The Wanggamala people, also spelt Wangkamahdla, Wangkamadla, Wangkamanha, Wangkamana, Wonkamala, Wongkamala, Wonkamudla, and other variants, 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

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

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 ...

's estimate, Wanggamala tribal lands covered some of territory. They roamed north-west of Annandale, at Kalidawarry and around the lower Field and Hay rivers, along the Plenty river, and on the eastern margins of the

Simpson Desert The Simpson Desert is a large area of dry, red sandy plain and dunes in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland in central Australia. It is the fourth-largest Deserts of Australia, Australian desert, with an area of . The Wangka ...

. River waters were ephemeral and they dug native wells (''mikari''). In July 2021, the Wanggamala people, spelt Wangkamahdla in the claim, won native title rights to over west and south-west of Boulia, stretching from around

Bedourie, Queensland Bedourie is a town and a Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Shire of Diamantina, Queensland, Australia. It is on the Queensland borders, border with the Northern Territory. In the , the locality of Bedourie had a population of 1 ...

, across to the

border, including Cravens Peak Reserve (named Pilungah Reserve in October 2021) and part of the Munga-Thirri National Park.

Language

Their language was Wanggamala, which is now

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

Economy

The Wanggamala lived in areas where the native tobacco

pituri Pituri, also known as mingkulpa, is a mixture of leaves and wood ash traditionally chewed as a stimulant (or, after extended use, a depressant) by Australian Aboriginal, Aboriginal Australians widely across the continent. Leaves are gathered fro ...

grows and, aside from using it themselves, they employed it as a valuable trading resource.

Alternative names

*Tharlimanha (Breen 2007) *Wanggamala (

AIATSIS The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), established as the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (AIAS) in 1964, is an independent Australian Government statutory authority. It is a collecting, ...

and

Ethnologue ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensive catalogue of languages. It w ...

) *Wanggamanha *Wangkamadla *Wangkamahdla *Wangkamala *Wangkamana (

Horton Horton may refer to: Places Antarctica * Horton Glacier, Adelaide Island, Antarctica * Horton Ledge, Queen Elizabeth Land, Antarctica Australia * Horton, Queensland, a town and locality in the Bundaberg Region * Horton River (Australia), ...

, after Tindale; Blake & Breen 1971) *Wangkamanha *Wonggaman (AIAS) *Wonggawan *Wongkamala (Tindale) * Wonkamala (Tindale 1974) * Wonkamudla (Tindale 1974; O'Grady et al 1996; Mathews)

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * {{Authority control Aboriginal peoples of the Northern Territory