The Yilba, also written Ilba and Jilba, are or were 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 present-day 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

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 estimation, the Yilba were assigned a tribal domain extending over approximately , from the area of

Cape River The Cape River is a river of New Zealand. A tributary of the Opouawe River, it is located in the Wairarapa in the southern North Island. See also *List of rivers of New Zealand References

Rivers of the Wellington Region Rivers of New Z ...

westwards as far as the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills. It runs roughl ...

. Their northern boundaries lay roughly about

Pentland Hills The Pentland Hills are a range of hills southwest of Edinburgh, Scotland. The range is around in length, and runs southwest from Edinburgh towards Biggar and the upper Clydesdale. Etymology The hills take their name from the hamlet of Pe ...

and Seventy Mile Range. Their eastern extension was around the

Suttor River The Suttor River is a river in Central Queensland, Australia. The Belyando River is its main tributary. The river has its origins in the Leichhardt Range, north west of Glenden. It flows into Lake Dalrymple, becoming a tributary of the Burdek ...

, while their southern limits were at Lake Buchanan. The Yilba were indigenous to places like on

Campaspe River The Campaspe River, an inland intermittent river of the northcentral catchment, part of the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the lower Riverina bioregion and Central Highlands and Wimmera regions of the Australian state of Victoria. The ...

; and the Natal Downs.

Language

The

Yilba language Biri, also known as Biria, Birri Gubba, Birigaba, Wiri, Perembba and other variants, is an Australian Aboriginal language of the Mackay, Queensland, Mackay area of Queensland spoken by the Birri Gubba people. There are at least eight language ...

(and variant names as per the people) is

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 ...

, with no speakers recorded since before 1975. It is regarded as a

dialect A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...

of Biri.

Social organisation

The Yilba were composed of

kin groups In anthropology, kinship is the web of social relationships that form an important part of the lives of all humans in all societies, although its exact meanings even within this discipline are often debated. Anthropologist Robin Fox says that ...

of which six at least are known: * ''Yukkaburra'' * ''Wokkulburra'' (eel people) * ''Pegulloburra'' * ''Mungooburra'' * ''Mungullaburra'' ( spinifex people) * ''Goondoolooburra'' (

emu The emu (; ''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is a species of flightless bird endemism, endemic to Australia, where it is the Tallest extant birds, tallest native bird. It is the only extant taxon, extant member of the genus ''Dromaius'' and the ...

people) While stating that there are six "hordes", Tindale gave the names of only three, two of which differ from the list in one of his primary sources on the six, namely: * ''Moothaburra'' * ''Mungera'' He also adds a possible fourth group: * ''Muqkibara''

Alternative names

* ''Yukkaburra, Yuckaburra'' * ''Munkeeburra'' * ''Moothaburra'' (horde name) * ''Mungera, Mungerra'' (horde name) * ''Eneby'' (language name) * ''Pagulloburra'', ''Pegulloburra'' (horde name)

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * {{authority control Aboriginal peoples of Queensland