The Ngandi were 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 the

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 ...

. The Ngandji are another tribe, and the two are not to be confused.

Country

The Ngandi's lands, some in extent, encompassed the area around the upper Wilton River, Mainoru River. Their eastern boundary was close to the sources of the Rose River.

Alternative names

* ''N'gundi'' * ''Ngalbon, Ngalgbun'' * ''Nandi''

Notable people

The Australian ethnographer

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 ...

was accompanied on his first fieldwork in 1921-1922 among the

Groote Eylandt Groote Eylandt ( Anindilyakwa: ''Ayangkidarrba''; meaning "island" ) is the largest island in the Gulf of Carpentaria and the fourth largest island in Australia. It was named by the explorer Abel Tasman in 1644 and is Dutch for "large island" ...

Ingura by a Ngandi tribal songmaker and trader, Maroadunei by name but known as 'Tim,' who acted as Tindale's interpreter, helper and handyman.

Tim, the white man's name he liked to be called, had been for many years a carrier of trade parcels of unifacially flaked quartzite blades of ''leilira'' type, used as spearheads and knives, from the stone mines east of the
Katherine River Katherine River is located in the Northern Territory, Australia. Its headwaters are in Nitmiluk National Park, it flows through the town of Katherine, Northern Territory, Katherine, and is a major tributary of the Daly River (Northern Territory), ...
in southern Arnhem Land. For half of his adult life he had traveled through much of eastern
Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territorial capital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compa ...
, keeping south of the border of the spread of the rite of circumcision, singing and dreaming up new songs for ceremonies, and on occasion introducing new drone-pipe rhythms to the people of the several tribes among whom he was a welcome guest. These songs and his neatly wrapped trade parcels were his passport to visit distant tribes and to see places denied to most tribesmen.

Notes

Citations

Sources

* {{authority control Aboriginal peoples of the Northern Territory