
    • Douglas, Kirsty (2010). Pictures of Time Beneath Enlarge cover Science, Heritage and the Uses of the Deep Past. Csiro publishing. ISBN 978-0-643-09704-9.
    • Hercus, Luise (1989). Three Linguistic Studies from Far South-Western NSW (PDF). 13. Aboriginal History. pp. 45–62.
    • Kendon, Adam (1988). Sign Languages of Aboriginal Australia: Cultural, Semiotic and Communicative Perspectives. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-36008-1.
    • Tindale, Norman Barnett (1974). "Barindji (NSW)". Aboriginal Tribes of Australia: Their Terrain, Environmental Controls, Distribution, Limits, and Proper Names. Australian National University Press. ISBN 978-0-708-10741-6.


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