The Ngaanyatjarra, also known (along with the Pini) as the Nana, 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 ...

cultural group 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 ...

. They are located in the Goldfields-Esperance region, as well as

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 ...

Language

Ngaanyatjarra The Ngaanyatjarra, also known (along with the Pini) as the Nana, are an Indigenous Australian cultural group of Western Australia. They are located in the Goldfields-Esperance region, as well as Northern Territory. Language Ngaanyatjarra is ...

is a

Western Desert language The Western Desert language, or Wati, is a dialect cluster of Australian Aboriginal languages in the Pama–Nyungan family. The name ''Wati'' tends to be used when considering the various varieties to be distinct languages, ''Western Desert'' w ...

belonging to the Wati branch of the Pama-Nyungan languages.

Ngaatjatjarra The Ngaatjatjarra (otherwise spelt Ngadadjara) are an Indigenous Australian people of Western Australia, with communities located in the north eastern part of the Goldfields-Esperance region. Name The ethnonym Ngaatjatjarra essentially translat ...

is mutually intelligible with

, and both are treated as dialects of the one language. ''Ngaanya'' literally means "this" (that is, the

demonstrative pronoun Demonstratives ( abbreviated ) are words, such as ''this'' and ''that'', used to indicate which entities are being referred to and to distinguish those entities from others. They are typically deictic, their meaning depending on a particular fram ...

) and ''-tjarra'' means "with/having" (the

comitative In grammar, the comitative case (abbreviated ) is a grammatical case that denotes accompaniment. In English, the preposition "with", in the sense of "in company with" or "together with", plays a substantially similar role. Other uses of "with", l ...

suffix); the compound term means "those that use 'ngaanya' to say 'this'". The neighbouring

use ''ngaatja'' for "this". Many Ngaanyatjarra are multilingual, not only speaking English but also a number of other dialects in the area.

Country

Ngaanyatjarra lands cover roughly 3% of the Australian landscape, a territory as large as that of the United Kingdom. Predominantly desert, they lie away from the two nearest towns of

Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...

and

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie-Boulder (or just Kalgoorlie) is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder as the surroundi ...

. The neighbouring tribes are the Martu and the

Pitjantjatjara The Pitjantjatjara (; or ) are an Aboriginal people of the Central Australian desert near Uluru. They are closely related to the Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra and their languages are, to a large extent, mutually intelligible (all are v ...

. They extend through parts of the North Western and Little Great and Little Sandy Deserts, the southeast Gascoyne region, the

Gibson Desert The Gibson Desert is a large desert in Western Australia, largely in an almost pristine state. It is about in size, making it the fifth largest desert in Australia, after the Great Victoria, Great Sandy, Tanami and Simpson deserts. The ...

, the Central Central Great Victoria Desert and the Western Central Ranges.

Local government

The

Shire of Ngaanyatjarraku The Shire of Ngaanyatjarraku is a remote local government area in Western Australia near the Northern Territory/South Australian border. It is from Perth. It was formed on 1 July 1993 following a report of the Local Government Boundaries Commi ...

covers , and the Shire council is the

local government authority A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a state, province, division, or territory. The phras ...

responsible for the provision of services to the communities. The associated Ngaanyatjarra Council operates various services for the communities. There are 10 small local centres within the Ngaanyatyarra Lands: * Irrunytju (Wingellina) * Papulankutja (Blackstone) * Mantamaru (Jameson) * Warburton * Wanarn * Warakurna * Tjukurla * Tjirrkarli * Patjarr * Kanpa Kiwirrkurra and Yilka (Cosmo Newbery) lie outside the Lands, but are served by the Shire.

Time zones

On July 1 2024, the Ngaanyatjarra Lands standardised on

Australian Western Standard Time Australia uses three main time zones: Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST; UTC+10:00), Australian Central Standard Time (ACST; UTC+09:30) and Australian Western Standard Time (AWST; UTC+08:00). Time is regulated by the individual state ...

(AWST). Previously the lands operated on two time zones: Yilka/Cosmo, Mantamaru/Jameson, Patjarr, Tjirrkarli, Wanarn and Warburton used AWST, while Blackstone, Kiwirrkurra, Tjukurla, Warakurna, and Irrunytju/Wingellina were on

Australian Central Standard Time Australia uses three main time zones: Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST; UTC+10:00), Australian Central Standard Time (ACST; UTC+09:30) and Australian Western Standard Time (AWST; UTC+08:00). Time is regulated by the individual states a ...

People and society

The area inhabited by the Ngaanyatjarra people (''yarnangu'') has a record of human habitation going back some 10,000 years. In traditional society, the Ngaanyatjarra comprised numerous bands, usually constituted by a group of a dozen people. Males only reached marriageable age at around 30, after a thorough training and graduation through a complex initiatory system, that transformed ''tjilku'' (male children) into ''wati'' (men). Passage to this status was marked by the right to wear a red headband, though as post-initiates (''tjawarratja'') they were still required to dwell apart from the main camp as elders continued to instruct them. Learning the lore required that the initiates had to supply their elders with foodstuffs like meat, a scarce resource in the area. In this sense, the tjukurrpa system also functioned as a cross-generational mode of exacting obedience and an income from the younger men. Females entered into wedlock just after the onset of puberty. Ceremonial induction consisted of learning to absorb the complex details of tjukurrpa, namely the lore/law of the

dreamtime The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal religion and mythology, Australian Aboriginal mythology. It was originally u ...

. The process is graded so that full knowledge only comes after 50 the normal age after which one can begin gain recognition as a ''wati yirna'' or ''tjilpi'', a thoroughly knowledgeable elder, though even 60-year-olds can still be denied that recognition. The Ngaanyatjarra had a moiety system divided into sun-side (''Tjirntulukultul(pa)'') and shade-side (''Ngumpalurrungkatja''), with a 6 section classification. Sun-side * ''Tjarurru'' men have ''Purungu'' children as the offspring of marriage to either ''Panaka'' or ''Yiparrka'' women * ''Panaka'' men marry only ''Tjarurru'' women, producing ''Karimarra'' offspring * ''Yiparrka'' men marrying a ''Tjarurru'' women have ''Milangka'' offspring Shade-side * ''Purungu'' men have ''Tjarurru'' through marriage to either ''Karimarra'' or ''Milangka'' women. * ''Karimarra'' men only marry ''Purungu'' women to have ''Panaka'' children * ''Milangka'' men marry ''Purungu'' women and produce ''Yiparrka'' children. Estimates of the number of Ngaanyatjarra range from 1,600, referring to permanent residents and 2,700, including a more mobile people of Ngaanyatjarra descent, who often visit the area. Though life is generally peaceful, the adaptation to modern society has produced considerable trauma and alienation, as the genealogical continuity of family structures has suffered disruption from numerous accidents or family violence, including sexual abuse and assault, and suicide. The area is "dry" meaning that the destructive effects of excessive alcoholic consumption are not in evidence throughout their communities, and longevity has been a characteristic of the people. However, incarceration rates, predominantly for offences of sexual or domestic violence or reckless driving, are high, 14 times higher than the non-indigenous rate. Ngaanyatjarra councils have lobbied, with some success, to get more police stationed in their areas to address the problem.

History of contact

Until the establishment of the Warburton Mission in 1934 there had been no external agency established on their lands. Until the 1960s, contact with the outside world had been sparse and relatively benign, with none of the disruption of displacement from their traditional terrain typically suffered by Aborigines generally. The mission sowed the seeds of Christian culture which continues to this day, particularly in the form of

charismatic Charisma () is a personal quality of magnetic charm, persuasion, or appeal. In the fields of sociology and political science, psychology, and management, the term ''charismatic'' describes a type of leadership. In Christian theology, the term ...

evangelism Evangelism, or witnessing, is the act of sharing the Christian gospel, the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. It is typically done with the intention of converting others to Christianity. Evangelism can take several forms, such as persona ...

Native title

The Ngaanyatjarra made a claim to

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 ...

, and on 29 June 2005 their lands were the subject of the largest native title determination in Australian history, according to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner

Tom Calma Thomas Edwin Calma (born 1953), is an Aboriginal Australian human rights and social justice campaigner, and 2023 senior Australian of the Year. He was the sixth chancellor of the University of Canberra (2014-2023), after two years as deputy ch ...

, when a Federal Court hearing presided by Justice Michael Black ruled on the claim to in Western Australia.

Language

Country

Local government

Time zones

People and society

History of contact

Native title

People

See also

Notes

Citations

Sources

External links