The
Wiradjuri (many other spellings; see below) are an Indigenous Australian group of central
New South WalesNew South Wales is Australia's most populous state, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria, south of Queensland and east of South Australia...
.
In the 21st century, major Wiradjuri groups live in
CondobolinCondobolin is a town in the west of the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia, on the Lachlan River. At the 2006 census, Condobolin had a population of 2,847.- Location :...
,
Peak HillPeak Hill is a town in Parkes Shire in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia. It had a population of 965 in 2001, including 192 indigenous people and 69 foreign born people ....
,
NarranderaNarrandera is a town in southern New South Wales, Australia. It is an important destination for travellers as it lies on the junction of the Newell and Sturt Highways and it is the gateway to the productive Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area...
and
GriffithGriffith is a city in south-western New South Wales, Australia. It is also the seat of the City of Griffith local government area. Like the Australian capital, Canberra and the nearby town of Leeton, Griffith was designed by Walter Burley Griffin. Griffith was named after Sir Arthur Griffith the...
. There are significant populations at
Wagga WaggaWagga Wagga is a city in New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, and with an urban population of 46,735 people, Wagga Wagga is the state's largest inland city and the country's fifth largest inland city, as well as an important agricultural, military, and transport hub of...
and
LeetonLeeton is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Leeton is situated approximately 550 km west of Sydney and 450 km north of Melbourne in the productive Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area. Leeton is administered by Leeton Shire...
and smaller groups at
West WyalongWest Wyalong is a town in Australia, the main town for the Bland Shire, located in the Central West region of New South Wales. It is located 467 km west of Sydney and takes almost 5 and a half hours to drive from Sydney and 2 and three-quarter hours to drive from Canberra...
,
ParkesParkes is a town in New South Wales, Australia. It is the main settlement in the Local Government Area of Parkes Shire. Parkes is located on the Australian transcontinental railway line, and the Newell Highway linking Victoria to Queensland...
,
ForbesForbes is a town in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia, located on the Newell Highway between Parkes and West Wyalong. At the 2006 census, Forbes had a population of 8,954. Forbes is probably named after Sir Francis Forbes, first Chief Justice of N.S.W.It is on the banks of the Lachlan...
,
CootamundraCootamundra is a town and Local Government Area in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia and within the Riverina. At the 2006 census, Cootamundra had a population of 5,566. It is located on the Olympic Highway at the point where it crosses the Muttama Creek, between Junee and...
,
CowraCowra is a a large town in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia in Cowra Shire. It is located 310m above sea-level and about 300 kilometres west of Sydney on the banks of the Lachlan River...
and
YoungYoung is a town in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia and is the centre of Young Shire. At the 2006 census, Young had a population of 7,141. Young is the Cherry Capital Of Australia and every year hosts the National Cherry Festival. Young is situated on the Olympic Highway...
.
The Wiradjuri name for themselves is
Wirraaydhuurray (northern dialect; ) or
Wirraayjuurray (southern dialect; ).
The
Wiradjuri (many other spellings; see below) are an Indigenous Australian group of central
New South WalesNew South Wales is Australia's most populous state, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria, south of Queensland and east of South Australia...
.
In the 21st century, major Wiradjuri groups live in
CondobolinCondobolin is a town in the west of the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia, on the Lachlan River. At the 2006 census, Condobolin had a population of 2,847.- Location :...
,
Peak HillPeak Hill is a town in Parkes Shire in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia. It had a population of 965 in 2001, including 192 indigenous people and 69 foreign born people ....
,
NarranderaNarrandera is a town in southern New South Wales, Australia. It is an important destination for travellers as it lies on the junction of the Newell and Sturt Highways and it is the gateway to the productive Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area...
and
GriffithGriffith is a city in south-western New South Wales, Australia. It is also the seat of the City of Griffith local government area. Like the Australian capital, Canberra and the nearby town of Leeton, Griffith was designed by Walter Burley Griffin. Griffith was named after Sir Arthur Griffith the...
. There are significant populations at
Wagga WaggaWagga Wagga is a city in New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, and with an urban population of 46,735 people, Wagga Wagga is the state's largest inland city and the country's fifth largest inland city, as well as an important agricultural, military, and transport hub of...
and
LeetonLeeton is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Leeton is situated approximately 550 km west of Sydney and 450 km north of Melbourne in the productive Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area. Leeton is administered by Leeton Shire...
and smaller groups at
West WyalongWest Wyalong is a town in Australia, the main town for the Bland Shire, located in the Central West region of New South Wales. It is located 467 km west of Sydney and takes almost 5 and a half hours to drive from Sydney and 2 and three-quarter hours to drive from Canberra...
,
ParkesParkes is a town in New South Wales, Australia. It is the main settlement in the Local Government Area of Parkes Shire. Parkes is located on the Australian transcontinental railway line, and the Newell Highway linking Victoria to Queensland...
,
ForbesForbes is a town in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia, located on the Newell Highway between Parkes and West Wyalong. At the 2006 census, Forbes had a population of 8,954. Forbes is probably named after Sir Francis Forbes, first Chief Justice of N.S.W.It is on the banks of the Lachlan...
,
CootamundraCootamundra is a town and Local Government Area in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia and within the Riverina. At the 2006 census, Cootamundra had a population of 5,566. It is located on the Olympic Highway at the point where it crosses the Muttama Creek, between Junee and...
,
CowraCowra is a a large town in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia in Cowra Shire. It is located 310m above sea-level and about 300 kilometres west of Sydney on the banks of the Lachlan River...
and
YoungYoung is a town in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia and is the centre of Young Shire. At the 2006 census, Young had a population of 7,141. Young is the Cherry Capital Of Australia and every year hosts the National Cherry Festival. Young is situated on the Olympic Highway...
.
Name
The Wiradjuri name for themselves is
Wirraaydhuurray (northern dialect; ) or
Wirraayjuurray (southern dialect; ). 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 RangeThe Great Dividing Range, or the Eastern Highlands, is Australia's most substantial mountain range and the fourth longest in the world. The range stretches more than 3,500 km from Dauan Island off the northeastern tip of Queensland, running the entire length of the eastern coastline through...
, are similarly named after their own words for "no".
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 are the largest Aboriginal group in New South Wales. They occupy a large area in central New South Wales, from the Blue Mountains in the east, to
HayHay 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 cattle, horses, goats, and sheep. Hay is also fed to pets such as rabbits and guinea pigs...
in the west, north to Nyngan and south to
AlburyAlbury is a city in New South Wales, Australia, located on the Hume Highway on the northern side of the Murray River. It is also a Local Government Area, administered by Albury City Council...
: the
South Western slopes regionThe South West Slopes is a region predominantly in New South Wales, Australia. It covers the lower inland slopes of the Great Dividing Range extending from north of Cowra through southern NSW into western Victoria...
.
The Wiradjuri tribal area has been described as "the land of the three rivers, the Wambool later known as the
MacquarieThe Macquarie River is one of the main inland rivers in New South Wales. It headwaters rise in the central highlands of New South Wales near the town of Oberon...
, the Kalare later known as the
LachlanThe Lachlan River is a significant river in central New South Wales, Australia.- Course :The river rises in the central highland of New South Wales, part of the Great Dividing Range, 13 km east of Gunning. Its major headwaters, the Carcoar River, the Belubula River and the Abercrombie River...
and the
MurrumbidgeeThe Murrumbidgee River is a major river in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory . A major tributary of the Murray River, the Murrumbidgee travels from the foot of Peppercorn Hill in the Fiery Range of the Snowy Mountains, through the ACT, and to a...
(Murrumbidjeri). The
Murray RiverThe Murray River, or River Murray and sometimes informally referred to as the "Mighty Murray", is Australia's largest river. At in length, the Murray rises in the Australian Alps, draining the western side of Australia's highest mountains and, for most of its length, meanders across Australia's...
forms the Wiradjuri's southern boundary, the change from woodland to open grassland form their eastern boundary."
Occupation of the land by the Wiradjuri can be seen by
carved treesScarred trees are trees which have had bark removed by indigenous Australians for the creation of canoes, shelters, shields and containers, such as coolamons. They are among the easiest to find archaeological sites in Australia....
and campsite remainders. 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 TindaleNorman Barnett Tindale was an Australian anthropologist, archaeologist and entomologist. Born in Perth, his family moved to Tokyo from 1907 to 1915, where his father worked as an accountant at the Salvation Army mission in Japan. Soon after returning to Australia, Tindale got a job at the South...
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). 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
yabbiesYabby is a name given in Australia to two different kinds of crustacean.* The Freshwater yabby is a crayfish of the genus Cherax . They are often caught for food...
and fish such as
Murray codThe Murray cod is a large Australian predatory freshwater fish of the Maccullochella genus and the Percichthyidae family. Although the species is a called cod in the vernacular, it is not related to the northern hemisphere marine cod species...
from the rivers. In dry seasons, they ate kangaroos, emus and food gathered from the land, including fruit, nuts, yam daisies (
Microseris lanceolataMicroseris lanceolata is a perennial herb also known as murnong and yam daisy.It is found in many forms in Australia and on the island of Tasmania, the Tasmanian form being markedly smaller than the mainland Australian form.-Biological descriptions:A variable species, it has the form of a tufted...
), wattle seeds, and orchid tubers. The Wiradjuri travelled into
Alpine areasThe Australian Alps are the highest mountain ranges of mainland Australia. They are located in south-eastern Australia and straddle the Australian Capital Territory, south-eastern New South Wales and eastern Victoria...
in the summer to feast on
Bogong mothThe Bogong moth is a temperate species of night-flying moth notable for appearing in large numbers around major public buildings in Canberra, the capital city of Australia, during spring...
s.
Wiradjuri Language
The Wiradjuri language had effectively died out of everyday spoken use, but has recently been reconstructed from early European
anthropologist'sAnthropology is the study of human beings, everywhere and throughout time....
records by
Stan GrantStan 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 South Wales, Australia....
, a member of the Wiradjuri Elder's Council, and
John RudderJohn Rudder, Ph.D., has studied the Australian Aboriginal languages, of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory and the state of New South Wales , Australia.-Working life:...
Ph.D., who has previously studied
Australian Aboriginal languagesThe Indigenous Australian languages comprise several language families and isolates native to Australia and a few nearby islands, but by convention excluding Tasmania...
in
Arnhem LandThe Arnhem Land Region is one of the five regions of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around 500km from the territory capital Darwin. The region has an area of 97,000 km² which also covers the area of Kakadu National Park, and a...
. It is a member of the small
Wiradhuric branchThe Wiradhuric languages, or Central inland New South Wales, are a family of Pama-Nyungan languages of Australia. There are three languages:*Gamilaraay*Wiradhuri-Ngiyambaa**Wiradhuri**NgiyambaaAll are now moribund....
of the
Pama-Nyungan familyThe Pama-Nyungan languages are the most widespread family of Indigenous Australian languages, containing 160 of 228 identified languages.The Pama-Nyungan family was identified and named by Kenneth Hale, in his work on the classification of Native 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. 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
corroboreeA corroboree is a ceremonial meeting of Australian Aborigines. The word was coined by the European settlers of Australia in imitation of the Aboriginal word caribberie. At a corroboree Aborigines interact with the Dreamtime through dance, music and costume. Many ceremonies act out events from the...
s around
MudgeeMudgee 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. As of 2004, Mudgee is the centre of the Mid-Western Regional Council Local Government Area with a population of 24,000...
but there were fewer clashes. European settlement had taken hold and the Aboriginal population was in decline.
Notable Wiradjuri people
- Wiradjuri elders Isabell Coe and Neville "Uncle Chappy" Williams
Neville "Chappy" Williams is an elder of the Wiradjuri Nation, in Western New South Wales. Known as "Uncle Chappy" to those who follow indigenous Australian customs, he is a regular at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra and a key opponent of the Barrick Gold Corporation's gold mine project at...
are leading land activists and proponents in the Lake Cowal Campaign.
- Windradyne
Windradyne was an Aboriginal warrior of the Wiradjuri nation, central-western New South Wales, Australia.[ Australian Dictionary of Biography...]
was an important Aboriginal leader during the Bathurst Wars.
- Mum (Shirl) Smith
Shirley Smith , better known as Mum Shirl, was a prominent Aboriginal Australian and activist committed to justice and welfare of Aboriginal Australians...
was a community activist in the twentieth century.
- Linda Burney
The Honourable Linda Jean Burney MP is an Australian politician, elected as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. She was the 2008-2009 National President of the Australian Labor Party....
is a member of the NSW Legislative Assembly.
- Paul Coe
Paul Coe ', a Wiradjuri man, is an Australian Aboriginal lawyer and activist.He was active in campaigns around the 1967 referendum and the establishment in 1972 of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, working with Pearl Gibbs, Chicka Dixon and Billy Craigie in the fight for basic human rights and justice...
is a lawyer and activist.
- Kevin Gilbert
Kevin Gilbert was a 20th century Indigenous Australian activist writer and artist that promoted .Kevin Gilbert was born into the Wiradjuri and Kamilaroi nations in Condobolin, New South Wales and was raised by his maternal grandmother on an Aboriginal reserve...
was a twentieth century author.
- Evonne Goolagong
Evonne Fay Goolagong Cawley, AO, MBE is a former World No. 1 Australian female tennis player...
was one of Australia's most famous tennis players.
- Stan Grant is a notable Australian journalist.
- The Wiradjuri elder, Stan Grant
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 South Wales, Australia....
, has been working on the reconstruction of the language. The elder Geoff AndersonGeoff 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 South Wales, Australia....
is teaching the language to children and adults at Parkes.
- Harry Wedge
Harry J. Wedge is a Wiradjuri artist.Prior to starting his artwork professionally, Wedge worked as a driver and fruit picker until he headed to Sydney to enroll at the Eora College....
and Brook AndrewBrook Andrew is an Australian visual artist of Wiradjuri and Scottish descent.Born 1970, Sydney, Australia.-External links:**...
are notable artists.
- Tara June Winch
Tara June Winch is an indigenous Australian writer. Her first book, Swallow the Air, won several major Australian literary awards.-Life:...
is an author.
- Fleur Naomi Magick is a Wiradjuri language, dance and culture teacher with the Burralgan (Brolga) Dance & Performance Group based in Orange NSW.
- Jimmy Clements
Jimmy Clements was an aboriginal elder from the Wiradjuri tribe in Australia, and was present at the Opening of the Provisional Parliament House in Canberra on 9 May 1927....
elder, present at the opening of Provisional Parliament HouseOld Parliament House, formerly known as the Provisional Parliament House, was the seat of the Parliament of Australia from 1927 to 1988. The building was opened in 9 May 1927 as a temporary base for the Commonwealth Parliament following its relocation from Melbourne to the new capital, Canberra,...
in 1927.
- Wally Carr
Wally "Wait-awhile-Wal" Carr is a former boxer. An Aboriginal Australian, he was born 11 August 1954 in Wellington, NSW. Described by Boxing 1970-1980 as having "boxing ability to burn" and "outstanding skills",1 Wally Carr had 101 professional fights...
Australian Commonwealth Boxing Champion.
- Lin Onus
William McLintock Onus was a Scottish-Aboriginal Koori Artist of Wiradjuri descent from Melbourne, Australia....
artist.
- David Peachey
David Peachey is a former professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative fullback, he played the majority of his club football in the National Rugby League for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks...
, Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative rugby league player.
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. 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 MacIntyreFergus Gwynplaine MacIntyre is a Scottish-born journalist, novelist, poet and illustrator, who now resides in Wales and New York City...
, a British author who spent his formative years in the Australian outback, where he encountered representatives of many Aboriginal cultures.
In
Bryce CourtenayBryce Courtenay is a South-African-born naturalised Australian novelist. Born in Johannesburg, Courtenay spent most of his early years in a small village in the Lebombo Mountains in South Africa's Limpopo province....
's novel
JessicaJessica is a novel by Bryce Courtenay. It is set in rural Australia before World War I and tells the life story of an Australian girl named Jessica. It is based on true events, though how much of it is true is debatable.-Miniseries:...
, the plot is centred in Wiradjuri. Jessica's best friend was from Wiradjuri.
External links