Erawirung Explained
The Erawirung (Yirawirung, Jirawirung) people, also known as Yirau, Juju and other names, were an Aboriginal Australian people whose traditional territory was located in what is today the Riverland of South Australia. They consisted of sub-groups or clans, including Jeraruk, Rankbirit and Wilu, and have been referred to as Meru people, which was a larger grouping which could also include the Ngawait and Ngaiawang peoples.[1] [2]
Language
See main article: Yuyu language. The Erawirung appear to have spoken a dialect of the Yuyu language common to their neighbours.[3] This language group is alternatively called the Meru language group, and is included under this name on the AIATSIS language map.[4]
Country
According to Norman Tindale, Erawirung traditional lands covered about 1300mi2, around the eastern bank of the Murray River, reaching from north of Paringa past Loxton into the sandy stretches some 15miles to its south. Their western boundary reached from Rufus Creek into the vicinity of the Overland Corner.
Social organisation and economy
The Erawirung were divided into hordes, of which the following are known:
- Jeraruk
- Rankbirit (totem = eaglehawk)
- Wilu
They practised circumcision alone, but not dental evulsion in initiation rites.
Chert mining in two of their localities, at Springcart Gully and at a site south of Renmark, formed an important element of the Erawirung economy, and the areas were strongly defended from neighbouring tribes.
History
Early ethnographers often classified the small Erawirung tribe as one of a collective group named the Meru people. The Erawirung were not mentioned by the nearby Jarildekald when interviewed by Ronald Murray Berndt in the late 1930s – early 1940s.
Alternative names
- Eramwirrangu
- Erawiruck
- Jeraruk
- Yerraruck
- Yirau
- Pomp-malkie
- Meru (meru meaning 'man')
- Juju (Maraura exonym, ju being their word for 'no')
- Yuyu, You-you
- Rankbirit
- Wilu, Willoo
Notes
Citations
Sources
- Book: A World that was: The Yaraldi of the Murray River and the Lakes, South Australia . Berndt . Ronald Murray . Berndt . Catherine Helen . Stanton . John E. . Ronald Murray Berndt . Catherine Helen Berndt . 1993 . . 978-0-774-80478-3 .
- Book: Kamilaroi and Kurnai . Fison . Lorimer . Howitt . Alfred William . Lorimer Fison . Alfred William Howitt . 1880 . . Melbourne .
- Notes on some human remains in the Lower Murray Valley, South Australia . Hale . Herbert M. . Tindale . Norman . Norman Tindale . . Adelaide . 1930 . 4 . 2 . 145–218 .
- Book: Overland Corner Tribe, River Murray . Shaw . Taplin . George . George Taplin . 1879 . Folklore, manners, customs and languages of the South Australian aborigines . E Spiller, Acting Government Printer . Adelaide . 28–29 . https://archive.org/download/folkloremannersc00taplrich/folkloremannersc00taplrich.pdf .
- Book: Tindale, Norman Barnett
. Erawirung (NSW) . Norman Tindale . 1974 . Aboriginal Tribes of Australia: Their Terrain, Environmental Controls, Distribution, Limits, and Proper Names . . http://archives.samuseum.sa.gov.au/tindaletribes/erawirung.htm . 978-0-708-10741-6 .
Notes and References
- Book: Clarke, Philip. Natural History of the Riverland and Murraylands. John T.. Jennings. Royal Society of South Australia Inc.. 2009 . 978-0-9596627-9-5 . Chapter 6. Aboriginal culture and the Riverine environment. Occasional Publications of the Royal Society of South Australia Inc. No. 9. 142–161. ResearchGate. 27 August 2020. Includes Tindale's Tribal Map of the South Australian section of the Murray Basin. Museum Archives, South Australian Museum. © Tony Tindale and Beryl George, 1974. .
- Web site: Aboriginal communities . People of the Murray River . 27 August 2020.
- Web site: Austlang: S19 Yuyu . AIATSIS Collection . 14 July 2020.
- Web site: Map of Indigenous Australia . AIATSIS . 14 July 2020.
