The Wotjobaluk are an
Aboriginal Australian
Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait I ...
people of the state of
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
. They are closely related to the
Wergaia
The Wergaia or Werrigia people are an Aboriginal Australian group in the Mallee and Wimmera regions of north-Western Victoria, made up of a number of clans. The people were also known as the Maligundidj (in the Wotjobaluk language) which mea ...
people.
Language
R. H. Mathews supplied a brief analysis of the
Wotjobaluk language
Wergaia or Werrigia is an Australian Aboriginal language in the Wimmera region of north-Western Victoria. The Wergaia language consisted of four distinct dialects: Wudjubalug/Wotjobaluk, Djadjala/Djadjali, Buibadjali, Biwadjali. Wergaia was in t ...
(now known as Wergaia
), describing what he called the Tyattyalla dialect of the Wotjobaluk around
Albacutya
Albacutya is a locality in western Victoria, Australia within the Shire of Hindmarsh local government area. The locality surrounds the shores of Lake Albacutya
Lake Albacutya (Wergaia: ''Ngelbakutya'') is an ephemeral lake located in Albacutya ...
He stated that it was characterised by
four numbers: the singular, the
dual,
trial
In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribun ...
, and
plural
The plural (sometimes list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated pl., pl, or ), in many languages, is one of the values of the grammatical number, grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than the ...
. There were, in addition, two forms of the trial number for the
1st person, depending on whether the person addressed was included or excluded. Thus one obtains: ''wutju'' (a man); "wutju-buliƱ" (two men); ''wutju-kullik'' (three men); ''wutju-getyaul'' (several men).
In mid-2021 a
language revival
Language revitalization, also referred to as language revival or reversing language shift, is an attempt to halt or reverse the decline of a language or to revive an extinct one. Those involved can include linguists, cultural or community groups, o ...
project started up at the Wotjobaluk Knowledge Place, established in December 2020 at
Dimboola. A Wergaia language program would run over 20 weeks.
Country
Wotjobaluk territory took in some inclusive of the
Wimmera River, Outlet Creek and the two
eutrophic
Eutrophication is the process by which an entire body of water, or parts of it, becomes progressively enriched with minerals and nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. It has also been defined as "nutrient-induced increase in phytoplan ...
lakes,
Hindmarsh and
Albacutya
Albacutya is a locality in western Victoria, Australia within the Shire of Hindmarsh local government area. The locality surrounds the shores of Lake Albacutya
Lake Albacutya (Wergaia: ''Ngelbakutya'') is an ephemeral lake located in Albacutya ...
. Their southern borders down ran to
Dimboola,
Kaniva, and
Servicetown. Their western frontier lay beyond Yanac, and to the east, as far as
Warracknabeal
Warracknabeal ( ) is a wheatbelt town in the Australian state of Victoria. Situated on the banks of the Yarriambiack Creek, 330 km north-west of Melbourne, it is the business and services centre of the northern Wimmera and southern Mallee ...
and
Lake Korong. Their northern horizon reached Pine Plains.
Social organisation
The Wotjobaluk were divided into 11
bands or clans:
# ''Lail-buil'' between Pine Plains and the River Murray.
# ''Jakelbalak'' between Pine Plains and Lake Albacutya.
# ''Kromelak'' at Lake Albacutya.
# ''Wanmung Wanmungkur'' at Lake Hindmarsh.
# ''Kapuu-kapunbara'' on the River Wimmera, towards Lake Hindmarsh.
# ''Duwinbarap'' west of River Wimmera.
# ''Jackalbarap'' west of Duwinbarap.
# ''Jarambiuk'' at Yarriambiack Creek (so called).
# ''Whitewurudiuk'', east of Yarriambiack Creek.
# ''Kerabialbarap'' south of
Mount Arapiles
Mount Arapiles is a rock formation that rises about above the Wimmera plains in western Victoria, Australia. It is located in Arapiles approximately west of the town of Natimuk and is part of the Mount Arapiles-Tooan State Park. Arapile ...
.
# ''Murra-murra-barap'' in the
Grampians.
Hunting lore
Wotjobaluk hunters told
Adolf Hartmann that kangaroos had acute hearing, and could twig the presence of a predator at 150 yards simply by hearing the noise of ankle-bones cracking. Older kangaroos were apt to cast their young from their
marsupial pouch if chased by dingos, to distract the dogs from their main prey.
Cultural centre
The Wotjobaluk Knowledge Place, apart from teaching language (see above), displays artworks, conducts workshops, and is a centre for social get-togethers.
Alternative names
* ''Buibatjali'' (dialect name), ''buibatyalli''
* ''Gnallbagootchyourl''
* ''Gourrbaluk'' (Gour =Lake Hindmarsh, name used by
Wemba-Wemba)
* ''Kurm-me-lak'' (horde name = Gromiluk)
* ''Malikunditj'' (northern tribal exonym)
* ''Malleegunditch''
* ''Ngalbagutja'' denoting Lake Albucutya, a Wemba-Wemba
exonym
An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group ...
used of northern hordes of the Wotjobaluk)
* ''Tjatijala'' (regional name west of Lake Hindmarsh)
* ''Tyattyalla, Djadjala''
* ''Wattyabullak''
* ''Wimmera tribe''
* ''Woitu-bullar'' (plural of man as used in
Barababaraba tribe)
* ''Wotjo-ba-laiuruk'' (lit. "men and women")
* ''Woychibirik'' (name for man = ''wotjo''])
* ''Wuttyabullak, Wuttyuballeak''
Some words
* ''dhallung'' (male or buck klangaroo)
* ''gal''. (dog)
* ''kulkun''. (a boy)
* ''laiaruk''. (a woman)
* ''lanangurk''. (a girl).
* ''mindyun'' (a kangaroo)
* ''muty'' (doer or female kangaroo)
* ''winya nyua''. (Who is there?)
* ''wotjo'' (a man)
fletcher (creepy)
Notes
Citations
Sources
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{{authority control
Aboriginal peoples of Victoria (Australia)