Wik Epa Explained

The Wik Epa, also spelt Wikepa, are an Aboriginal Australian people, one of the Wik peoples of the Cape York Peninsula of northern Queensland.

Languages

See main article: Wikepa language. Wikepa was one of the Wik languages. According to Peter Sutton, Wikepa or Wikiita were used by an older generation of Cape Keerweer people to denote the dialect employed by two clans in the area of the middle Kirke River, and bore the strongest similarities to those spoken by the Wikmean clan.

Country

The Wikepa were a small group associated with the land, estimated at by 300mi2, around Cape Keerweer.

People

The Wikepa were close to extinction by the post-war period, with only a small number known to be dwelling at an Aurukun mission in 1958.

Alternative names

• Wik-Eppa
• Wik-Iita

References

Sources

• Web site: AIATSIS map of Indigenous Australia . 14 May 2024 . . .
• Social Organization of the Tribes of Cape York Peninsula, North Queensland . McConnel . Ursula H. . Ursula McConnel . . 10 . 1 . 54–72 . September 1939 . 10.1002/j.1834-4461.1939.tb00256.x . 40327744 .
• Social Organization of the Tribes of Cape York Peninsula, North Queensland (Continued) . McConnel . Ursula H. . Ursula McConnel . . 10 . 4 . 434–455 . June 1940 . 10.1002/j.1834-4461.1940.tb00305.x . 40327867 .
• PhD thesis. Wik: Aboriginal society, territory and language at Cape Keerweer, Cape York Peninsula, Australia . Sutton . Peter . Peter Sutton (anthropologist) . 1979 . .
• Book: Tindale, Norman Barnett . Wikepa (QLD) . Norman Tindale . 1974 . Aboriginal Tribes of Australia: Their Terrain, Environmental Controls, Distribution, Limits, and Proper Names . . http://archives.samuseum.sa.gov.au/tindaletribes/wikepa.htm . 978-0-708-10741-6 .