The Punthamara 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 state of
Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
.
Country
According to
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 ...
, the Punthamara's tribal territories embraced roughly , along the creeks flowing east of the
Grey Range, whose western flank they lived about only as far as Mount Margaret and Congie. They were also present at
Tobermorey
Tobermorey Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in the Central Australia, Alice Springs region of the Northern Territory. Tobermorey is on the western edge of Punthamara territory
Location
The property is situated a ...
, on the border with the present-day
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 ...
. Running north from Orient and
Thargomindah
Thargomindah (frequently shortened to Thargo) is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Bulloo, Queensland, Australia. The town of Thargomindah is the administrative centre for the Shire of Bulloo. In the , the locality of Thargomindah h ...
, their lands approached the vicinity of
Quilpie
Quilpie ( ) is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Shire of Quilpie, Shire of Quilpie, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Quilpie had a population of 530 people.
The town is the administrative cent ...
.
History of contact
Punthamara lands and those of many other neighbouring tribes were pegged out and
squatted
Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...
by
Patrick Durack
Patrick Durack (March 1834 – 20 January 1898) was a pastoral pioneer in Western Australia.
His family were struggling tenant farmers from Magherareagh near Scarriff in County Clare, Ireland, who moved from Ireland to New South Wales in 1853. ...
, who took on several members of the tribe to serve him.
Ethnography
The early ethnographer
R. H. Mathews argued that the Punthamara were just one tribal group in a larger entity, which he called Wonkamurra Nation, consisting also of the
Wongkumara,
Kalali,
Yandruwandha and
Yauraworka. However, Tindale viewed the concept of such artificial supratribal "nations" with skepticism.
Social organization and customs
The Punthamara used circumcision in their initiatory rites, but refrained by
subincision
Penile subincision is a form of genital modification or mutilation consisting of a urethrotomy, in which the underside of the penis is incised and the urethra slit open lengthwise, from the urethral opening (meatus) toward the base. The slit can ...
.
Alternative names
* ''Bunthomarra''
* ''Buntamara''
* ''Buntamurra''
* ''Banthamurra''
* ''Buntha-burra''
* ''Boonthamurra''
* ''Boontha Murra''
Some words
* ''kuraba'' (pigweed variety of
purslane Purslane is a common name for several mostly unrelated plants with edible leaves and may refer to:
* Portulacaceae, a family of succulent flowering plants, and especially:
** '' Portulaca oleracea'', a species of ''Portulaca'' eaten as a leaf vege ...
)
Notes
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{authority control
Aboriginal peoples of Queensland