The Yeidji, also spelt Yiiji and other variants, commonly known as Gwini or Kwini, 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

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

area 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 ...

, who also self-identify as .

Name

In contemporary accounts, the Yeidji are often called ''Gwini'', also spelt ''Kwini'', people.

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 ...

, writing in 1974, maintained that ''Gwini'' was a directional term meaning "easterners" used by inlanders. The other term, ''Kujini'' means those in the coastal lowlands. There is no clear tribal name for several peoples in this area, and some confusion in the nomenclature and the several tribes, including also the Miwa are generally referred to as the Forrest River people, who, however are occasionally referred to as the Gwini/Yeidji.

Country

The Yeidji, according to

, controlled some of tribal territory, running from the coast of

Cambridge Gulf Cambridge Gulf is a gulf on the north coast of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Many rivers flow into the gulf, including the Ord River, Pentecost River, Durack River, King River and the Forrest River, making the environment a ...

along the

Forrest River The Forrest River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The river rises just east of Pseudomys Hill in the Drysdale River National Park and flows in an easterly direction until discharging into the western arm of the Cambri ...

as far as the Milligan ranges. Its southern extension touched Steere Hills. The northernmost boundary lay at Mount Carty and the Lyne River. Their neighbours were the Wilawila to the west, the

Wenamba The Wenamba are an Aboriginal Australian people of the central eastern edge of Western Australia in the . Language The Wenamba spoke a dialect similar to that of the Pintupi. Country The Wenamba ranged over an estimated . Norman Tindale places t ...

to the northwest, the Wirngir to the east, and the

Arnga The Arnga are an Aboriginal Australian people of the northern Kimberley region of Western Australia. Name The Arnga, like the Yeidji/Gwini and Miwa lack a self-defining tribal ethnonym, and for that reason have generally been called the Forres ...

on their southern border. The Guragona horde, though classified as a subgroup of the Wenamba, may have been a section of the Yeidji. Today they are the

traditional owners Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...

by succession of Sir Graham Moore Island, off the Kimberley coast.

Oral histories Oral history is the collection and study of historical information from people, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people who pa ...

and archaeological excavations reveal evidence of interactions with Makassan traders from the 18th century onwards.

Language

Yiiji is a dialect of

Wunambal The Wunambal (Unambal), also known as Wunambal Gaambera, Uunguu (referring to their lands), and other names, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the northern Kimberley region of Western Australia. People The Wunambal were, according to Norma ...

Alternative names

* ''Yiiji'' * ''Yeidji, Yeithi, Yeidthee, Yeeji, Yedji, Jeidji, Jeithi'' * ''Gwi:ni, Gwini, Kuini'' ("easterners") * ''Kujini, Gu:jini, Kuini, Gujini'' * ''Ombalkari'' (

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for ...

east of the Forrest River Mission) * ''Umbalgari'' * ''Miwu'' (perhaps a name for the language) * ''Miwadange'' ("saltwater people") * ''Waringnari, Waringari'' (a pejorative exonym suggesting the practice of cannibalism) * ''Morokorei'' (Forrest River

horde Horde may refer to: History * Orda (organization), a historic sociopolitical and military structure in steppe nomad cultures such as the Turks and Mongols ** Golden Horde, a Turkic-Mongol state established in the 1240s ** Wings of the Golden Hor ...

) * ''

'' * ''Pikkolatpan'' * ''Bugay'' * '' Worrorran''

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * * {{authority control Aboriginal peoples of Western Australia Kimberley (Western Australia)