Earth:Panyjima people

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Short description: Aboriginal Australian people

The Panyjima, also known as the Pandjima/Banjima, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Language

The Panyjima speak the language also known as Panyjima, one of the Ngayarda sub-group of the Pama-Nyungan languages. The number of speakers was estimated in 2002 to be around fifty.[1]

Country

According to Norman Tindale, the Panyjima held sway over 17,000 square kilometres (6,600 sq mi) of tribal territory. They dwelt on the upper plateau of the Hamersley Range and as far south as the Fortescue River. Their eastern frontier lay at Weeli Wolli Creek, near Marillana. Their southern limits lay around Rocklea and on the upper branches of Turee Creek, as ran east as far as the Kunderong Range.[2]

History of contact

Before the period of contact with European, the highlander Kurrama pressured them out to shift east as far as Yandicoogina and the Ophthalmia Range, a movement which in turn drove the Mandara and Niabali eastwards.[2]

Native title

State government warning sign near the entrance to Wittenoom township in Western Australia

The Panyjima people hold native title since 2014 over the asbestos-contaminated Wittenoom area, known as Ngambigunha by its people, and campaign for the area's clean-up by the Western Australian Government.[3][4][5][6]

Alternative names

  • Bandjima (western tribal pronunciation)
  • Mandanjongo ("top people", Nyamal exonym for plateau people such as the Panyjima and the Yindjibarndi)
  • Panjima, Pand'ima[2]

Notes

Citations

Sources

Template:Aboriginal peoples of Western Australia