Dadi Dadi Explained

The Dadi Dadi or Tatitati are an Australian Aboriginal people whose traditional lands are located along the southern banks of the Murray River in Victoria Australia.

Language

The Dadi Dadi language is a nearly extinct member of the Lower Murray languages, which form a branch of the Pama-Nyungan language family. During the 1960s and 1970s samples of the language were recorded by Luise Hercus. The language is related to Yita Yita. Most of the tribal names of this group (Nari-Nari, Barababaraba, Latjilatji, Warkawarka, Watiwati, Wemba-Wemba) are formed by a reduplication of the word for 'no' in their respective languages, the word 'tati' bearing that sense.

Country

The Dadi Dadi lands, according to Norman Tindale, extended over 900mi2, covering the area from Euston to 15miles above the Murrumbidgee junction. Though mainly concentrated on the southern bank of the Murray River, they also ranged as far north as Benanee. As part of the Murray–Darling basin, the area's history of human habitation goes back some 27,000-36,000 years.

Social organization

The Dadi Dadi, much like the Latjilatji, were divided into two moieties, the Kailpara and Makwara, with descent from the mother's side.

History of contact

Smallpox and other introduced diseases had already ravaged the Murray Valley aboriginal population before the actual establishment of colonial 'runs' or pastoral properties in the region. Charles Sturt in 1830 described a particularly dire state of ill-health, ascribing it to leprosy. During colonial times bodies were removed from five aboriginal burial sites by George Murray Black, along the New South Wales side of the Murray River and are now part of the Murray Black Collection. The repatriation of these bodies is now being sought by tribal groups.

Alternative names

• Darty-Darty
• Nimp-mam-wern (lit. 'light lip')
• Tataty, Tatatha, Tat(h)i, Ta-ta-thi, Tar-tarthee, Ta-tathi, Taa-tatty
• Tunggut

Source:

Some words

• bet (father)
• malol (wife)
• met (father's father)
• mim (father's mother)
• paka (mother's mother)
• tamburay (frilled lizard)
• ŋak (mother)
• ŋatai (mother's father)

Source:

Notes

Citations

Sources

• Web site: AIATSIS map of Indigenous Australia . . .
• Radiocarbon Dates from Midden Sites in the Lower Darling River Area of Western New South Wales . Balme . J. . Hope . J. . . 1990 . 25 . 3 . 85–101 . 10.1002/j.1834-4453.1990.tb00239.x . 40386883 .
• Of the aborigines inhabiting the great lacustrine and Riverine depression of the Lower Murray . Beveridge . Peter . Peter Beveridge . . Melbourne . 1883 . 17 . 19–74 .
• Notes on the social organization of Australian tribes . Brown . A. R. . Alfred Radcliffe-Brown . . July–December 1918 . 48 . 222–253 . 10.2307/2843422 . 2843422 .
• Notes on Some Tribes of New South Wales . Cameron . A. L. P. . The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland . 1885 . . 14 . 344–370 . 10.2307/2841627 . 2841627 .
• Web site: Endangered local languages come to life through linguist's work with community . . 5 May 2015 . .
• Three Linguistic Studies from Far South-Western NSW . Hercus . Luise . Luise Hercus . . 1989 . 13 . 1 . 45–62 .
• Book: Prince, Jordi Rivera . Can the Repatriation of the Murray Black Collection be Considered an Apology? Colonial Institutional Culpability in the Indigenous Australian Fight for Decolonization . 2015 . In Situ . 1 . 9–13 .
• The Social Organization of Australian Tribes. Part II . Radcliffe-Brown . A. R. . Alfred Radcliffe-Brown . . July 1930 . 1 . 2 . 206–246 . 10.1002/j.1834-4461.1930.tb01645.x . 40327321 .
• Book: Ryan, Edward . Water for country, words for water: Indigenous placenames of north-west Victoria and south-west New South Wales . 2014 . Indigenous and Minority Placenames: Australian and International Perspectives . Clark . Ian D. . Ian D. Clark (historian) . Hercus . Luise . Luise Hercus . Kostanski . Laura . . http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p286811/pdf/ch16.pdf . 293–304 . 978-1-925-02162-2 .
• Book: Sturt, Charles . Two Expeditions Into the Interior of Southern Australia, During the Years 1828, 1829, 1830, and 1831: With Observations on the Soil, Climate, and General Resources of the Colony of New South Wales . 2011 . Charles Sturt . . 2 . 978-1-108-03886-7 .
• Book: Tindale, Norman Barnett . Tatitati (VIC) . 1974 . Norman Tindale . Aboriginal Tribes of Australia: Their Terrain, Environmental Controls, Distribution, Limits, and Proper Names . . http://archives.samuseum.sa.gov.au/tindaletribes/tatitati.htm . 978-0-708-10741-6 .
• Book: Webb, Stephen . Palaeopathology of Aboriginal Australians: Health and Disease Across a Hunter-Gatherer Continent . 2009 . . 978-0-521-11049-5 .