Bilinarra: Difference between revisions
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[[Norman Tindale]] estimated Bilingara tribal land to cover some {{convert|7,500|mi2|km2}} covering the areas of the Moray Range, [[Delamere Station (pastoral lease)|Delamere]], and, in its southern extension, down to the [[Victoria River Downs Station|Victoria River Downs]] and [[Walangeri Ngumpinku|Pigeon Hole]] stations and the junction where the [[Victoria River (Northern Territory)|Victoria]] and Armstrong rivers join. Its eastern boundaries lay beyond [[Killarney Station|Killarney]].{{sfn|Tindale|1974|p=22}} Numbsers lived around the [[Billiluna Station]] in the 1920s.{{sfn|Terry|1926|p=129}} Bilingara territory was predominantly characterized by blacksoil plains, limestone gorges and sandstone outcrops.{{sfn|Meakins|Nordlinger|2014|p=12}} Their neighbours are the [[Mudburra]] to the east, the Gurindji people to the southwest, and the Ngarinman to the northwest. Most Bilingara now live at [[Walangeri Ngumpinku|Pigeon Hole]]{{sfn|Meakins|Nordlinger|2014|p=1}} |
[[Norman Tindale]] estimated Bilingara tribal land to cover some {{convert|7,500|mi2|km2}} covering the areas of the Moray Range, [[Delamere Station (pastoral lease)|Delamere]], and, in its southern extension, down to the [[Victoria River Downs Station|Victoria River Downs]] and [[Walangeri Ngumpinku|Pigeon Hole]] stations and the junction where the [[Victoria River (Northern Territory)|Victoria]] and Armstrong rivers join. Its eastern boundaries lay beyond [[Killarney Station|Killarney]].{{sfn|Tindale|1974|p=22}} Numbsers lived around the [[Billiluna Station]] in the 1920s.{{sfn|Terry|1926|p=129}} Bilingara territory was predominantly characterized by blacksoil plains, limestone gorges and sandstone outcrops.{{sfn|Meakins|Nordlinger|2014|p=12}} Their neighbours are the [[Mudburra]] to the east, the Gurindji people to the southwest, and the Ngarinman to the northwest. Most Bilingara now live at [[Walangeri Ngumpinku|Pigeon Hole]]{{sfn|Meakins|Nordlinger|2014|p=1}} |
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==Cultural practices== |
==Cultural practices== |
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In order to manufacture a gum for use in fixing tufts of flax to the bodies of dancers in their |
In order to manufacture a gum for use in fixing tufts of flax to the bodies of dancers in their [[corroboree]]s, the Bilingara used to call on one of the clan who would not be participating in the dance itself. Once handed a piece of string woven from human hair, the person who was to supply his blood used it as a ligature of his biceps, and then cut into an artery with a stone, jabbing away until an ample flow was secured, which was caught in a bark basin at his feet. What was not used for making gum was given to dingos to lap up.{{sfn|Terry|1926|p=129}} |
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Their native [[pharmacopeia]] drew on things like [[Cymbopogon|lemon grass (''gubuwubu'')]] and [[Dodonaea|Dodonaea polyzyga (''yirrigaji'')]] for preparing a medicinal drink or lotion, mixed with a slurry of [[Mound-building termites|termite mound earth (''mardumardu'')]] to treat congestion, for example.{{sfn|Meakins|Nordlinger|2014|p=12}} |
Their native [[pharmacopeia]] drew on things like [[Cymbopogon|lemon grass (''gubuwubu'')]] and [[Dodonaea|Dodonaea polyzyga (''yirrigaji'')]] for preparing a medicinal drink or lotion, mixed with a slurry of [[Mound-building termites|termite mound earth (''mardumardu'')]] to treat congestion, for example.{{sfn|Meakins|Nordlinger|2014|p=12}} |
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Revision as of 10:33, 13 May 2018
The Bilingara, also known as the Bilinarra, are an indigenous Australian people of the Northern Territory.
Language
The language of the Bilingara is classified as an eastern variety of one of the Pama-Nyungan Ngumbin languages.[1] It is mutually intelligible with Gurindji and the dialect spoken by the neighbouring Ngarinman people. Elements of their tongue were first recorded by a police constable W. H. Willshire in 1896.[2] By 2013, only one person was alive who spoke it as their primary language though it inflects the variety of Kriol spoken by Bilingara children.[1]
Country
Norman Tindale estimated Bilingara tribal land to cover some 7,500 square miles (19,000 km2) covering the areas of the Moray Range, Delamere, and, in its southern extension, down to the Victoria River Downs and Pigeon Hole stations and the junction where the Victoria and Armstrong rivers join. Its eastern boundaries lay beyond Killarney.[3] Numbsers lived around the Billiluna Station in the 1920s.[4] Bilingara territory was predominantly characterized by blacksoil plains, limestone gorges and sandstone outcrops.[5] Their neighbours are the Mudburra to the east, the Gurindji people to the southwest, and the Ngarinman to the northwest. Most Bilingara now live at Pigeon Hole[1]
Cultural practices
In order to manufacture a gum for use in fixing tufts of flax to the bodies of dancers in their corroborees, the Bilingara used to call on one of the clan who would not be participating in the dance itself. Once handed a piece of string woven from human hair, the person who was to supply his blood used it as a ligature of his biceps, and then cut into an artery with a stone, jabbing away until an ample flow was secured, which was caught in a bark basin at his feet. What was not used for making gum was given to dingos to lap up.[4]
Their native pharmacopeia drew on things like lemon grass (gubuwubu) and Dodonaea polyzyga (yirrigaji) for preparing a medicinal drink or lotion, mixed with a slurry of termite mound earth (mardumardu) to treat congestion, for example.[5]
History of contact
The Bilingara suffered from massacres during the period of their dispossession as their land was taken over for pastoral development, and even thereafter, on the stations where they sought employment, were treated harshly. Their numbers rapidly declined.[5]
Some time around 1922 a Bilingara youth nicknamed ‘Banjo’ killed the Billiluna station manager Condon and his white stockman, Sullivan, after the latter had abducted his woman for sexual purposes. Banjo remonstrated with the usurper, but to no effect, other than being dressed down. When the time came for the annual calf-branding, Banjo snuck into the station and, seizing a rifle on a table, shot Sullivan in the thigh, and he died of the wound soon after. He then aimed at Condon, who asked him not to shoot, and killed him. The other blacks thought of spearing him, but he had the upper hand with a rifle, and ordered some of them to report the murder to the manager of another station, while he slipped off to the Kimberleys with his girl. Jack Flinders eventually tracked him down near Mary River and Louisa Downs, and shot him dead.[6]
Alternative names
- Bilinara
- Bilinurra
- Bilyanarra
- Bilyanurra
- Plinara
- Pillenurra
- Billianera
- Bulinara
- Bringara
- Boonarra[3]
Some words
- jiya (kangaroo)
- jamud. (bush turkey)
- girrawa. (goanna)
- yinarrwa. (barramundi)[5]
Notes
Citations
- ^ a b c Meakins & Nordlinger 2014, p. 1.
- ^ Willshire 1896, pp. 95–97.
- ^ a b Tindale 1974, p. 22.
- ^ a b Terry 1926, p. 129.
- ^ a b c d Meakins & Nordlinger 2014, p. 12.
- ^ Gaunt 1932, p. 4.
Sources
- Eylmann, Erhart (1908). Die Eingeborenen der Kolonie Südaustralien (PDF) (in German). Berlin: D. Reimer.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Gaunt, C. E. (5 May 1932). "The Tragedy of Billiluna". Darwin: The Northern Standard .
{{cite news}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Meakins, Felicity; Nordlinger, Rachel (2014). A Grammar of Bilinarra: An Australian Aboriginal Language of the Northern Territory. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-1-614-51274-5.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Terry, Michael (November 1926). "A Surgical Operation as Performed by the Boonarra Tribe of Northern Australia, and a Short Vocabulary of the Languages of Some North Australian Tribes". Man: 193–194. JSTOR 2787434.
{{cite journal}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Tindale, Norman Barnett (1974). "Bilingara (NT)". Aboriginal Tribes of Australia: Their Terrain, Environmental Controls, Distribution, Limits, and Proper Names. Australian National University Press. ISBN 978-0-708-10741-6.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Willshire, W. H. (1896). Land of the dawning. Adelaide: W. J. Thomas & Co.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help)