Dhay'yi people explained

See also: Daii language. The Daii or Dhay'yi are an indigenous Australian people of the Northern Territory.

Name

The tribal ethnonym Daii is formed from the demonstrative pronoun for 'this'.

Country

In Norman Tindale's estimation the Daii occupied 800mi2 of land, extending northwards from the shores of Blue Mud Bay as far as the Koolatong River. Their inland extension ran at least to Ngilipidji.

Social organization

The Daii consisted of two clans, which formed the basis for marriage exchanges:-

• Dalwangu
• Djawark

The Dalwangu moiety was jiritja, the Djawark a dua moiety.

Trade

The Daii's lands accessed the rich quartzite quarry at Ngilipidji, which provided stone for prized implements that could be traded. The local industry was, according to archaeologists, probably spurred by the rise of precolonial contacts with Asia'sSouth Sulawesi Makassar voyagers.

Alternative names

• Taii
• Tai
• Dalwango
• Dalwongo
• Dalwongu
• Darlwongo
• Dhalwangu
• Djawark
• Djarlwa:g

Notes

Citations

Sources

• Book: Hiscock, Peter . Archaeology of Ancient Australia . 2007 . . 978-1-134-30440-0 .
• Natives of Groote Eylandt and the west coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria, Parts I-II . Tindale . Norman Barnett . Norman Tindale . . 1925–1926 . 3 . 61–102, 103–134 .
• Book: Tindale, Norman Barnett . Daii (NT) . Norman Tindale . 1974 . Aboriginal Tribes of Australia: Their Terrain, Environmental Controls, Distribution, Limits, and Proper Names . . http://archives.samuseum.sa.gov.au/tindaletribes/daii.htm . 20 March 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200320020206/http://archives.samuseum.sa.gov.au/tindaletribes/daii.htm . 978-0-708-10741-6 .
• Morphology and Functions of the Australian Murngin Type of Kinship (Part II) . Warner . W. Lloyd . W. Lloyd Warner . . April–June 1931 . 33 . 2 . 172–198 . New Series . 660835 . 10.1525/aa.1931.33.2.02a00030. free .