The Jaako (Yaako) 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 ...

Name

The Jaako were one of the four tribes in

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 ...

that employed their word for 'no' as the basis for their

endonym 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 ...

Language

The language spoken on

Croker Island Croker Island is an island in the Arafura Sea off the coast of the Northern Territory, Australia, northeast of Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin. It was the site of the Croker Island Mission between 1940 and 1968. Indigenous peoples At the ...

, Jaako territory, was called Marrku.

Country

The extent of Jaako territory is estimated to have been around , including

, which they called either ''Mangulalgut'' or ''Margo''. They also held land on the area on the

Cobourg Peninsula The Cobourg Peninsula is a peninsula located east of Darwin in the Northern Territory, Australia. It is deeply indented with coves and bays, covers a land area of about , and is virtually uninhabited with a population ranging from about 20 ...

on the mainland opposite, and were also present at

Raffles Bay Raffles Bay is a bay on the northern coast of the Cobourg Peninsula of the Top End of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is on the lands of the Iwaidja people. It was named in 1818 by explorer Phillip Parker King after Sir Thomas Sta ...

People

The early explorer G. Windsor Earl stated that the Jaako appeared to be formed from the "amalgamation" of two distinct tribes. Earl claimed on the one hand that they were a disagreeable people, who blindly followed their chieftains, and engaged in theft, but on the other hand that they treated with generous hospitality Earl's party when they visited the Jaako on Croker Island. Earl states that:

The people of this tribe are generally small in stature, ill-formed and their countenances are forbidding and disagreeable. The hair is generally coarse and bushy. The beards and whiskers of the men are thick and curly, while the entire body is often covered with short crisp hair, which about the breast and shoulders is sometimes so thick as to conceal the skin. The eyes are small, and what should be the white has a dull muddly appearance.

Their leader at the time was, again according to Earl, a certain ''Mimaloo,'' whom together with another warrior, ''Loka,'' later killed by the Makassans in revenge for the death of one of their own, was regarded as highly aggressive.

Alternative names

* ''Ajokoot'' * ''Margu'' (name for their language) * ''Marlgu'' * ''Marrgu, Ma:go, Margo'' (toponym for Croker Island) * ''Terutong'' * ''Yaako'' (''ja:ko'' means 'no') Source:

Notes

Citations

Sources

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