The Murunitja are an
indigenous Australian
Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...
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 ...
located within the
Goldfields-Esperance region.
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 ...
''Murunitja'' appears to derive for a word ''murun'', meaning a "stout person", referring to the characteristic build of the tribe.
Language
The
Murunitja language is closely related to
Mirnung and
Ngadjunmaya.
Country
Murunitja country covered about from the northern edge of the
Nullarbor Plain
The Nullarbor Plain ( ; Latin: feminine of 'no' and 'tree') is part of the area of flat, almost treeless, arid or semi-arid country of southern Australia, located on the Great Australian Bight coast with the Great Victoria Desert to its no ...
at
Naretha to
Loongana. They also ranged as far as
Rawlinna and the Walawuluna Rockhole.
Alternative names
* ''Mooroon''
* ''Murnidja''
* ''Mara'' (?)
* ''Kogara'' ('east')
Notes
Citations
Sources
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Aboriginal peoples of Western Australia
Goldfields–Esperance