Aṉangu

Anangu is the name used by members of several central Australian Aboriginal groups, roughly approximate to the Western Desert cultural bloc, to describe themselves. The term, which embraces several distinct 'tribes', is accurately spelled "Aṉangu" and pronounced with the stress on the first syllable: [ˈaɳaŋʊ].

The term

The original meaning of the word was "human being, person", "human body" in a number of eastern varieties of the Pama–Nyungan Western Desert Languages (WDL), in particular Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara. It is now used as an Aboriginal endonym by a wide range of Western Desert Language peoples. It is rarely or never applied to non-Aboriginal people. It has come to be used also as an exonym by non-Aboriginal Australians to refer to WDL-speaking groups or individuals.

With regard to the term's distribution and spelling, the following table shows the main WDL dialects in which it is used (left column) along with the word spelled according to the orthography of that dialect (right column).

Pitjantjatjara, Pintupi-Luritja	aṉangu
Southern (Titjikala) Luritja, Ngaanyatjarra, Ngaatjatjarra	yarnangu
Yankunytjatjara	yaṉangu

The reasons for the spelling variations are that some WDL dialects do not allow vowel-initial words—in these varieties the word begins with y; some orthographies use underlining (e.g. ṉ) to indicate a retroflex consonant, while others use a digraph (e.g. rn). Pitjantjatjara seems to be the best-known source for the word, but the underlining of the consonant is often ignored (or not understood) by English speakers, and is difficult to type, so the word is very commonly, but incorrectly, rendered as anangu.

Country

The Anangu dwell primarily in the Central Western desert, to the south of the Arrernte and Walpiri.

See also

• Maralinga
• Angas Downs Indigenous Protected Area

Notes and references

References

• Eckert, Paul; Hudson, Joyce (1988). Wangka Wiru: A handbook for the Pitjantjatjara language learner. Underdale SA: SACAE. ISBN 0-86803-230-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Glass, Amee; Hackett, Dorothy (2003). Ngaanyatjarra & Ngaatjatjarra to English Dictionary. Alice Springs: IAD Press. ISBN 1-86465-053-2. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Goddard, Cliff (1985). A Grammar of Yankunytjatjara. Alice Springs: IAD Press. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Goddard, Cliff (1992). Pitjantjatjara/Yankunytjatjara to English Dictionary. Alice Springs: IAD Press. ISBN 0-949659-64-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Griffin, Graham (2011). "Welcome to Aboriginal Land:Anangu Ownership and Management of Uluru-Kata National Park". In Chatty, Dawn; Colchester, Marcus (eds.). Conservation and Mobile Indigenous Peoples: Displacement, Forced Settlement and Sustainable Development. Berghahn Books. pp. 362–375. ISBN 978-1-782-38185-3. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Hansen, KC; Hansen, LE (1992). Pintupi/Luritja Dictionary 3rd Edition. Alice Springs: IAD Press. ISBN 0-949659-63-0. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Kastrinou, Maria; Layton, Robert (2016). "The Politics of Reincarnation, Time and Sovereignty:A Comparative Anthropological Investigation of the Syrian Druze and Australian Anangu". In Gledhill, John (ed.). World Anthropologies in Practice: Situated Perspectives, Global Knowledge. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-474-25262-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Valiquette, Hilaire, ed. (1993). A Basic Kukatja to English Dictionary. Balgo WA: Luurnpa Catholic School. ISBN 0-646-12453-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

External links

• Web portal for Anangu Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra peoples, communities and organisations
• Description of Tjukurpa - the foundation of Anangu life at Department of Environment and Heritage