Ngambaa

(Redirected from Ngamba)

The Ngamba are an Australian Aboriginal people of New South Wales.

Language

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The Ngamba language is poorly described because little has been transmitted of its nature. It is generally believed to have been similar to Gumbaynggirr.[1]

Country

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Ngamba territory comprised some 900 square miles (2,300 km2) from Port Macquarie and the vicinity of Rollands Plains south to the Manning River. The inland extension has not been ascertained.[2]

People

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A few remnants of the original tribe were attested as still living in 1929, when A.R. Radcliffe-Brown described them as lingering on with descendants of the Ngaku and Daingatti.[3] According to the reminiscences of Harry Buchanan, they had been systematically and savagely exterminated by the Australian native police.[4]

Customs

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The Ngamba exploited the mangrove species Avicennia marina for its bark in order to fashion their military shields.[5]

Alternative names

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  • Ngambar
  • Ngeunbah[2]

Notes

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Citations

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  1. ^ Eades 1979, pp. 249, 251.
  2. ^ a b Tindale 1974.
  3. ^ Radcliffe-Brown 1929, pp. 400, 407.
  4. ^ Eades 1979, p. 251.
  5. ^ Duke 2006, p. 22.

Sources

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  • Duke, Norman C. (2006). Australia's Mangroves: The Authoritative Guide to Australia's Mangrove Parts. MER. ISBN 978-0-646-46196-0.
  • Eades, Diana (1979). "Gumbayngirr". In Dixon, Robert M. W.; Blake, Barry J. (eds.). Handbook of Australian Languages. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press. pp. 243–360. ISBN 978-0-708-10741-6.
  • Radcliffe-Brown, A. R. (July–December 1929). "Notes on Totemism in Eastern Australia". The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 59: 399–415. doi:10.2307/2843892. JSTOR 2843892.
  • Tindale, Norman Barnett (1974). "Ngamba (NSW)". Aboriginal Tribes of Australia: Their Terrain, Environmental Controls, Distribution, Limits, and Proper Names. Australian National University Press. ISBN 978-0-708-10741-6.