The Djilamatang were thought to be a distinct Indigenous Australian people of the state of Victoria, Australia. This has recently been questioned by Ian Clark.
The ethnonym is formed from the word for man, djere. [1] Norman Tindale maintained that the Djilamatang were exterminated by other Aboriginal groups "in post-European times". [2] He places them in the northeast corner of Victoria, "west of Mount Kosciuszko on the upper headwaters of the Murray River", but the words he quotes (waananga, meaning "no" and djere. "man") as belonging to this group are in fact, according to Barry Blake, Pallanganmiddang and since there is no independent testimony for the Djilamatang lexicon, it is reasonable to surmise that this group spoke a tongue similar to Dhudhuroa. [3]
Area 1,500 sq. m. west of Mount Kosciuszko and on the upper headwaters of the Murray River. They appear to have been exterminated in a period of tribal conflict in the Albury area after white settlement had begun to affect the region. It was then that their traditional enemies, the Jaitmathang, Walgalu, and Ngarigo forged a pact or mutual alliance to get rid of their common enemy. [2]
Norman Tindale classified the Djilamatang as probably constituting a distinct tribal unity, though he noted that Alfred William Howitt considered them to be a horde of the Jaitmathang. [1] Recently, Ian Clark has argued that the bare 5 sources used by Tindale to make this inference, the first dating from 1860 do not support his conclusion. [4]
When the Bogong moth began to proliferate, the Djilamatang, together with several other tribes of the region, such as the Dhudhuroa, the Jaitmathang, the Ngarigo, the Ngunawal and the Minjambuta (postulated by Dr Ian Clark to be a Wiradjuri exonym for Pallanganmiddang [5] ) entered into negotiation to settle outstanding disputes, and meet up to engage in rites of transit on the territories, and trade, in order to collectively forage in the Bogong areas to hunt the moth. These multitribal assemblies were often as large as 700 people, and coincided with bora ceremonial rituals and corroborees to initiate the young men. [6]
Dhudhuroa is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language of north-eastern Victoria. As it is no longer spoken, Dhudhuroa is primarily known today from written material collected by R. H. Mathews from Neddy Wheeler. It has gone by numerous names, including Dhudhuroa, the Victorian Alpine language, Dyinningmiddhang, Djilamatang, Theddora, Theddoramittung, Balangamida, and Tharamirttong. Yaitmathang (Jaitmathang), or Jandangara (Gundanora), was spoken in the same area, but was a dialect of Ngarigu.
The Walgalu were an indigenous Australian people of New South Wales. The Ngambri may belong to the Walgalu grouping, but are treated under a separate heading
The Gulidjan people, also known as the Kolakngat, or Colac tribe, are an Aboriginal Australian tribe whose traditional lands cover the Lake Colac region of the state of Victoria, Australia. They occupied the grasslands, woodlands, volcanic plains and lakes region east of Lake Corangamite, west of the Barwon River and north of the Otway Ranges. Their territory bordered the Wathaurong to the north, Djargurd Wurrung to the west, Girai Wurrung to the south-west, and Gadubanud to the south-east.
Pallanganmiddang (Balangamida) is an extinct aboriginal language of the Upper Murray region of the north east of Victoria (Australia).
The Ngarigo are an Aboriginal Australian people of southeast New South Wales, whose traditional lands also extend around the present border with Victoria.
The Dadi Dadi or Tatitati are an Australian Aboriginal tribe whose traditional lands are located along the southern banks of the Murray River in Victoria Australia.
The Warkawarka, also called Weki Weki, were an Australian Aboriginal group whose traditional lands are located in Victoria, Australia. Controversy exists as to whether they were an independent 'tribe' or rather consisted of a subgroup of the Wergaia, the latter view being shared by both Robert M. W. Dixon and Luise Hercus.
The Ngintait, or Ngindadj, were an indigenous Australian people of the northwest corner of the state of Victoria, and partly in South Australia. 9 people, all of one family, claim descent from the tribe, which was dispersed in the 19th century.
The Minjambuta were an Indigenous Australian tribe of northern Victoria.
The Dhudhuroa people are an Indigenous Australian people of North-eastern Victoria, in the state of Victoria, Australia. About 2,000 descendants exist in Australia in the early 21st century.
The Jaitmatang, also spelled Yaithmathang, were an Indigenous Australian people of the State of Victoria.
The Kurung were identified as an indigenous Australian group of the State of Victoria by Norman Tindale. The theory that they constituted an independent tribe has been challenged with modern scholarship generally considering them a clan, associated to one of two major tribes. Their language is unconfirmed.
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The Djiringanj, also spelt Dyirringañ, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the southern coast of New South Wales. They are one of a larger group, known as the Yuin people, who all speak or spoke dialects of the Yuin–Kuric group of languages.
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The Unggumi, also written Ongkomi, are an indigenous Australian people of the Kimberley region of Western Australian.
The Nimanburu were an indigenous Australian people of the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
The Yindjilandji are an indigenous Australian people of the Northern Territory.
The Pallanganmiddang, otherwise known as the Waywurru, were an Indigenous Australian people of North-eastern Victoria, in the state of Victoria, Australia. Recent scholarship has suggested that In Norman Tindale's classic study his references to a Djilamatang tribe and their language arguably refer in good part to the Pallanganmiddang