Mandjindja Explained

The Mandjindja, Mantjintjarra or Manytjilytjarra are an Aboriginal Australian people of Western Australia belonging to the Western Desert cultural bloc.

Country

The only information on the Mandjindja's country are estimates given by Norman Tindale. Tindale's estimates (particularly for the peoples of the Western desert) are not considered to be accurate.

Tindale estimated that the Mandjindja's territory extended over roughly 21000mi2, in the sandhill terrain south of the Warburton Range, from a place called Papakula ("Babbagoola Rockhole" on maps). Their western extension went as far as the Gillen and Throssell lakes. Their southern boundaries lay around Amy Rocks and the Saunders Range. Their eastern confines lay around a place named Lenga:na, identified as possibly east of the Sydney Yeo Chasm.

Language

See main article: Mandjindja language.

The language of the Mandjindja people is the Mandjindja language.

History

The Mandjindja people in Kalgoorlie are possibly the descendants of the Manyjilyjarra people who left the Great Sandy and Gibson deserts in 1906 due to an extended drought and then made their way to places such as Kalgoorlie from the 1920s.^[1]

Native title claim

The Mandjindja and Ngalia sought recognition of their inherent land rights through the native title claim process in the Federal Court of Australia.^{[2] [3]} A 1996 claim was dismissed.^[4]

In March 2009, the Mantjintjarra Ngalia claim came a step closer to recognition after passing the registration test of the Native Title Act.^[5] They claimed traditional ownership of the area from around Lake Wells in the east to Lake Darlot and Lake Miranda in the west to Cosmo Newberry through to Leonora and Lake Barlee up to Wiluna in the north. The application was discontinued in 2015.^[6]

Alternative names

• Mandjindjara
• Mandjindji
• Mangundjara
• Mandjindjiwongga
• Manjinjiwonga
• Mantjila
• Mangula
• Kalgonei
• Kalgoneidjara (Ngaatjatjarra language name for the Mandjindja and Wenamba)
• Nanggarangku (Pitjantjatjara exonym used of the Mandjindja and the Ngalia, bearing the sense of "hostile men")
• Mandshindshi

Notes

Citations

Sources

• Web site: AIATSIS map of Indigenous Australia . 14 May 2024 . . .
• Web site: Tindale Tribal Boundaries . . September 2016 . .
• Book: Tindale, Norman Barnett . Mandjindja (NT) . Norman Tindale . 1974 . Aboriginal Tribes of Australia: Their Terrain, Environmental Controls, Distribution, Limits, and Proper Names . . http://archives.samuseum.sa.gov.au/tindaletribes/mandjindja.htm . 20 March 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200320020206/http://archives.samuseum.sa.gov.au/tindaletribes/mandjindja.htm . 978-0-708-10741-6 .
• Book: Tonkinson, Robert . Local Organisation and Land Tenure in the Karlamilyi (Rudall River) Region . 1989 . The significance of the Karlamilyi Region to the Martujarra people of the Western Desert . Western Desert Working Group . . Perth . 99–259 . https://library.dbca.wa.gov.au/static/FullTextFiles/006910.003.pdf .

Notes and References

1. Milonas . Gizem . Hanson . Sue . A Comparison Between Manyjilyjarra and Manytjilytjarra . October 2022 . Academia.edu. 1 July 2024.
2. Bid for native title rights, Kalgooorlie Miner, (Kalgoorlie. WA, 6 June 2009), p. 5.
3. News: Mantjintjarra Ngalia People apply for recognition of native title. National Native Title Tribunal. https://web.archive.org/web/20090918012909/http://www.nntt.gov.au/News-and-Communications/Media-Releases/Pages/Mantjintjarra_Ngalia_submit_claim.aspx. dead. 3 June 2009a . 4 September 2009 . 18 September 2009.
4. Web site: Application Details . www.nntt.gov.au.
5. Web site: WA - Registration decision - WC06/6-2 Mantjintjarra Ngalia #2. National Native Title Tribunal. https://web.archive.org/web/20110927182700/http://www.nntt.gov.au/Applications-And-Determinations/Registration-Test/Pages/WA-Registration-test-decision-summary-WC06_6-2_Mantjintjarra_Ngalia_2.aspx. dead. 31 March 2009b . 4 September 2009 . 27 September 2011.
6. Web site: Application Details . www.nntt.gov.au.