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The Bininj 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 Western Arnhem land 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 ...
. The sub-groups of Bininj are sometimes referred to by the various language dialects spoken in the region, that is, the group of dialects known as Bininj Kunwok; so the people may be named the Kunwinjku, Kuninjku, Kundjeyhmi (Gundjeihmi), Manyallaluk Mayali, Kundedjnjenghmi and Kune groups. Three languages are spoken among the Mirrar or Mirarr clan group, who are prominent in matters relating to looking after the traditional lands. The majority speak Kundjeyhmi, while others speak Gaagudju and others another language.


History

Aboriginal 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 ...
have occupied the Kadadu area for about 65,000 years. The Macassans from
Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...
had been in contact for trade purposes for centuries before the arrival of white civilization. They sailed down to exchange a variety of their goods for trepang, and the impact of their presence is evidenced by the retention in some Bininj Kunwok dialects of a few dozen foreign loan words from the language of these traders. They were depicted by local artists in the Indigenous Australian rock art still conserved in a variety of sites around the Mann River. The first recorded European penetration of these territories was undertaken by Francis Cadell who reached the Kuninjku territory on the Liverpool river. The Liverpool area was surveyed by David Lindsay on behalf of the government in 1884. Rock art known as the Dynamic Figures, referring to a particular series of works in Mirrar country, was described by art historian George Chaloupka and is often referred to when writing about rock art in Arnhem Land.


Name

The literal meaning of ''Bininj'' is human being, Aboriginal vs non-Aboriginal person, and also "man" in opposition to "woman". "Bininj" is a word in the ''Kunwok'' language, often referred to by its dominant dialect ''Kunwinjku''.


Country

Their territory extends from
Kakadu National Park Kakadu National Park is a protected area in the Northern Territory of Australia, southeast of Darwin. It is a World Heritage Site. Kakadu is also gazetted as a locality, covering the same area as the national park, with 313 people recorded l ...
to the west, the
Arafura Sea The Arafura Sea (or Arafuru Sea) lies west of the Pacific Ocean, overlying the continental shelf between Australia and Western New Guinea (also called Papua), which is the Indonesian part of the Island of New Guinea. Geography The Arafura Sea is ...
to the north, the Blyth River to the east, and the
Katherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...
region to the south. The traditional lands of the Bininj were located west of the Goomadeer River, north around the
King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
and Cooper Rivers, south towards the East Alligator River, and extending to Gunbalanya (Oenpelli). A large part of Kakadu National Park, including areas where Bininj Kunwok is spoken, was returned to Aboriginal ownership in 2022.


Language

Bininj Kunwok refers to six closely related languages and dialects, spoken from
Kakadu National Park Kakadu National Park is a protected area in the Northern Territory of Australia, southeast of Darwin. It is a World Heritage Site. Kakadu is also gazetted as a locality, covering the same area as the national park, with 313 people recorded l ...
, southwards to Pine Creek and Manyallaluk, across the Arnhem Plateau, and eastwards to the Liverpool River and its tributary the Mann River, and Cadell river districts. The classification, encompassing the mutually intelligible languages, respectively ''Kunwinjku, Kuninjku, Kundjeyhmi, Manyallaluk Mayali, Kundedjnjenghmi'', and two varieties of ''Kune'', was made by
Nicholas Evans Nicholas Benbow Evans (26 July 1950 – 9 August 2022) was a British journalist, screenwriter, television and film producer and novelist. He was best known for his 1995 debut novel, ''The Horse Whisperer (novel), The Horse Whisperer''. It has s ...
. Their word for Europeans is ''balanda'', a loan-word from Macassan traders, in whose language it meant "Hollanders". In addressing ''djang'' spirits (see below) a special language called ''kundangwok'', which is specific to each particular clan, must be employed.


Social groupings according to dialect

* The Kunwinjku's original heartland is said to have been in the hilly terrain south of Goulburn Island and their frontier with the Maung running just south of Tor Rock. Their northern extension approached Sandy Creek, while they were also present south-east at the head of Cooper's Creek and part of the King River. 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 scheme, the Kunwinjku were allotted a tribal territory of around in the area south of Jungle Creek and on the headwaters of the East Alligator River. The Gumader swamps near Junction Bay and the creeks east of Oenpelli/''Awunbelenja'' also formed part of their land. * The Kundjeyhmi, specifically the Mirrar or Mirarr clan, live around
Jabiru The jabiru ( or ; ''Jabiru mycteria'') is a large stork found in the Americas from Mexico to Argentina, except west of the Andes. It sometimes wanders into the United States, usually in Texas, but has also been reported in Mississippi, Oklahoma ...
between the East and South Alligator rivers. They formed the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation, to represent the interests of 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 ...
of the land, the Mirrar, as well as other Bininj peoples of Kakadu. One of the biggest issues in recent times is
uranium mining Uranium mining is the process of extraction of uranium ore from the earth. Over 50,000 tons of uranium were produced in 2019. Kazakhstan, Canada, and Australia were the top three uranium producers, respectively, and together account for 68% of w ...
, and the transition of the area once the last mining lease ends and all operations cease in 2021. * The Mayali lived further south across the South Alligator River, with the Katherine River on their eastern flank. * The Kundedjnjenghmi moved around the Upper Liverpool and Mann rivers to the east of the ''Kunwinjku'' and ''Kundjeyhmi''. * The Kuninjku lived north of the Kundedjnjenghmi and south-west of
Maningrida Maningrida ( Ndjébanna: ''Manayingkarírra'', Kuninjku: ''Manawukan'') is an Aboriginal community in the heart of the Arnhem Land region of Australia's Northern Territory. Maningrida is east of Darwin, and north east of Jabiru. It is on ...
, which serves as their centre for services. Many live in some 15 outstations, such as Kumurrulu at Manggabor Creek above the Liverpool River floodplain. * The Kune lived east of the Kuninjku, living around the Cadell River. NOTE: Three languages are spoken among the Mirrar or Mirarr clan group, apart from English. The majority speak Kundjeyhmi, while others speak Gaagudju and others another language.


Social system

The Kunwinjku social system was analysed in detail in a 1970 monograph by
Ronald Berndt Ronald Murray Berndt (14 July 1916 – 2 May 1990) was an Australian social anthropologist who, in 1963, became the inaugural professor of anthropology at the University of Western Australia. He and his wife Catherine Berndt maintained a clo ...
and Catherine Berndt.


Mythology

Like the Aboriginal peoples generally of the Western Arnhem, land, the Bininj believed in the primordial creative function of a
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 ...
, which is generally called ''Ngalyod'' which has lineaments more suggestive of the feminine than masculine. It came to Australia from the sea northeast of the
Cobourg Peninsula The Cobourg Peninsula is a peninsula located east of Darwin in the Northern Territory, Australia. It is deeply indented with coves and bays, covers a land area of about , and is virtually uninhabited with a population ranging from about 20 ...
When Baldwin Spencer visited the area and was a guest at Cahill's homestead at Oenpelli, he picked up one version which spoke of the same figure as being called ''Numereji'' Legend has it coming from the north, full of spirit-children, and settling at a point called Coopers Creek on the East Alligator River, she transformed her children into men, creating waterholes to cater to their thirst, supplying men with spears and woomera, and women with
dilly bag A dillybag or dilly bag is a traditional Australian Aboriginal bag generally woven from plant fibres. Dillybags are mainly designed and used by women to gather and transport food, and are most commonly found in the northern parts of Australia. ...
s and digging sticks, while endowing both with intelligence and their senses. She swallows those who infringe her laws, and drowns children who cry, since she is disturbed by noise. In Dreaming narratives, when ''Ngalyod'' surges from the earth to devour some ancestral species, it does so because a taboo has been violated, and the act sanctifies the site. * For the Kuninjku important dreaming sites (''djang'') are the Leech Dreaming at ''Yibalaydjyigod'' in the swamps of the Manggabor Creek, the Maggot Dreaming at Yirolk, where a rock, girdled by water lilies, rises out of a waterhole and the Barramundi Dreaming around Marrkolidjban. The former two are likened to the Rainbow serpent, connoting, by battening on flesh, themes of decay and rebirth The souls (''kunmalng'') of the Kuninjku are themselves derived from the water spirits at such sites. The rejuvenating monsoonal downpours are caused by the flight of ''Ngalyod'' from its underground sanctuary into the sky, marked by the rainbow. Increase ceremonies like the Kunabibi and yabbadurruwa rites are performed in order to incite the ''djang'' to stir the onset of the fertilizing rains.


Notable people

* John Mawurndjul, ''Kuninjku'' artist of international fame * Bardayal 'Lofty' Nadjamerrek * Bobby Nganjmirra, Kunwinjku artist


See also

* Lorrkkon, a hollow log coffin or memorial pole


Footnotes


References


Citations


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * *(About the Maliwawa Figures) * * * * *


Further reading

* {{Authority control Aboriginal peoples of the Northern Territory