The Dangu (Dhaŋu, Dhangu) 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

Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territorial capital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compa ...

, in 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 ...

, one of many

Yolŋu The Yolngu or Yolŋu ( or ) are an aggregation of Aboriginal Australian people inhabiting north-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. ''Yolngu'' means "person" in the Yolŋu languages. The terms Murngin, Wulamba, Yalnumat ...

peoples. They are, 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 ...

, to be carefully distinguished from the

Djaŋu The Djaŋu, otherwise written as Djangu and Django, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the area of Arnhem Land in Australia's Northern Territory. Their society is divided into two clans, the Waramiri and Man:atja. Name As with the Yolngu ...

. Two prominent clans of the Dangu are the Rirratjingu and Galpu clans.

Country

The extent of Dangu territory could not be established by Tindale, who located them in the general area of Yirrkala Mission, Cape Arnhem, Melville Bay, and Port Bradshaw.

Social organisation

Like all

societies, the Dangu, identified as a grouping of clans sharing similar dialects, were organised according to the ''Dhuwa'' and ''Yirritja'' (''Jiritja'') moieties. Their

ethnonym An ethnonym () is a name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, or endonyms (whose name is created and used ...

ic identity as a unified group was based on their common word for the

demonstrative pronoun Demonstratives ( abbreviated ) are words, such as ''this'' and ''that'', used to indicate which entities are being referred to and to distinguish those entities from others. They are typically deictic, their meaning depending on a particular fram ...

"this". They are divided into six clans according to which moiety they belong to, of four Dua, and six Yirritja. The Dua moiety: * ''Galpu'' (Gälpu, Galbu, Kalpu) * ''Golumala'' * ''Ngajimil'' (Ngayimil, Ngeimil, Makkanaimulmi) * ''Riratjingu'' (Rirratjingu, Rirraljinga, Riraidjango, Wurrulul, Woralul, Urorlurl) The Yirritja moiety: * ''Lamami'' (Lamumiri) * ''Wanguri'' (Wangurri, Wonguri, Wan:guri)

Mythology

In the Gälpu clan legends, Wititj, the huge ancestral

rainbow serpent The Rainbow Serpent or Rainbow Snake is a common deity often seen as the Creator deity, creator God, known by numerous names in different Australian Aboriginal languages by the many List of Australian Aboriginal group names, different Aborigina ...

, was said to create thunder and lightning as it moved across the land, but is also associated with the calm

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...

systems where the spirits reside, among

water lilies ''Water Lilies'' ( ) is a series of approximately 250 oil paintings by French Impressionist Claude Monet (1840–1926). The paintings depict his flower garden at his home in Giverny, and were the main focus of his artistic production during ...

and

palm tree The Arecaceae () is a family of perennial, flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are colloquially c ...

Alternative names

* ''Yirgala'' (a

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 ...

)

Notable people

Djalu Gurruwiwi Djalu Gurruwiwi, written Djalu ( – 12 May 2022), was a Yolngu musician, artist, and leader from Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. He was globally recognised for his acquired skill as a player, maker, and spiritual keeper of ...

, highly respected elder, maker and player of the

yiḏaki The didgeridoo (;()), also spelt didjeridu, among other variants, is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgeridoo was developed ...

, of the Galpu clan, and other members of the

Gurruwiwi Gurruwiwi is a surname of the Yolngu, an Aboriginal Australian people of Arnhem Land, Northern Territory of Australia, and family members have close connections with the Yunupingu and Marika families. Notable people with the surname include: *Djal ...

Country

Social organisation

Mythology

Alternative names

Notable people

Notes

Citations

Sources

Further reading