Njunga

Last updated

The Njunga or Nyunga are an indigenous Noongar people of Western Australia.

Contents

Name

Njunga/nyunga reflects a root (njoŋa/njuŋa/njuŋar) that signifies 'man'. They adopted the term, perhaps defensively, in response to a number of tribes who scorned people who refused to undergo circumcision. [1]

Country

Njunga traditional lands encompassed some 5,100 square miles (13,000 km2), running along and about 30 miles inland of the Southern coastal area of Western Australia. The coastal line ran from Young River east to Israelite Bay. One point of intertribal dispute between the Njunga and their Ngadjunmaia neighbours lay over the area between Point Malcolm and a place called 'Ka:pkidjakidj, somewhere around the northern end of Israelite Bay. Both claimed this as their tribal land. [2]

History

The Njunga once, before contact with whites, formed part of the Wudjari people, but split off[ when? ] over the issue of whether or not to adopt the rite of circumcision, which was being forcefully advocated by the Ngadjunmaia. The Njunga were those Wudjari who decided to import circumcision, though they stopped short of adopting the ancillary measure of subincision. Over time, they Njunga came to consider themselves distinct from their Wudjari kin, and, when asked by ethnographers, both the Wudjari and Njunga insisted that they had become separate tribal realities. [2]

The Njunga eventually relocated to New Norcia where Bishop Rosendo Salvado had taken them. [2] Salvado had taken out British citizenship in order to have the right to defend Aboriginal people in courts, where they were often charged with killing sheep and other livestock. Catholic doctrine, as enunciated by St Thomas Aquinas, does not consider taking out of necessity from others their property as theft, particularly since shepherds drove away the kangaroo on which natives depended. [3]

A number of people descended from these Njunga now live at Goomalling.

Notes

    Citations

    1. ↑ Tindale 1974, pp. 41, 261.
    2. 1 2 3 Tindale 1974, pp. 254, 261.
    3. ↑ O'Sullivan 2005, pp. 12–13.

    Sources

    Related Research Articles

    The Kartudjara are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Wardandi</span> Aboriginal people of Western Australia

    The Wadandi, also spelt Wardandi and other variants, are an Aboriginal people of south-western Western Australia, one of fourteen language groups of the Noongar peoples.

    The Wudjari were an Aboriginal Australian people of the Noongar cultural group of the southern region of Western Australia.

    The Ngadju or Ngadjumaya are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia.

    The Maia were an indigenous Australian tribe of Western Australia.

    The Tedei, otherwise known as the Thirrily, are an Aboriginal Australian people of Western Australia. They are a branch of the Yingkarta.

    The Yingkarta or Yingarda people, also written Inggarda and Ingarda, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Gascoyne region of Western Australia.

    The Thalanyji, also spelt Thalandji, Dhalandji, and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

    The Wirngir are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

    The Wirdinja were an Aboriginal Australian people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

    The Malgaru were an Aboriginal Australian people of Western Australia. They might have been a subgroup of the Wariangga.

    The Ninanu were an Aboriginal Australian people of the Gascoyne region of Western Australia.

    The Wariangga, also written Warriyangka, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Gascoyne region in Western Australia.

    The Widi were an Aboriginal Australian people of the Mid West region of Western Australia.

    The Ngombal, also known as the Ngumbarl, are an Aboriginal Australian people of Western Australia.

    The Kalaako (Kalarko) were an Aboriginal Australian people of the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia.

    The Malgana, also known as the Malkana, are an Aboriginal Australian people of Western Australia.

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

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

    Buraminya is a rural locality of the Shire of Esperance in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia. The locality is extensively covered by protected areas, the Dundas Nature Reserve and the Ngadju Indigenous Protected Area. Mount Buraminya, with a height of 233 metres (764 ft), is located in the south of Buraminya. Buraminya's eastern and south-eastern borders are formed by the boundary of Nuytsland Nature Reserve and Cape Arid National Park.

    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.