The Bailgu 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 of the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, sparsely populated regions of Western Australia, region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal people; wealth disparity; its ancient landscapes; the prevailing r ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

Country

Bailgu traditional lands extended over , 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 ...

's estimate, covering the upper Fortescue River, and taking in Roy Hill and eastwards beyond the Goodiadarrie Hills. Their northern extension ran as far as the

Chichester Range The Chichester Range is a range in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The range rises abruptly from the coastal plain and is composed of rolling hills, escarpments, jagged peaks, gorges and winding tree-lined watercourses. The range is b ...

scarp the Nullagine River divide. The eastern border ran to the western headwaters of the Oakover Davis rivers. Their neighbours further down the Fortescue were the

Niabali The Niabali, otherwise written ''Nyiyaparli,'' are an indigenous Australia tribe of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Language Their language is called Nyiyaparli. It was customary to classify it as one of the Ngayarda languages until Alan ...

. Their boundary with the Yindjibarndi lay at Mandanaladji.

History of contact

According to oral traditions handed down by the Bailgu, before the advent of the whites, they were dislocated from the

salt marsh A salt marsh, saltmarsh or salting, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. I ...

s on the Fortescue river by pressure from the Panyjima tribe, which drove them further east. This narrative appears to be corroborated by the fact that among western tribes they were known as the ''Mangguldulkara'' (people of the marshes).

Notable people

Notable people with Bailgu heritage include: * Ambelin Kwaymullina, author and academic * Jill Milroy, indigenous studies educator * Sally Morgan, author and artist

Alternative names

* ''Bailgo, Balgu, Palgu, Balju, Balgoo'' * ''Bailko'' * ''Baljgu, Balju'' * ''Boolgoo'' * ''Mangguldulkara'' (

exonym An endonym (also known as autonym ) is a common, name for a group of people, individual person, geographical place, language, or dialect, meaning that it is used inside a particular group or linguistic community to identify or designate them ...

used of them by western tribes) * ''Pailgu, Pailgo'' * ''Pal'gu, Bailju'' * ''Paljarri'' * ''Pulgoe'' Source: .

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * {{authority control Aboriginal peoples of Western Australia Pilbara