Yinikutira

Last updated

Yinikutira, also recorded as the Jinigudira, are the traditional Aboriginal owners of the land along the Ningaloo Coast in the area of the Exmouth Peninsula in Western Australia now known as the Cape Range National Park. The area is within the Gascoyne region.

Contents

Language

The Yinikurtira spoke a dialect of Thalanyji. [1]

Country

The Yinikurtira's traditional lands enclosed about 2,000 square miles (5,200 km2) around the North West Cape peninsula area down to Exmouth Gulf and the Whaleback Hills, and from the cape southwest to Point Cloates. [2]

People

Norman Tindale classified the Yinikutira as a distinct tribe, on the basis of his informants who insisted that traditionally they had been distinct and separate from the eastern Thalanyji. [2] Peter Austin sees them as a dialect subdivision of the Thalanyji-speaking people. [1] While they were observed by early explorers deploying rafts to venture out into the sea for hunting, their primary source of food came from a network of fish traps which they maintained in tidal estuaries. [2]

History

The area was described by William Dampier, in 1699, and American whalers are known to have hunted sperm and then humpback whales off the Ningaloo coast as early as the 1790s, and it is thought probably they landed to seek meat and refresh their water supplies. [3] Yinikutira people gave assistance and then hospitality to two Dalmatian Italians from the Austro-Hungarian Stefano after Stefano was wrecked on the Ningaloo Reef in 1875. The two, Michele Bacich (17) and Giovanni Iurich (20), later, on repatriation to Ragusa, provided an account of their experiences in a manuscript (Naufraghi dello Stefano) written up by a Jesuit priest, Stefano Scurla, which also contains a word-list of the language they learnt, a Ngarluma creole, during their three month sojourn with the Yinikutira. [4] The Yinikutira's staple diet was based on fish, turtle and dugong. [5] They lived in the mangroves and would venture out to sea on logs. [3] In that same year, 1876, the first pastoral lease was taken up in the area when Minilya Station was established over the Exmouth Peninsula in its entirely. After subdivisions, Thomas Carter established the Yardie Creek Station over 54,600 hectares.

At some point in this time, the Yinikutira disappeared from history. It has been speculated that, after the Colonial Secretary's Office forbade the use of convict labour above the 26th parallel, the local workforce among pearlers and pastoralists began to recruit indigenous tribes. The provisions of the subsequent Master and Servant Act (1867) meant that in this area, as applied, natives who absconded from contracted service ended up doing hard labour in Roebourne prison. The available evidence suggests that the local tribes such as the Yinikutira were decimated by the practice of blackbirding and introduced diseases. [3] [5]

No indigenous people of the present day claim descent from the Yunikutira. [3] The Yardie Creek Station was eventually re-acquired in 1959 by the Western Australian Government to become part of the Cape Range National Park. [3]

Burial customs

The Yinikutira practised a distinctive form of burial not shared by other Thalanyji-speaking peoples. [1]

Alternative names

Notes

    Citations

    1. 1 2 3 Austin 1988.
    2. 1 2 3 4 Tindale 1974, p. 243.
    3. 1 2 3 4 5 Ningaloo Coast 2005.
    4. ↑ Meakins 2014, p. 369.
    5. 1 2 Przywolnik 2003, p. 15.

    Sources

    Related Research Articles

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Range National Park</span> Protected area in Western Australia

    Cape Range National Park is a national park in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia, 1,105 kilometres (687 mi) north of Perth. The park occupies the western side of the North West Cape peninsula over an area of 47,655 hectares. The nearest town is Exmouth. Directly off the coast is the Ningaloo Reef. The area resulted from a gradual uplifting from the sea floor followed by fluctuating sea levels, wind and water erosion that have slowly eroded the range and plain leaving behind a range of rugged limestone, deep canyons and pristine beaches.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Exmouth Gulf Station</span> Pastoral lease in Western Australia

    Exmouth Gulf Station or Exmouth Station is a pastoral lease and sheep station located in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia, approximately 50 kilometres (31 mi) south of Exmouth. Occupying an area of 92,364 hectares, the station occupies much of the eastern side of North West Cape; the eastern boundary of the station is the gulf, from which the station takes its name.

    The Ngarluma are an Indigenous Australian people of the western Pilbara area of northwest Australia. They are coastal dwellers of the area around Roebourne and Karratha, not including Millstream.

    The Olkolo or Koko-olkola' are an Indigenous Australian people of central and eastern Cape York Peninsula in northern Queensland. According to Norman Tindale, they are to be distinguished from the Kokangol, higher up on the Alice River watershed.

    The Kokokulunggur are an indigenous Australian people of North Queensland.

    The Maia were an indigenous Australian tribe of Western Australia.

    The Mandi, otherwise known as Manthi, were an Aboriginal Australian people of Western Australia.

    The Tjuroro, also known as the Jurruru, were an Aboriginal Australian people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

    The Tharrkari, also referred to as the Targari, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Gascoyne region 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 Mutumui were an indigenous Australian people of northern Queensland.

    The Dingaal people, also known as Walmbarddha or Walmbaria, are an Aboriginal Australian people of Cape York Peninsula in northern Queensland.

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

    The Tenma or Thiin were an Aboriginal Australian people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. They spoke the Tenma language.

    The Baiyungu are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Gascoyne region of Western Australia.

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

    The Ewamian or Agwamin people are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of Queensland.

    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.