The Ngardi, also spelled Ngarti, 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 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 ...

and

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 and grouping

Arthur Capell Arthur Capell (28 March 1902 – 10 August 1986) was an Australian linguist, who made major contributions to the study of Australian languages, Austronesian languages and Papuan languages. Early life Capell was born in Newtown, New South W ...

took the term ''Ngardi'' to refer, not to a distinct tribe, but to a branch of the Warlpiri, a point contested by

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 ...

, who maintained they were distinct. The

Wanjina The Wandjina, also written Wanjina and Wondjina and also known as Gulingi, are cloud and rain spirits from the Wanjina Wunggurr cultural bloc of Aboriginal Australians, depicted prominently in rock art in northwestern Australia. Some of the ar ...

and Wunggurr spirits are essential elements of the life of the

cultural bloc In anthropology and geography, a cultural area, cultural region, cultural sphere, or culture area refers to a geography with one relatively homogeneous human activity or complex of activities (culture). Such activities are often associa ...

known as the

Wanjina Wunggurr The Worrorra, also written Worora, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Kimberley area of north-western Australia. The term is sometimes used to describe speakers of the (Western) Worrorra language, and sometimes groups whose traditiona ...

, generally consisting of the

Worrorra The Worrorra, also written Worora, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Kimberley area of north-western Australia. The term is sometimes used to describe speakers of the (Western) Worrorra language, and sometimes groups whose traditiona ...

Wunambal The Wunambal (Unambal), also known as Wunambal Gaambera, Uunguu (referring to their lands), and other names, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the northern Kimberley region of Western Australia. People The Wunambal were, according to Norma ...

and

Ngarinyin The Ngarinyin or Ngarinjin are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Kimberley (Western Australia), Kimberley region of Western Australia. Their language, Ngarinyin language, Ngarinyin, is also known as Ungarinyin. When referring to their tradit ...

peoples of the Kimberley. For the purpose of a mineral rights agreement with a mining company in 2006, the Worrorra were also grouped with the Ngardi, as

Dambimangari The Worrorra, also written Worora, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Kimberley area of north-western Australia. The term is sometimes used to describe speakers of the (Western) Worrorra language, and sometimes groups whose traditiona ...

(Dambima-Ngardi), said to share the Wanjina-Wunggurr belief systems. Rock paintings depicting Wanjina, as well as the

Gwion Gwion The Gwion Gwion rock paintings, Gwion figures, Kiro Kiro or Kujon (also known as the Bradshaw rock paintings, Bradshaw rock art, Bradshaw figures and the Bradshaws) are one of the two major regional traditions of rock art found in the north-wes ...

("Bradshaw") paintings, are evidence of the shared culture.

Country

's calculations, the Ngarti's tribal territory stretched over approximately , covering the sandhill country west of the

Tanami track __NOTOC__ The Tanami Road, also known as the Tanami Track, Tanami Highway, and the McGuire Track, is a road in Australia that runs between the Stuart Highway in the Northern Territory and the Great Northern Highway in Western Australia. It is a ...

, extending from Chilla Well, the Granites, and Gardiner Range over the border into

at Ima Ima. They were present at Sturt Creek, and the Pallottine Mission area at Balgo Hill. Their southern extension, he adds, went as far as across the mulga scrubland to Milidjipi and Tekkari north of

Lake Mackay Lake Mackay, known as Wilkinkarra to the Indigenous Pintupi people, is the largest of hundreds of ephemeral salt lakes scattered throughout the Pilbara and northern parts of the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia and the Northe ...

Joint land claim

On 21 August 1980 a land claim was submitted by 90 claimants on behalf of the Warlpiri, Kukatja and Ngarti peoples, as

traditional owners Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...

, under the ''

Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 The ''Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976'' (ALRA) is Australian federal government legislation that provides the basis upon which Aboriginal Australian people in the Northern Territory can claim rights to land based on traditi ...

'', for an area of about . It was the 11th traditional land claim presented on behalf of Aboriginal

by the

Central Land Council The Central Land Council (CLC) is a land council that represents the Aboriginal peoples of the southern half of the Northern Territory of Australia (NT), predominantly with regard to land issues. it is one of four land councils in the Northern ...

. The land borders on areas in which each of the languages – Ngarti, Warlpiri, and Kukatja – is dominant. People from the different language groups have been influenced by each other when residing at

Balgo, Western Australia Balgo, previously Balgo Hills and Balgo Mission, is a community in Western Australia that is linked with both the Great Sandy Desert and the Tanami Desert. The community is in the Shire of Halls Creek, off the Tanami Road, and was established by ...

and Lajamanu, Northern Territory. The claim was presented at Balgo Mission. The recommendation handed down by Justice Sir William Kearney on 23 August 1985 and presented on 19 August 1986 was that "the whole of the claim area be granted to a Land Trust for the benefit of Aboriginals entitled by tradition to its use or occupation, whether or not the traditional entitlement is qualified as to place, time, circumstance, purpose or permission".

Mineral rights agreement

in April 2006, the Aztec Resources (now

Mount Gibson Iron Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

) mining company signed a co-existence agreement with the

(Dambima/

-Ngardi)

Koolan Island Koolan Island is an island off the Kimberley coast of Western Australia in the Buccaneer Archipelago. It is about north of Perth, and about north of Derby. It hosts deposits of high-grade iron ore. Description The island is approximately in ...

regarding their

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

mining operations on the island. The agreement aimed to ensure that 30% of the 220 person workforce is filled by Indigenous people by the eighth year of operation.

Language

The Ngarti people spoke the

Ngardi language Ngardi, also spelt Ngarti or Ngardilj, is an Australian Aboriginal language that is considered moribund. It was previously thought to be an alternative name for the Bunara language, but these are now classified as separate languages. It was/is ...

Alternative names

* ''Bunara, Boonara'' * ''Kolo'' (Pintubi

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 ...

) * ''Kukuruba'' (Ngalia exonym) * ''Manggai'' (

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 ...

) * ''Munga'' (?) (cited by R. H. Mathews) * ''Ngadi'' * ''Ngari'' * ''Panara'' (general term for grass seed winnowing tribes like the Ngarti) * ''Puruwantung, Buruwatung'' * ''Waiangara'' * ''Waiangari'' ( Ngalia exonym) * ''Waingara, Waiangadi'' * ''Walmala'' (pejorative) * '' Waringari, Warangari'' (Warlpiri pejorative for the Ngarti) * ''Wommana'' * ''Woneiga, Wanayaga'' Source:

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * {{authority control Aboriginal peoples of the Northern Territory Aboriginal peoples of Western Australia