Worla
The Wurla, also written Ola, are an indigenous Australian people of the Kimberley region of Western Australia
Name
Though often written Ola, Wurla is now considered the recommended transcription for this tribal ethnonym.[1]
Country
Norman Tindale estimated their tribal grounds as extending over abourt 7,800 square miles (20,000 km2). The Wurlu occupied the northern side of the King Leopold Range. They lay east of the Isdell Range, and their reach extended northwards as far as the Phillips Range and the headwaters of the Hann and upper Fitzroy rivers. To the east, their territory ran up to Bluff Face Range, in a line that linked directly Elgee Cliffs and the Burramundy Range.[2] According to information gathered by Joseph Birdsell, the Wurla in penetrated down the Chapman and Durack rivers to Karunjie severed the traditional links between the Ngarinjin and Gija.[3]
Social organisation
The Wurla were divided into clans.
Alternative names
- Wo:la, Wola, Wula.
- Waladjangari, Woladjangari.
- Woolaja.
- Walandjari.
- Wolmardai.
- Waringari. (of Ngarinjin, an exonym, also applied to the Gija, implying cannibalistic practices)
- Oladjau. (Miriwung exonym for several peoples who spoke varieties of the Ngarinyin language).
- Ngarangari, Ngalangari, Ngaiangari. ('those who dwell on the tops of the range.')
- Wardia.[3]
Notes
Citations
- ^ McGregor 2013, p. 31.
- ^ Tindale 1974, pp. 254–255.
- ^ a b c Tindale 1974, p. 255.
Sources
- "AIATSIS map of Indigenous Australia". AIATSIS.
- "Tindale Tribal Boundaries" (PDF). Department of Aboriginal Affairs, Western Australia. September 2016.
- McGregor, William B. (2013). The Languages of the Kimberley, Western Australia. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-39602-3.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Tindale, Norman Barnett (1974). "Ola (WA)". Aboriginal Tribes of Australia: Their Terrain, Environmental Controls, Distribution, Limits, and Proper Names. Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-708-10741-6.
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