Historical Dictionary of Australian Aborigines

HISTORICAL DICTIONARIES OF PEOPLES AND CULTURES Jon Woronoff, Series Editor Kurds, by Michael M. Gunter, 2004. Out of print. See No. 8. Inuit, by Pamela R. Stern, 2004. Druzes, by Samy Swayd, 2006. Southeast Asian Massif, by Jean Michaud, 2006. Berbers (Imazighen), by Hsain Ilahiane, 2006. Tamils, by Vijaya Ramaswamy, 2007. Gypsies, 2nd ed., by Donald Kenrick, 2007. Kurds, 2nd ed., by Michael M. Gunter, 2011. Jews, by Alan Unterman, 2011. Catalans, by Helena Buffery and Elisenda Marcer, 2011. Australian Aborigines, by Mitchell Rolls and Murray Johnson, 2011. Book 1.indb i 11/18/10 7:48 AM Book 1.indb ii 11/18/10 7:48 AM Historical Dictionary of Australian Aborigines Mitchell Rolls Murray Johnson Introduction by Henry Reynolds Historical Dictionaries of Peoples and Cultures, No. 11 The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham • Toronto • Plymouth, UK 2011 Book 1.indb iii 11/18/10 7:48 AM Published by Scarecrow Press, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 http://www.scarecrowpress.com Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom Copyright © 2011 by Mitchell Rolls and Murray Johnson All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rolls, Mitchell, 1960- Historical dictionary of Australian Aborigines / Mitchell Rolls, Murray Johnson ; introduction by Henry Reynolds. p. cm. — (Historical dictionaries of peoples and cultures ; no. 11) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-8108-5997-5 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8108-7475-6 (ebook) 1. Aboriginal Australians—History—Dictionaries. 2. Aboriginal Australians— Dictionaries. I. Johnson, Murray, 1956- II. Title. DU123.4.R65 2011 305.89'915003—dc22 2010037785 ™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Printed in the United States of America Book 1.indb iv 11/18/10 7:48 AM Contents Editor’s Foreword Jon Woronoff vii Acknowledgments ix Note on Orthography xi Acronyms and Abbreviations xiii Maps Australian Aboriginal Tribes xv Australia xvi Chronology xix Introduction 1 THE DICTIONARY 9 Bibliography 185 About the Authors 213 v Book 1.indb v 11/18/10 7:48 AM Book 1.indb vi 11/18/10 7:48 AM Editor’s Foreword Of the various people examined in this series, few have felt the effects of European colonization to the same extent as the Australian Aborigines. Yet, when the Aboriginal people first set foot on this vast continent, perhaps 60,000 years ago, they were in the vanguard of human cultural development. By 35,000 years ago, they had spread throughout the land, occupying and adapting to a host of environmental conditions, ranging from sub-antarctic tundra in the south to tropical rainforest in the north and arid desert in the interior. Not surprisingly, this ensured that Aboriginal culture itself diversi- fied widely, although without exception, all aspects of life were intrinsically linked to the territory of each particular group. From 1788, however, the world of the Aboriginal people began to collapse when the British laid claim to Australia. Frontier conflict, introduced disease, loss of land, and the depletion of natural resources, all contributed to their dramatic demographic collapse. By the late 19th century, it appeared the Aborigines were destined to become extinct, which to some extent accounts for the confused British-Australian official policies that wavered between assimilation and segregation. But the Aboriginal people did not die out as expected; indeed, their resistance gradually strengthened, and although they remain today as a minority group within the broader Australian community, they have achieved considerable gains. Australian Aborigines today have full citizenship and political rights, and many groups have seen the return of their traditional land. Yet while Aboriginal art, literature, and other aspects of culture are increasingly respected by their fellow Australians, Aboriginal people still face numerous social and economic barriers to further advancement, and their overall circumstances remain far from satisfactory. The Historical Dictionary of Australian Aborigines deals with all these issues, which has been a difficult task. The Aborigines are not a united community, and their lived experiences have differed widely throughout Australia. Nonetheless, through the chronology and introduction, it is possible to gain a clear understanding of these people, the effects of European colonization, and how they have managed to accomplish a cultural renaissance. More ex- acting details are then accessible through the many dictionary entries, which focus on the history, economy, society, and culture of the Aboriginal past and vii Book 1.indb vii 11/18/10 7:48 AM viii • EDITOR’S FOREWORD present. The entries also include significant people, places, institutions, con- cepts, and traditions. Fortunately, Aboriginal issues have increasingly gained significance in recent decades, and the bibliography includes an impressive array of books and articles. This volume was written by two academics, Mitchell Rolls and Murray Johnson. Dr. Rolls is senior lecturer and codirector of the Riawunna Centre for Aboriginal Studies at the University of Tasmania, with his major research focus being cultural identity, race, and representation. Dr. Johnson has taught Australian and Aboriginal history at the University of Queensland, the Australian National University, and is also now at the Riawunna Centre for Aboriginal Studies. The introduction was produced by the eminent historian, Professor Henry Reynolds, who holds an honorary position at the University of Tasmania. All three have published extensively in their particular fields. Between them, they tell the story of a people who, despite being the subject of continuous research and scrutiny, deserve to be better known. Jon Woronoff Series Editor Book 1.indb viii 11/18/10 7:48 AM Acknowledgments Producing a dictionary is a complex task, and the authors are grateful for the invaluable assistance of those who helped and whose interest sustained our efforts. Three research assistants contributed prompt, thorough, and cheerful support. Helena Kajlich’s assistance at the initial stage was instrumental. In the latter stages and at short notice, Nick Brodie undertook the tasks of drafting the chronology and painstakingly checking the bibliography. Pauline Marsh assisted as a researcher and with administrative matters. We thank Simon Barnard for producing the map and responding patiently to the many amendments we requested. Henry Reynolds wrote the introduction for us, assisted in drafting the bibliography, and read through the entries with care. We are grateful for his advice. The dictionary would not have been completed but for Murray Johnson’s agreeing to be a coauthor at a late stage in the project. We thank Jon Woronoff, the series editor, for his interest in this project, patience, and advice. Queries, and they were multiple, were always promptly answered. We owe many heartfelt thanks to Lyn McGaurr, whose meticulous editing of our manuscript draft we could not have done without. Steadfastly professional, Lyn’s attention to detail not only helped reduce errors and inconsistencies but also contributed to the clarity of the entries. Jaime Cave provided urgent invaluable assistance preparing the final manuscript, and we thank her very much. Finally, we are grateful for the support of Riawunna, the Centre for Aboriginal Studies at the University of Tasmania, Australia, and for the support and assistance of our academic and administrative colleagues. ix Book 1.indb ix 11/18/10 7:48 AM Book 1.indb x 11/18/10 7:48 AM Note on Orthography In 1788, when the first European colony was established in Australia, some 250 different Aboriginal languages were spoken and many more dialects. These languages and dialects belonged to oral cultures. They were not re- corded in writing. Many early attempts to write down these languages, which sometimes produced little more than word lists, were by untrained linguists. Their attempts to capture pronunciation through different letter combinations reflected their own ear and native tongue. Some amateur transcribers sought simplicity, modifying the language heard in an attempt to render it more sen- sible to an English (mostly) speaker. Others were more rigorous. Missionaries in particular, especially those who attained a high level of competence in the language of the Aborigines among whom they worked, did produce valuable written records of Aboriginal languages. In the late 19th early 20th century, the need for a more standardized orthography was apparent, and from the mid-20th century onward, a great deal of work has been undertaken by Aborigines and linguists. Much of this work has entailed not only the accurate writing (and recording) of languages under threat of extinction but also the production of standard orthographies for the major languages still regularly spoken. Despite these attempts, multiple spellings for many Aboriginal words remain, and spellings once thought standardized are frequently revised. In this

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