The Wik Elken, also spelt Wik-Kalkan and also known as Wik-Ngatharr, are an
Aboriginal Australian
Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands.
Humans first migrated to Australia 50,000 to 65,000 year ...
people, one of the
Wik peoples
The Wik peoples are an Indigenous Australian group of people from an extensive zone on western Cape York Peninsula in northern Queensland, speaking several different languages. They are from the coastal flood plains bounding the Gulf of Carpentar ...
of the
Cape York Peninsula
The Cape York Peninsula is a peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth's last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación Sierra Madre, ...
of the state of
Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
.
Language
The
Wik-Kalkan language belonged to the
Wik language group.
Country
The Wik-Kalkan lay north of the
Wikepa
The Wik Epa, also spelt Wikepa, are an Aboriginal Australian people, one of the Wik peoples of the Cape York Peninsula of northern Queensland.
Languages
Wikepa was were used by an older generation of Cape Keerweer people to denote the dialect ...
, along the coast north of Cape Keerweer, and, according to
Norman Tindale
Norman Barnett Tindale AO (12 October 1900 – 19 November 1993) was an Australian anthropologist, archaeologist, entomologist and ethnologist. He is best remembered for his work mapping the various tribal groupings of Aboriginal Australians ...
, once had tribal lands of approximately in extent.
People
The Wik-Kalkan has been described under the name of "Wikngatara" by
Ursula McConnel
Ursula Hope McConnel (1888–1957) was a Queensland anthropologist and ethnographer best remembered for her work with, and the records she made of, the Wik Mungkan people of Cape York Peninsula.
First trained at University College London, the ...
in various papers. This term actually was a language name, rather than an
ethnonym
An ethnonym () is a name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, or endonyms (whose name is created and used ...
, and signified "my language". McConnel realised her error shortly before her death, and notified Tindale of the oversight.
Alternative names
Alternative names and spellings identified by Tindale include:
* ''Wik-ngatara'' (erroneous term)
* ''Wik Alkän''
* ''Wikkalkin''
* ''Wik-nätara''
* ''Algan''
* ''Ngadara''
References
Sources
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{{authority control
Aboriginal peoples of Queensland