The Alyawarre, also spelt Alyawarr and also known as the Iliaura, are an
Aboriginal Australian 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 painting.
Country
Norman Tindale'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, 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, north-east of
Alice Springs, is partly on Alyawarre land, partly on land of the
Anmatyerre.
Language
The Alyawarre people speak a dialect of
Upper Arrernte 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, the
Georgina River,
McDonald Downs, on the Bundey River, and the
Warrabri Reserve.
In the
2016 Australian Census, 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 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 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 ...
of
Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education
*
Kathleen Petyarre is an Alyawarre / Eastern Anmatyerre artist
*
Gloria Petyarre, artist
*
Nancy Petyarre, artist
*
Jeanna Petyarre, artist
*
Minnie Pwerle, artist (from Alyawarre and
Anmatyerre language groups)
*
Elkin Reilly, Australian rules footballer
*
Barbara Weir, artist
Notes
Citations
Sources
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{{Authority control
Aboriginal peoples of the Northern Territory