The Gajirrawoong people, also written Gadjerong, Gajerrong and other variations, 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

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 ...

, most of whom now live in north-eastern

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 ...

Language

Geoffrey O'Grady Geoffrey O'Grady (1 January 1928 -29 December 2008) was a professor Emeritus of linguistics whose primary field of specialisation was Australian Aboriginal languages. Life and career O'Grady trained as a jackaroo and worked as a stockman at W ...

classified their language, Gajirrabeng or Gajirrawoong, as one of two Mirriwongic languages, the other being Miriwoong. More recent work has established it as a member of the Jarrakan group. Gajirrabeng is at severe risk of extinction, with no more than perhaps 2 or 3 native speakers by 2013.

Frances Kofod Frances Mary Kofod is an Australian linguist who works on codifying and preserving Australian indigenous languages of the Kimberley region. She has worked as a research assistant at the University of New England University of New England may refer ...

compiled a dictionary of the language in 2007.

Country

Gadjerong lands encompassed in

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 reckoning. They ran westwards along the rich

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

s of

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

flat, waterholes, creeks and waterfalls along the coastal area from the mouth of the

Fitzmaurice River The Fitzmaurice River is a river in the Northern Territory of Australia. Course The river drains into the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf in the Timor Sea from a source just north of the Wombungi homestead. The river flows in a westerly direction betw ...

as far as point where the

Keep River The Keep River is a river located in the Victoria Bonaparte bioregion of Western Australia and the Northern Territory in Australia. Location and features The river rises just south of the Newry Station homestead then flows in a northerly dire ...

flows out into the

Joseph Bonaparte Gulf Joseph Bonaparte Gulf is a large body of water off the coast of the Northern Territory and Western Australia and part of the Timor Sea. It was named after Joseph Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon and King of Naples (1806–1808) and then Spain (18 ...

. Their inland extension, taking in also at Legune, went as far as the vicinity of Border Springs. They also frequented the offshore area of Quoin Island, and further north, Clump Island, and those off the mouth of Keyling Inlet.

Native title claims

The Gajirrawoong people were represented in a successful native title claim by the

Kimberley Land Council Kimberley Land Council Aboriginal Corporation, known as Kimberley Land Council (KLC), is an association of Aboriginal people in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The land council was formed at a meeting at Noonkanbah Station in May 19 ...

in two joint claims with the Miriuwung people, as "Miriuwung Gajerrong". The Federal Court recognised the native title rights of the two peoples on 9 December 2003, nearly ten years after the claim had been lodged. The claim covers , and includes Kununurra in the east Kimberley,

Lake Argyle Lake Argyle is Western Australia's largest and Australia's second largest Freshwater lake, freshwater man-made Reservoir (water), reservoir by volume. The reservoir is part of the Ord River (Kimberley)#Ord River Irrigation Scheme, Ord River Ir ...

, the Keep River and the Ord River Irrigation scheme. Another claim, determined in November 2006, covers , with the

Carlton Hill Station Carlton Hill station was a railroad station for the Erie Railroad in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. Carlton Hill station was the second station along the Erie's main line and the first station after Rutherford Junction, where the ...

Ivanhoe Station Ivanhoe or Ivanhoe Station is a pastoral lease and cattle station located just north of Kununurra in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Founded in 1893 by the Durack brothers, station is presently owned by the Consolidated Pastoral C ...

and the WA pastoral leases of the

Rosewood Station Rosewood is any of a number of richly hued hardwoods, often brownish with darker veining, but found in other colours. It is hard, tough, strong, and dense. True rosewoods come from trees of the genus ''Dalbergia'', but other woods are often cal ...

. Exclusive possession was recognised across several community-leased areas.

History

The implementation of the Ord River Irrigation scheme had a major impact on the Gadjerong and other peoples of the east Kimberley area. They were dispossessed of parts of their traditional tribal land and many sacred sites were destroyed. In consequence they moved to the

Aboriginal reserve An Aboriginal reserve, also called simply reserve, was a government-sanctioned settlement for Aboriginal Australians, created under various state and federal legislation. Along with missions and other institutions, they were used from the 19th ...

in Kununurra. The extension of the principle of

equal pay for equal work Equal pay for equal work is the concept of labour rights that individuals in the same workplace be given equal pay. It is most commonly used in the context of sexual discrimination, in relation to the gender pay gap. Equal pay relates to the fu ...

in 1969 to Aboriginal people also had a negative impact on peoples like the Gajirrawoong in the Kimberley region and the

, since the managers of

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 ...

s evicted the majority of

Indigenous peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

on the land where they lived, with the collateral loss of employment and its substitution by welfare subsidies.

Alternative names

* ''Kadjerawang'' * ''Kadjarong, Kadjeroen'' * ''Kujera'' * ''Ginmu''

References

Sources

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