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The Mardudunera, more accurately, ''Martuthunira'', 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 in the
Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, sparsely populated regions of Western Australia, region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal people; wealth disparity; its ancient landscapes; the prevailing r ...
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 ...
.


Name

The
ethnonym An ethnonym () is a name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, or endonyms (whose name is created and used ...
"Martuthunira" reflects the word ''Martuthuni'' used to denote the lower reaches of the
Fortescue River The Fortescue River is an ephemeral river in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is the third longest river in the state. Course The river rises near Deadman Hill in the Ophthalmia Range about 30 km south of Newman, Western Austr ...
. The ''ra'' is a suffix indicating place of origin or provenience. Various theories have been advanced to analyse the word in terms of a root ''martu'' - not available in the Martuthunira language itself - and the suffix -''thuni'', the latter recurring in a few
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 ...
s. In Yindjibarndi ''martu'' means 'place, space, spot'. Carl Georg von Brandenstein proposed an etymology which would make the word mean 'flat-' or 'river-landers'.


Language

An extensive knowledge of the
Martuthunira language Martuthunira is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language, that was the traditional language of the Martuthunira people of Western Australia. The last fluent speaker of Martuthunira, Algy Paterson, died on 6 August 1995. From 1980 he worked ...
exists. A several hundred page outline was written by Alan Dench, a student of Peter Austin's, after one of the three remaining speakers, Algy Paterson, approached him asking Dench to preserve the language his own maternal grandmother had once spoken.


Country

Alfred Radcliffe-Brown Alfred Reginald Radcliffe-Brown, FBA (born Alfred Reginald Brown; 17 January 1881 – 24 October 1955) was an English social anthropologist who helped further develop the theory of structural functionalism. He conducted fieldwork in the Andam ...
in 1913 gave an estimation that implied that the Mardudunera's traditional lands extended over . For
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 ...
, they covered somewhat less, and his estimate was that the tribal area covering roughly in the
Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, sparsely populated regions of Western Australia, region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal people; wealth disparity; its ancient landscapes; the prevailing r ...
, stretching over the land from the inland ranges to the coastal plain, north of
Fortescue River The Fortescue River is an ephemeral river in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is the third longest river in the state. Course The river rises near Deadman Hill in the Ophthalmia Range about 30 km south of Newman, Western Austr ...
. They included a number of islands they would visit in the
Dampier Archipelago The Dampier Archipelago is a group of 42 islands near the town of Dampier, Western Australia, Dampier in Pilbara, Western Australia. The archipelago is also made up of reefs, shoals, channels and straits and is the traditional home of five Ab ...
. Recently Alan Dench, an authority on the people, has endorsed Radcliffe-Brown's original determination. Their north-eastern boundary is marked by three hills, Mount Leopold, Moondle Hill and Mount McLeod, while Warluru Pool, marks their eastern limits. Dench adds that Tindale is incorrect in his island claims, for archaeology has failed to turn up pre-contact traces of their presence on Barrow Island, and modern Mardudunera do not believe it formed part of their world.


History of contact with whites

It is believed that the first contact with
white people White is a Race (human categorization), racial classification of people generally used for those of predominantly Ethnic groups in Europe, European ancestry. It is also a Human skin color, skin color specifier, although the definition can var ...
occurred on 26 February 1818 during the explorer
Phillip Parker King Phillip Parker King (13 December 1791 – 26 February 1856) was an early explorer of the Australian and Patagonian coasts. Early life and education King was born on Norfolk Island, to Philip Gidley King and Anna Josepha King ''née'' Coo ...
's first voyage in , which took him to the north-western coast of Australia. King describes the scene:
As we advanced, three natives were seen in the water, apparently wading from an island in the centre of the strait towards Lewis Island: the course was immediately altered to intercept them, but as we approached, it was discovered that each native was seated on a log of wood, which he propelled through the water by paddling with his hands. Having hove to, close by them, they became much alarmed, and cried out in loud tones, which were increased when our boat was lowered and despatched after them; but it was not without the greatest difficulty that Mr. Bedwell succeeded in bringing one on board. On the boat's coming up with the nearest Indian, he left his log and, diving under the boat's bottom, swam astern; this he did whenever the boat approached him, and it was four or five minutes before he was caught, which was at last effected by seizing him by the hair, in the act of diving, and dragging him into the boat, against which he resisted stoutly, and, even when taken, it required two men to hold him to prevent his escape. During the interval of heaving to and bringing him on board, the cutter was anchored near the central island, where a tribe of natives were collected, consisting of about forty persons, of whom the greater number were women and children; the whole party appeared to be overcome with grief, particularly the women, who most loudly and vehemently expressed their sorrow by cries, and rolling on the ground, and covering their bodies with the sand.
Once on board, the captive, a six foot tall lad in his early twenties, scarified with horizontal strips from his chest to his navel, but with no nose-piercing or tooth evulsion, was treated to sugared water, and, turning to the shore, cried out: ''coma negra''!. He was allowed to return to his camp on his log called a "marine velocipede", whose construction from
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 ...
roots was described in detail with various gifts, such as a red cap, biscuits and an axe. On beaching, he was interrogated by his terrified companions, who held him at spear point, and then physically examined. A further bundle of gifts was delivered towards dusk.


Alternative names

* ''Mardudjungara'' * ''Mardudhunera, Mardudhunira, Mardudhoonera'' * ''Mardutunira Mardatunera'' * ''Marduduna'' * ''Mardathoni'' * ''Mardatuna'' * ''Maratunia'' * ''Jawunmala'' (the
Indjibandi The Yindjibarndi are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. They form the majority of Aboriginal people around Roebourne (the Millstream area). Their traditional lands lie around the Fortescue River. Languag ...
exonym An endonym (also known as autonym ) is a common, name for a group of people, individual person, geographical place, language, or dialect, meaning that it is used inside a particular group or linguistic community to identify or designate them ...
)


Notes


Citations


Sources

* * * * * * * {{authority control Aboriginal peoples of Western Australia Pilbara