The Wiradjuri (many other spellings; see below) are an Indigenous Australian group of central New South Wales. Indigenous Australians are descendants of the first known human inhabitants of the Australian continent and its nearby islands.

In the 21st century, major Wiradjuri groups live in Condobolin, Peak Hill, Narrandera and Griffith. Condobolin is a town of 3500 in the west of the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia, on the Lachlan River. Peak Hill is a small town in Parkes Shire in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia. Narrandera is a town and Local Government Area (see Narrandera Shire Council) in southern New South Wales, Australia. Griffith is a city in south-western New South Wales, Australia. There are significant populations at Wagga Wagga and Leeton, New South Wales and smaller groups at West Wyalong, Parkes, Forbes, Cootamundra and Young. Wagga Wagga Leeton is a town and Local Government Area in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. West Wyalong is a town in Australia, the main town for the Bland Shire, located in the Central West region of New South Wales. Parkes is a town in New South Wales, Australia. It has a population of approximately 11700 ( As of 2006) The following few lines create the "Infobox" table template Cootamundra is a town and Local Government Area in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia and within the Riverina Young is

Name

The Wiradjuri name for themselves is Wirraaydhuurray (northern dialect; pronounced [wiraːjd̪uːraj]) or Wirraayjuurray (southern dialect; [wiraːjɟuːraj]). This is derived from wirraay, meaning "no" or "not", with the suffix -dhuurray or -juuray meaning "having". That the Wiradjuri said wirraay, as opposed to some other word for "no", was seen as a distinctive feature of their speech, and several other tribes in New South Wales, to the west of the Great Dividing Range, are similarly named after their own words for "no". The Great Dividing Range, also known as the Eastern Highlands, is Australia 's most substantial Mountain range. ^[1]

The name has been attempted to be reproduced in writing in over 60 different ways, including Waradgeri, Warandgeri, Waradajhi, Werogery, Wiiratheri, Wira-Athoree, Wiradjuri, Wiradhuri, Wiradhurri, Wiraduri, Wiradyuri, Wiraiarai, Wiraidyuri, Wirajeree, Wirashuri, Wiratheri, Wirracharee, Wirrai'yarrai, Wirrathuri, Wooragurie.

Territory

The Wiradjuri were the largest Aboriginal group in New South Wales. They occupied a large area in central New South Wales, from the Blue Mountains in the east, to Hay in the west, north to Nyngan and south to Albury: the South Western slopes region. Hay is a generic term for grass or Legumes that have been cut dried and stored for use as animal feed, particularly for grazing animals like Nyngan is a town in north-western New South Wales, Australia, in the Bogan Shire Local Government Area. Albury is a city in New South Wales, Australia, located on the Hume Highway on the northern side of the Murray River. The South West Slopes is a region predominantly in New South Wales, Australia. ^[2]

The Wiradjuri tribal area has been described as "the land of the three rivers, the Wambool later known as the Macquarie, the Kalare later known as the Lachlan and the Murrumbidgee (Murrumbidjeri). See also Macquarie River Tasmania. The Macquarie River is one of the main inland rivers in New South Wales. The Lachlan River is a significant River in central New South Wales, Australia. The Murrumbidgee River is a major river in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT The Murray River formed the Wiradjuri's southern boundary, the change from woodland to open grassland formed their eastern boundary. The Murray River, or River Murray and sometimes informally referred to as the "Mighty Murray" is Australia 's largest River. "^[3]

Occupation of the land by the Wiradjuri can be seen by carved trees and campsite remainders. Scarred trees are trees which have had Bark removed by Indigenous Australians for the creation of canoes shelters shields and containers such as coolamons Carved trees are more commonly found around the Macquarie and Lachlan rivers in the north rather than the Murrumbidgee in the south. Campsites, which indicate regular seasonal occupation by small groups, have been found on river flats, open land and by rivers.

Norman Tindale quotes Alfred Howitt as mentioning several of these local groups of the tribe, for example, the Narrandera (prickly lizard), Cootamundra (Kuta-mundra) from kutamun turtle, Murranbulla or Murring-bulle (maring-bula, two bark canoes). Norman Barnett Tindale ( 12 October 1900 &ndash 19 November 1993) was an Australian Anthropologist, Archaeologist Alfred William Howitt (17 April 1830 &ndash 7 March 1908 was an Australian Anthropologist and naturalist. There were differences in dialect in some areas, including around Bathurst and near Albury. The Wiradjuri are identified as a coherent group as they maintained a cycle of ceremonies that moved in a ring around the whole tribal area. This cycle led to tribal coherence despite the large occupied area.

Lifestyle

The Wiradjuri diet included crayfish and fish such as Murray cod from the rivers. This article is about the Australian freshwater fish For other uses see Cod (disambiguation and Murray (disambiguation The Murray cod In dry seasons, they ate kangaroos, emus and food gathered from the land, including fruit, nuts, yam daisies (Microseris lanceolata), wattle seeds, and orchid tubers. Microseris lanceolata (syn M scapigera) is a perennial herb also known as murnong and yam daisy. The Wiradjuri travelled into Alpine areas in the summer to feast on Bogong moths. The Australian Alps are the highest Mountain ranges of mainland Australia. The Bogong moth ( Agrotis infusa) is a temperate Species of night-flying Moth notable for appearing in large numbers around major public buildings

Wiradjuri Language

Main article: Wiradjuri language

The Wiradjuri language had effectively died out of everyday spoken use, but has recently been reconstructed from early European anthropologist's records by Stan Grant, a member of the Wiradjuri Elder's Council, and John Rudder Ph. Wiradjuri (many other spellings see Wiradjuri) is a Pama-Nyungan language of the Wiradhuric subgroup Anthropology (/ˌænθɹəˈpɒlədʒi/ from Greek grc ἄνθρωπος anthrōpos, "human" -λογία -logia) is the study of Stan Grant Sr is an Elder of the Wiradjuri tribe of Indigenous Australians from what is now the south-west inland region of the state of New John Rudder, PhD, has studied the Australian Aboriginal languages, of Arnhem Land ( Gupapuyngu) in the Northern Territory and the D. , who has previously studied Australian Aboriginal languages in Arnhem Land. The Arnhem Land Region is one of the five regions of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is a member of the small Wiradhuric branch of the Pama-Nyungan family. The Wiradhuric languages or Central inland New South Wales subgroup form one of the subgroups of the Pama-Nyungan family of Australian Aboriginal languages The Pama-Nyungan languages are the most widespread family of Indigenous Australian languages.

The name of the town of Wagga Wagga comes from the Wiradjuri word Wagga meaning crow, and to create the plural, the Wiradjuri repeat the word. Wagga Wagga Thus the name translates as 'the place of many crows'.

European settlement

Clashes between European settlers and Aborigines were very violent from 1821 to 1827, particularly around Bathurst, and have been termed the 'Bathurst Wars'. The loss of fishing grounds and significant sites and the killing of Aboriginal People was retaliated through attacks with spears on cattle and stockmen. In the 1850s there were still corroborees around Mudgee but there were fewer clashes. For the frog of the same name see Corroboree frog. For the Split Enz album see Waiata. Mudgee is a town in central New South Wales, Australia. It is located in the broad fertile Cudgegong River valley 261 kilometres north west of Sydney European settlement had taken hold and the Aboriginal population was in decline.

Notable Wiradjuri people

Wiradjuri elders Isabell Coe and Neville "Uncle Chappy" Williams are leading land activists and proponents in the Lake Cowal Campaign. Neville "Chappy" Williams is an elder of the Wiradjuri Nation in Western New South Wales. Lake Cowal is the largest inland Lake in New South Wales, Australia.

Windradyne was an important Aboriginal leader during the Bathurst Wars. Windradyne (c1800-1829 was an Aboriginal warrior of the Wiradjuri nation central-western New South Wales, Australia.

Mum (Shirl) Smith was a community activist in the twentieth century. Shirley Smith (1924 - 28 April 1998 better known as Mum Shirl, was a prominent Aboriginal Australian and activist committed to justice and welfare of aboriginal

Linda Burney is a member of the NSW Legislative Assembly. Linda Jean Burney (born 1957 is an Australian politician elected as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.

Paul Coe is a lawyer and activist. Paul Coe (b), a Wiradjuri man is an Australian Aboriginal lawyer and activist

Kevin Gilbert was a twentieth century author. Kevin Gilbert ( 10 July 1933 - 1 April 1993) was a 20th century Indigenous Australian activist writer and artist

Evonne Goolagong was one of Australia's most famous tennis players. Evonne Fay Goolagong Cawley, AO, MBE (born 31 July 1951 in Griffith, New South Wales, Australia is a former World No

Stan Grant is a notable Australian journalist. Stan Grant Jr (born 30 September 1963) is an Australian Journalist of part Aboriginal ancestry

The Wiradjuri elder, Stan Grant, has been working on the reconstruction of the language. Stan Grant Sr is an Elder of the Wiradjuri tribe of Indigenous Australians from what is now the south-west inland region of the state of New The elder Geoff Anderson is teaching the language to children and adults at Parkes. Geoff Anderson is an Elder of the Wiradjuri tribe of Indigenous Australians from what is now the south-west inland region of the state of New

Harry Wedge and Brook Andrew are notable artists. Harry J Wedge (born 1958 in Erambie Mission Cowra, New South Wales) is a Wiradjuri artist Brook Andrew is an Australian Visual artist of Wiradjuri and Scottish descent who works with neon installation photo-media mixed-media performance

Tara June Winch is an author. Tara June Winch (born 2 December 1983) is an Indigenous Australian writer

Jimmy Clements elder, present at the opening of Provisional Parliament House in 1927. Jimmy Clements (c 1847- 28 August 1927) was an aboriginal elder from the Wiradjuri tribe in Australia, and was present at the Opening of the Old Parliament House, formerly known as the Provisional Parliament House, was the seat of the Parliament of Australia from 1927 to 1988

Wiradjuri culture in fiction

The short story "Death in the Dawntime", originally published in The Mammoth Book of Historical Detectives (Mike Ashley, editor; 1995), is a murder mystery that takes place entirely among the Wiradjuri people before the arrival of Europeans in Australia. Crime fiction is the Genre of Fiction that deals with Crimes their detection criminals and their motives It is usually distinguished from The story prominently features various concepts in Wiradjuri folklore and tradition, such as the ngurupal: this is an area within the tribal territory which is a public assembly space for adult male Wiradjuri who have been formally initiated into manhood, yet which is forbidden ground for females or uninitiated males. Some of the dialogue in this story is in the Wiradjuri language. "Death in the Dawntime" was written by F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre, a British author who spent his formative years in the Australian outback, where he encountered representatives of many Aboriginal cultures. Fergus (also Feargus) Gwynplaine MacIntyre is a Scottish-born journalist novelist, poet and illustrator who now resides in Wales and New York

In Bryce Courtenay's novel "Jessica", the plot is centred in Wiradjuri. Jessica's best friend was from Wiradjuri.

References

External links

• from the N. B. Tindale's Aboriginal Tribes of Australia (1974)
• AusAnthrop Australian Aboriginal tribal database:Wiradjuri with bibliographic links
• New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service regional history of the South western slopes