The Mandjildjara, also written ''Manyjilyjarra'', 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 ...
.
Country
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 estimation the Mandjildjara's lands extended over some , running along what was later known as 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 Well 30 (''Tjundu'tjundu'') to Well 38 (''Watjaparni''). It extended southwards some 50 miles as far the Tjanbari hill, and watering places they variously called ''Kolajuru, Karukada, Keweilba, and Kunkunba.'' They roamed eastwards as far as an unidentified waterhole known as ''Ngila.''
History of contact
According to Tindale, in 1964, the patrol officer,
Walter MacDougall came across a group of nine Aboriginal women at a place called Imiri in the area known as
Percival Lakes, who identified themselves as Mandjildjara. At the time the whole area had suffered from severe drought conditions for over a decade, leading large numbers of desert peoples, often identified generically as
Pintubi, to trek or straggle eastwards to places like
Balgo and
Papunya
Papunya ( Pintupi-Luritja: ''Warumpi'') is a small Indigenous Australian community roughly northwest of Alice Springs (Mparntwe) in the Northern Territory, Australia. It is known as an important centre for Contemporary Indigenous Australian ar ...
.
Gisèle Pelicot scarf
In 2024,
Manyjilyjarra artist Mulyatingki Marney, who lives in the remote
Punmu Community in the
Pilbara 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 ...
designed a scarf which was gifted to
Gisèle Pelicot
Gisèle Pelicot (; born 7December 1952) is a French woman who was covertly drugged and raped by her husband Dominique Pelicot on numerous occasions over a nine-year period between 2011 and 2020. Dominique also invited dozens of men, contacted ...
by the Older Women's Network, an Australian advocacy group. Pelicot wore the scarf frequently during the
trial of her rapists and said through her lawyer that she was interested in the First Nations link. The design is called ''Wilarra'', meaning moon in the
Manyjilyjarra language, and was so named after a place of the same name which is a healing place.
Alternative names
* Mandjiltjara, Mantjiltjara, Mandjildara, Mantjildjara, Manjiljara
* Manyjilyjarra
Notes
Citations
Sources
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Aboriginal peoples of Western Australia
Mid West (Western Australia)
Canning Stock Route