Maduwongga

The Maduwongga are a purported Aboriginal Australian people of the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia.

Martu Wangka has been used as an alternative name but this is now understood to have been incorrect.

Language[edit]

As there is little information on Maduwongga, classification has been difficult. When purporting its existence, it is generally classified as a dialect of the Western Desert language.[1]

According to Tindale, the language spoken by the Maduwongga was called 'Kabal'.[2] It has also erroneously been conflated with the Western Desert dialect of Martu Wangka.[1]

Country[edit]

In Norman Tindale's estimation, the Maduwongga tribal territory extended over some 9,000 square miles (23,000 km2), ranging westwards from Pinjin on Lake Rebecca as far as Mulline, including the area a few miles south of Menzies, where their borders with the Ngurlu ran,[3] over to Kalgoorlie, Coolgardie, Kanowna, Kurnalpi, and Siberia.[2] Ecologically they lived in country marked by mallee Eucalypt species.[4]

However, Tindale's description of this group and country has not stood close examination. In a native title case involving people identifying as Maduwongga, it was found that Tindale's mapping "was probably wrong"[5] and "unreliable".[6] After hearing detailed expert evidence and examining the relevant data, the judge stated: "Inexplicably, Tindale's map of Maduwongga territory does not correspond with his own data collected in 1939 when he spoke to [relevant informants] .... Further, the information given to Tindale [by other informants in 1939 and 1966] ... all but disposes of the notion of Maduwongga country ...".[7] In addition, the judge cites part of the expert evidence, which states: "the 'Maduwongga tribe' is essentially a Tindale creation - a case of what my colleague, Dr Paul Burke, in a very similar context, has called 'cartographic ethnogenesis'.[8] In short, 'Maduwongga' seems to have been a mistake, and the area in question appears likely to have been originally distributed amongst Wangkayi ('Wongi') people (not 'Martu' people) and those who spoke the language which [was] ... recorded as 'Kabul' (... [who Tindale called] 'the Kalamaia') ...".[9]

History[edit]

According to oral traditions picked up by ethnographers, the Maduwongga may have moved in from an original homeland further east, and displaced the Kalamaia, westwards beyond Bullabulling.[2]

Alternative names[edit]

Notes[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ a b A6 Maduwongga at the Australian Indigenous Languages Database, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  2. ^ a b c Tindale 1974, p. 246.
  3. ^ Tindale 1974, p. 143.
  4. ^ Tindale 1974, p. 252.
  5. ^ FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA. Strickland on behalf of the Maduwongga Claim Group v State of Western Australia [2023] FCA 270 [903]
  6. ^ FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA. Strickland on behalf of the Maduwongga Claim Group v State of Western Australia [2023] FCA 270 [892]
  7. ^ FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA. Strickland on behalf of the Maduwongga Claim Group v State of Western Australia [2023] FCA 270 [904]
  8. ^ Burke, Paul. 2015. 'Cartographic Ethnogenesis: Tindale's Invention of the Jadira Tribe in the Pilbara Region of Western Australia.' Journal of the Anthropological Society of South Australia Volume 39: 102-126.
  9. ^ FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA Strickland on behalf of the Maduwongga Claim Group v State of Western Australia [2023] FCA 270 [885].

Sources[edit]

  • "AIATSIS map of Indigenous Australia". AIATSIS. 14 May 2024.
  • "Tindale Tribal Boundaries" (PDF). Department of Aboriginal Affairs, Western Australia. September 2016.
  • Tindale, Norman Barnett (1974). "Maduwongga (WA)". Aboriginal Tribes of Australia: Their Terrain, Environmental Controls, Distribution, Limits, and Proper Names. Australian National University Press. ISBN 978-0-708-10741-6.
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