Gia tribe

Last updated

The Gia were an indigenous Australian tribe of the state of Queensland. Some doubt exists as to their distinct identity, and little is known of them.

Queensland North-east state of Australia

Queensland is the second-largest and third-most populous state in the Commonwealth of Australia. Situated in the north-east of the country, it is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean. To its north is the Torres Strait, with Papua New Guinea located less than 200 km across it from the mainland. The state is the world's sixth-largest sub-national entity, with an area of 1,852,642 square kilometres (715,309 sq mi).

Contents

Language

The Gia spoke Giya/Bumbarra, which, along with Ngaro, belonging to the Proserpine subgroup of the Great Maric Languages. [1]

Ngaro is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language of Queensland. It may have been one of the Maric languages. The only source is Tindale (1974).

Maric languages Extinct branch of the Pama–Nyungan language family

Maran or Maric is a extinct branch of the Pama–Nyungan family of Australian languages formerly spoken throughout much of Queensland by many of the Murri peoples. The well attested Maric languages are clearly related; however, many languages of the area became extinct before much could be documented of them, and their classification is uncertain. The clear Maric languages are:

Country

According to Norman Tindale, the Gia's lands extended over some 1,600 square miles (4,100 km2) of land from Bowen to St. Helens and Mount Dalrymple.Inland they reached the Clarke Range. They were present at Proserpine, Gloucester Island, and Repulse Bay. [2] The Yuibera people lay to their south.

Norman Tindale Australian biologist

Norman Barnett Tindale AO was an Australian anthropologist, archaeologist, entomologist and ethnologist.

Bowen, Queensland Town in Queensland, Australia

Bowen is a coastal town and locality in the Whitsunday Region on the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. The town of Merinda and the Abbot Point coal shipping port are also within the locality of Bowen. At the 2016 census, Bowen had a population of 10,377.

Earliest description

In response to inquiries made by Edward Micklethwaite Curr, Sergeant B. Shea, a resident of the Gia area, provided a sketch of the natives of his district. [3] He identified them as the Bumbarra tribes. He provided the names of the tribal divisions: those applying to men were Karilla and Whychaka, while women belonged either to the Denterbago or Helmerago, Marriage was contracted when girls reached the age of 12. [4]

Edward Micklethwaite Curr was an Australian pastoralist, author, aboriginal advocate and squatter.

Some doubts

Tindale registered this as a distinct tribe, directly south of Port Denison but this has been questioned. [5]

Alternative names

Some words

Notes

  1. ↑ Bumbara is a toponym, and Tindale thought it might refer to a horde of the Gia people [2]

Citations

  1. ↑ Dixon 2002, p. xxxiii.
  2. 1 2 Tindale 1974, p. 168.
  3. ↑ Shea 1887, pp. 4–7.
  4. 1 2 Shea 1887, p. 4.
  5. ↑ Barker 1995, pp. 29–30.
  6. ↑ Shea 1887, p. 7.

Related Research Articles

The Bakanambia, also known as the Wanbara, are an Aboriginal group of Australia. Traditionally, the Bakanambia lived in the vicinity of Princess Charlotte Bay in the state of Queensland. One of the ethnonyms applied to them was Lama Lama, which is now used of a larger aggregation of remnants of several tribes.

Kangulu

The Kangulu, also written Gangulu, is an aboriginal tribe from the Mount Morgan area in Queensland, Australia.

The Badjiri or Budjari, also written Badyidi, are an Australian Aboriginal people group of Queensland. They are not to be confused with the Pitjara.

The Wangan are an indigenous Australia people of the Isaac Region of Central Queensland. There is no linguistic data.

The Tulua were an indigenous Australian tribe of Queensland.

The Kuungkari are an indigenous Australian people of Queensland. They are to be distinguished from the Kunggari.

The Wadja were an indigenous Australian people of Queensland.

The Wakabunga are an indigenous Australian people of the state of Queensland.

The Barada were an indigenous Australian people of Central Queensland.

The Kwiambal were an indigenous Australian people of New South Wales.

The Warakamai, now more frequently known as the Warrgamay, are an indigenous Australian people of the state of Queensland.

The Kairi (Gayiri) were an indigenous Australian people of the state of Queensland.

The Wanamara (Wunumara) were an indigenous Australian people of the state of Queensland.

The Yilba, also written Ilba, were an indigenous Australian people of the state of Queensland.

The Yangga were an indigenous Australian people of the state of Queensland. They are not to be confused with the Yangaa.

The Yambina were an indigenous Australian people of the state of Queensland.

The Yungkurara were an indigenous Australian people of the state of Queensland.

The Karingbal (Garaynbal) are an indigenous Australian people of the state of Queensland. They spoke a dialect of Biri.

The Jeithi were an indigenous Australian people of the state of New South Wales.

The Kawambarai (Gawambaraay) were an indigenous Australian people of the state of New South Wales. Their domain was in the central–western district of New South Wales

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.