Ngaiawang

The Ngayawang, or Ngaiawang were an Aboriginal Australian people of the Lower Murray area of South Australia. They are now considered extinct.

Language

Main article: Ngayawung language

The Ngayawung language belonged to the Lower Murray language branch of the Pama–Nyungan family.

Country

The Ngaiawang lived in an area of some 2,400 square miles (6,200 km²) ranging along the Murray River from Herman Landing (Nildottie) to Penn Reach (near Qualco). The western boundary was formed by the scarp of the Mount Lofty Ranges. To the south, the tribal territory ended at Ngautngaut (Devon Downs) rock shelter, the first area to be subject to archaeological excavation (by Norman Tindale and Herbert Hale of the South Australian Museum) and the first formal archaeological excavation undertaken in Australia.

Society

The Ngaiawang consisted of some ten clans or peoples, among which were the Molo people. They did not practice circumcision, and were derided for this by the Kaurna, whose derogative exonym for them, Paruru, meant "uncircumcised" or "animal".

History

The first recorded encounter of the Ngaiawang with Europeans occurred when the explorer Edward John Eyre came across them at Lake Bonney.

Alternative names

• Aiawung, Aiawong (Given be Eyre, who, according to Tindale, was tone deaf to initial ng sound).
• Birta (Kaurna and Ngadjuri term)
• Iawung
• Karn-brikolenbola (horde at Moorunde).
• Meru (term for man).
• Moorunde, Moorundee, Moorundie
• Murundi (Jarildekald term for the Murray River upriver from Lake Alexandrina and place name south of Blanchetown).
• Naiawu (This is a language name); Niawoo
• Ngaiawung
• Ngaijawa, Ngaiyawa
• Ngaiyau
• Nggauaiyo-wangko
• Paruru (Kaurna term meaning "uncircumcised" (also "animal") to denote the Ngaiawang and other Murray River tribes
• Pijita, Pitta, Pieta, Peeita
• Wakanuwan (name applied by the Jarildekald to this, the Nganguruku, and other tribes; they called the language Walkalde).

Source: Tindale 1974

Sources

• Mulvaney, DJ (27 May 2015). "Archaeology". SA History Hub. History Trust of South Australia. Retrieved 16 April 2020. {{cite web}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• "Ngaut Ngaut (Devon Downs) Excavation Assemblage". Research Data Australia. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
• Tindale, Norman Barnett (1974). "Ngaiawang (SA)". 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)