The Mangarla, or Mangala, 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 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 ...

. The Mangarla people traditionally lived in the north-western area of the

Great Sandy Desert The Great Sandy Desert is an interim Australian bioregion,IBRA Version 6.1
data

, west of the

Karajarri The Karajarri, also spelt Garadjara, are an Aboriginal Australian people of Western Australia. They live south-west of the Kimberleys in the northern Pilbara region, predominantly between the coastal area and the Great Sandy Desert. They now mo ...

people, east of the

Walmajarri The Walmadjari (Walmajarri) people, also known as Tjiwaling and Wanaseka, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Name The two names reflect different Walmadjari preferences. Their western bands accept ...

, with the Juwaliny and Yulparija to the south. Many Mangarla people now live in Jarlmadangah and

Bidyadanga Bidyadanga, also known as La Grange, is the largest Aboriginal community in Western Australia, with a population of approximately 750 residents. It is located south of Broome and from the state capital Perth, in the Kimberley region. The tr ...

Mangarla language

The

Mangarla language Mangarla, also spelt Mangala, is a Pama–Nyungan language of Western Australia. It is spoken by the Mangarla people of the north-western area of the Great Sandy Desert The Great Sandy Desert is an interim Australian bioregion,

is one of the

Marrngu languages The Marrngu languages are a branch of the Pama–Nyungan language family of Australia. There are four members of the family, which all originated in Western Australia. *Marrngu ** Mangala (Mangarla) **Marrngu proper ***Karajarri (Garadjari) ** ...

of the Pama–Nyungan family. Two dialect varieties of their tongue are attested, ''Kakutu/Kakurtu'' and ''Ngulatu/Ngulartu''. Mangarla is an

endangered language An endangered language or moribund language is a language that is at risk of disappearing as its speakers die out or shift to speaking other languages. Language loss occurs when the language has no more native speakers and becomes a " dead langua ...

, with less than 20 native speakers according to a 2002 census. The Pallottine Catholic priest Father Kevin McKelson (1926–2011), known to the 5 tribes whose languages he mastered as ''Japulu'' (father) compiled the first dictionary of the language in 1998, a work which formed the basis for a dictionary co-authored with Albert Burgman in 2005.

Country

Traditional Mandala territory covered approximately on the desert plateau about the McLarty Hills, north to Geegully Creek, and the headwaters of Edgar Range; northwest to the plateau above Dampier Downs, extending to the coast.

History of contact

The Mangarla, like the Walmajarri, Wangkatjungka and Nyigina. were bundled together by the early white colonizers as a "desert mob" because of the arid territory they lived in. Starting from around 1885, when pastoralists began to use their territory for grazing stock, many men from the Mangarla tribe were rounded up to work as jackaroos, in exchange for an annual pay of a pair of boots, a shirt and trousers.,Some were offered money that was kept for 'safe keeping' by their 'employers' a situation that descendants say persisted until the 1967 referendum and constitutional amendment by the Holt Government established the principle of equal pay, after which many lost their jobs.

Native title

In 2014, in a decision handed down by Justice John Gilmour of the

Federal Court of Australia The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indictable (mo ...

, the Nyikina-Mangarla people were granted

native title Aboriginal title is a common law doctrine that the land rights of indigenous peoples to customary tenure persist after the assumption of sovereignty to that land by another colonising state. The requirements of proof for the recognition of ab ...

to of territory extending from the

King Sound King Sound is a large gulf in northern Western Australia. It expands from the mouth of the Fitzroy River (Western Australia), Fitzroy River, one of Australia's largest watercourses, and opens to the Indian Ocean. It is about long, and averag ...

through the Fitzoy Valley to the Great Sandy Desert.

Notes and references

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * * * {{authority control Aboriginal peoples of Western Australia Broome, Western Australia