Gugadja
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The Kukatja people, also written Gugadja, 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 ...
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

The Kukatja's traditional lands were, 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 ...
, roughly , centering around Lake Gregory, and running east as far as Balgo. The northern frontier lay about Billiluna, and the waters at Ngaimangaima, a boundary marker between their northern neighbours the Dyaru, and the Ngardi to their east. They were present westerwards on the
Canning Stock Route The Canning Stock Route is a track that runs from Halls Creek, Western Australia, Halls Creek in the Kimberley (Western Australia), Kimberley region of Western Australia to Wiluna, Western Australia, Wiluna in the Mid West (Western Australia), ...
, from Koninara (Godfrey Tank) to Marawuru (Well 40). On their western borders were the Nangatara nation, with whom they had a hostile relationship.


Joint land claim

On 21 August 1980 a land claim was submitted by 90 claimants on behalf of the Warlpiri, Kukatja and Ngarti peoples, as
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 ...
, under the ''
Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 The ''Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976'' (ALRA) is Australian federal government legislation that provides the basis upon which Aboriginal Australian people in the Northern Territory can claim rights to land based on traditi ...
'', for an area of about . It was the 11th traditional land claim presented on behalf of Aboriginal
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 the
Central Land Council The Central Land Council (CLC) is a land council that represents the Aboriginal peoples of the southern half of the Northern Territory of Australia (NT), predominantly with regard to land issues. it is one of four land councils in the Northern ...
. The land borders on areas in which each of the languages – Ngarti, Warlpiri, and Kukatja – is dominant. People from the different language groups have been influenced by each other when residing at
Balgo, Western Australia Balgo, previously Balgo Hills and Balgo Mission, is a community in Western Australia that is linked with both the Great Sandy Desert and the Tanami Desert. The community is in the Shire of Halls Creek, off the Tanami Road, and was established by ...
and Lajamanu, Northern Territory. The claim was presented at Balgo Mission. The recommendation handed down by Justice Sir William Kearney on 23 August 1985 and presented on 19 August 1986 was that "the whole of the claim area be granted to a Land Trust for the benefit of Aboriginals entitled by tradition to its use or occupation, whether or not the traditional entitlement is qualified as to place, time, circumstance, purpose or permission".


Language

The Kukatja people speak the Kukatja dialect of the
Western Desert language The Western Desert language, or Wati, is a dialect cluster of Australian Aboriginal languages in the Pama–Nyungan family. The name ''Wati'' tends to be used when considering the various varieties to be distinct languages, ''Western Desert'' w ...
. , scientists from the
University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...
have been undertaking a research project on the Kukatja language in Balgo, the local
lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, link language or language of wider communication (LWC), is a Natural language, language systematically used to make co ...
which is fluently spoken "by residents of all ages and across at least seven tribal groups". Researchers are recording conversations and mapping the language, believing that Kukatja could provide clues to how languages are spread around the world. Dr Luis Miguel Rojas Berscia believes that the
mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...
, as in other places such as the
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...
and
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could be the common thread, bringing different ethnic groups together in isolated spots. Berscia, along with Balgo woman Melissa Sunfly and other residents, is working on developing a dictionary of the language and a teacher's guide, before English is taken up more widely by the younger generation.


Ethnographic studies

Sylvie Poirier has written a monograph dedicated to the analysis of dreams (''kapukurri'') in Gugadja culture. Many Kukatja now live in the Mulan community.


Alternative names

* ''Bedengo'' ("rock hole people", suggesting shiftlessness) * ''Bidong, Bidungo'' * ''Bunara, Boonara'' * ''Gogada'' * ''Gogadja, Gugudja'' * ''Gogoda, Gugadja'' * ''Ilbaridja'' * ''Julbaritja'' (from ''julbari'' (south)) * ''Julbre'' * ''Kokatja'' * ''Kukuruba'' (of Ngalia people) * ''Manggai'' (southern
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 ...
, a watering place) * ''Nambulatji'' * ''Panara'' (grass seed harvesters) * ''Pardoo'' (of western Kukatja groups) * ''Peedona, Peedong, Pidung, Pidunga'' * ''Wanaeka'' * ''Wangatjunga, Wangatunga, Wangkatunga, Wangkadjungga, Wankutjunga'' * ''Wangkatjunga'' (southern Kukatja groups) * ''Wangu'' Source:


See also

* Ngururrpa, a grouping of peoples of language groups including Kukatja


Notes


Citations


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * {{authority control Aboriginal peoples of Western Australia Mid West (Western Australia) Pilbara