The Alyawarre, also spelt Alyawarr and also known as the Iliaura, 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, or language group, from the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

. The Alyawarre are made up of roughly 1,200 associated peoples and actively engage in local traditions such as

awelye Awelye (also "''Yawulyu"'' in Warlpiri and Warumungu nations) is a ceremonial tradition that includes body painting and is practiced by women by the Anmatyerre and Alyawarr indigenous nations in the Northern Territory, Australia. The term can also ...

painting.

Country

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 ...

's estimate in 1974 assigned to the Alyawarre traditional tribal lands extending over some , taking in the Sandover and Bundey Rivers, as well as Ooratippra and Fraser Creeks. Notable sites associated with their nomadic world include Mount Swan, northern flank of

Harts Range Harts Range, officially registered as Hart Range, is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia located on the Plenty Highway by road northeast of Alice Springs. It is also the name of a mountain range, after which it was named. It has also ...

, Plenty River north and west of Ilbala, Jervois Range, Mount Playford and the Elkedra River. They were also present at MacDonald Downs and Huckitta. The

Utopia community A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', which describes a fictional island soci ...

, north-east of

Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...

, is partly on Alyawarre land, partly on land of the

Anmatyerre The Anmatyerr (also spelt Anmatyerre, Anmatjera, Anmatjirra, Amatjere and other variations) are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory, who speak one of the Upper Arrernte languages. Language Anmatyerr is divided into Eas ...

Language

The Alyawarre people speak a dialect of

Upper Arrernte Arrernte or Aranda (; ), or sometimes referred to as Upper Arrernte (Upper Aranda), is a dialect cluster in the Arandic language group spoken in parts of the Northern Territory, Australia, by the Arrernte people. Other spelling variations are ...

known as Alyawarre.

Social organisation

The Alyawarre had a four-section marriage system. * ''Pitjara'' * ''Kngwarija'' * ''Kimara'' * ''Pula''

Demography

C. L. Yallop estimated the Alyawarre community to number 500-600 people in 1969. They were mainly concentrated at

Lake Nash Alpurrurulam, from the original Aboriginal name ''Ilperrelhelame'', also known as Lake Nash, is a locality in the Northern Territory of Australia located in the territory's east about south-east of the territory capital of Darwin and about ea ...

, the

Georgina River The Georgina River is the north-westernmost of the three major rivers of the Channel Country in Central West Queensland, that also flows through a portion of the Northern Territory, in central Australia. Part of the Lake Eyre basin, the Georg ...

, McDonald Downs, on the Bundey River, and the

Warrabri Ali Curung ( Kaytetye: Alekarenge; formerly Warrabri) is an Indigenous Australian community in the Barkly Region of the Northern Territory. The community is located 170 km (106 mi) south of Tennant Creek, and 378 km (235 mi) n ...

Reserve. In the

2016 Australian Census The 2016 Australian census was the 17th Census in Australia, national population census held in Australia. The census was officially conducted with effect on Tuesday, 9 August 2016. The total population of the Commonwealth of Australia was count ...

, there were 347 Alyawarre recorded in the "Utopia - Arawerr - Arlparra" Indigenous location. Only 4% of households only spoke English at home.

Native title

In 1980 the Alyawarre made a

land claim A land claim is "the pursuit of recognized territorial ownership by a group or individual". The phrase is usually only used with respect to disputed or unresolved land claims. Some types of land claims include Aboriginal title, aboriginal land cla ...

together with the Anmatyerre for the Utopia

pastoral lease A pastoral lease, sometimes called a pastoral run, is an arrangement used in both Australia and New Zealand where government-owned Crown land is leased out to Pastoral farming, graziers for the purpose of livestock grazing on rangelands. Austral ...

. In the same year, the lodged a claim along with the

Wakaya people The Wakaya are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory. Country Norman Tindale's estimate of the Wakaya's territory assigns them some . Language The Wakaya language is now extinct. Social economy The Wakaya were one of the A ...

for land around the remote outstation of Purrukwarra. As a result, they were handed back on 22 October 1992, while the Wakaya were given , both only small parts of the original claim.

Alternative spellings

* ''Aliawara, Alyawara, Alyawarra'' * ''Alyawarr, Aljawarra'' * ''Ilawara'' * ''Iliaura, Illiaura, Iljaura, Ilyaura'' * ''Illura'' * ''Ilyowra Illyowra'' * ''Jaljuwara'' * ''Yalyuwara'' Source:

Some words

* ' (kangaroo) * ' (emu) * ' (dog, dingo) * ' (honey-ant) Source:

Notable people

Emily Kame Kngwarreye Emily Kam Kngwarray (c.1914-1996) was born in her Ancestral lands, Alhalker located in the Sandover region of the Northern Territory, Australia. One of the world’s most significant contemporary painters to emerge in the twentieth century Kngw ...

, artist *

Ngarla Kunoth Rosalie Lynette Kunoth-Monks (4 January 193726 January 2022), also known as Ngarla Kunoth, was an Australian film actress, Aboriginal activist and politician. Early life Rosalie Lynette Kunoth was born on 4 January 1937 in Utopia, Northern ...

who played Jedda in the 1956 Chauvel film of the same name, now

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education (BIITE, generally known as Batchelor Institute and formerly known as Batchelor College) provides training and further education, and higher education for Aboriginal Australians and Torres Str ...

Kathleen Petyarre Kathleen Petyarre (born Kweyetwemp Petyarre; c. 1940 – 24 November 2018, Alice Springs) was an Australian Aboriginal artist. Her art refers directly to her country and her Dreamings. Petyarre's paintings have occasionally been compared to t ...

is an Alyawarre / Eastern Anmatyerre artist * Gloria Petyarre, artist * Nancy Petyarre, artist * Jeanna Petyarre, artist *

Minnie Pwerle Minnie Pwerle (also Minnie Purla or Minnie Motorcar Apwerl; born between 1910 and 1922 – 18 March 2006) was an Australian Aboriginal artist. She came from Utopia, Northern Territory (''Unupurna'' in local language), a cattle station in the ...

, artist (from Alyawarre and

language groups) * Elkin Reilly, Australian rules footballer * Barbara Weir, artist

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * {{Authority control Aboriginal peoples of the Northern Territory