The Barindji, also written Parrintyi, 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 the state of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. They are to be distinguished from the

Paaruntyi The Paaruntyi are an indigenous Australian people of the state of New South Wales. They are not to be confused with the Parrintyi. Country According to Norman Tindale's calculations the Paaruntyi would have exercised control over some of tribal ...

, who spoke a similar language but whom they called the ''spitting people''.

Name

Parrintyi, according to one theory, meant ''forest dwellers'' in the local languages, but another view suggests it may have originated from the

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 ...

for a creek known as the Paroo, reflecting prior tribal links. Tindale glosses this attribution by suggesting that the term may derive from a creek name, called the ''Paroo'', reflecting prior tribal links. An

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 ...

, ''mamba'' (devils) was once used by the Darling River aborigines, who were terrified of the Parrintyi.

Country

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 ...

estimated Parrintyi lands as encompassing roughly of tribal territory. Their land consisted of large stretches of mallee, mulga, swamp and sand land running parallel to, and east of, the

Darling River The Darling River (or River Darling; Paakantyi: ''Baaka'' or ''Barka''), is the third-longest river in Australia, measuring from its source in northern New South Wales to its confluence with the Murray River at Wentworth. Including its long ...

. Tindale set their southern boundaries from Moira to within of Euston, and their eastern extension in the vicinity of

Ivanhoe ''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' ( ) by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in December 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. It marked a shift away from Scott's prior practice of setting stories in Scotland and in the more ...

. To their west, he added, they took in Manara Range, Albermarle, Carowra, Kilfera, Manfred and

Willandra Lakes The Willandra Lakes Region is a World Heritage Site in the Far West region of New South Wales, Australia. The Willandra Lakes Region is the traditional meeting place of the Muthi Muthi, Ngiyampaa and Paakantyi Aboriginal peoples. The area was i ...

. Running clockwise from the north, their neighbours were the

Naualko The Naualko (Nhaawuparlku) were an indigenous Australian people of New South Wales. Name The name Naualko derives from their word for 'yes'(''naua/nawa'' (so written by Norman Tindale). The word is now reconstructed as ''nhaawu'', and thus their ...

, followed by the

Ngiyambaa The Ngiyampaa language, also spelt Ngiyambaa, Ngempa, Ngemba and other variants, is a Pama–Nyungan language of the Wiradhuric subgroup. It was the traditional language of the Wangaaypuwan and Wayilwan peoples of New South Wales. Speakers ...

to their east, the Yitayita on their southeastern flank, while the southern Paakantyi inhabited the land to their west.

Social organization

The Parrintyi were organized into clans (hordes) of which the following eight are known: * ''Lagerung'' * ''Murro'' * ''Milparo'' * ''Boanjilla'' * ''Pularli'' * ''Nielyi-gulli'' * ''Kurlkgulli'' * ''Karndukul''

Traditional culture

Their water often was obtained from the roots of water mallee (''Eucalyptus'') trees and ''Hakea'', hence their camping places were widely dispersed and often were casual. Some of the neighbours had more disparaging names for them. The Barindji, living in dry country, extracted water from

hakea ''Hakea'' ( ) is a genus of about 150 species of flowering plants in the family ''Proteaceae'', endemic to Australia. They are shrubs or small trees with leaves that are sometimes flat, otherwise circular in cross section in which case they are s ...

and mallee. In periods of

drought A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, ...

, they would resort, in large mobs, to riverine areas in other tribal lands, engendering fear among, and conflict with, the riverine tribal groups. Their burial practices are similar to the very ancient burials at nearby

Mungo Lake Lake Mungo is a dry lake located in New South Wales, Australia. It is about 760 km (472 miles) due west of Sydney and 90 km (56 miles) north-east of Mildura. The lake is the central feature of Mungo National Park, and is one of seven ...

indicating a long time in the area. The Parrintyi were described by Thomas Mitchell and

Charles Sturt Charles Napier Sturt (28 April 1795 – 16 June 1869) was a British officer and explorer of Australia, and part of the European land exploration of Australia, European exploration of Australia. He led several expeditions into the interior of the ...

on their respective explorations of the area and described in colonial times by local landowners A.L.P. Cameron and

Alfred William Howitt Alfred William Howitt (17 April 1830 – 7 March 1908), also known by author abbreviation A. W. Howitt, was an Australian anthropologist, explorer and naturalist. He was known for leading the Victorian Relief Expedition, which set out to est ...

Alternative names

* ''Barrengee'' * ''Beriait, Berri-ait'' * ''Paru, Paroo'' * ''Bpaaroo'' (creek name) * ''Bpaa'roon-jee'' * ''Bpaaroo'' (Darling River creek name, not the

Paroo River The Paroo River, a series of waterholes, connected in wet weather as a running stream of the Darling catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the South West region of Queensland and Far West region of New South Wales, Aust ...

) * ''Bpaa'roon-jee'' (reflects

for the Barindji used by the

Maraura The Maraura or Marrawarra people are an Aboriginal group whose traditional lands are located in Far West New South Wales and South Australia, Australia. Language The Maraura spoke the southernmost dialect of Paakantyi. A wordlist of the lang ...

)

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * {{authority control Aboriginal peoples of New South Wales