Antakirinja people

The Antakirinja, otherwise spelt Antakarinya, and alternatively spoken of as the Ngonde,[a] are an indigenous Australian people of South Australia.

Many people who previously identified as Antikirinya now instead identify as Yankunytjatjara.[2]

Name

The name Antakarinya is almost certainly of Arrandic origin. A probable etymology is antekerre ("south") and -nye (a suffix attached to directions or places indicating something from there).[3]

Norman Tindale held the name means "westerners", from andakara ("west"). Wilkins & Petch (1997) states it is probably from Lower Arrernte, from the words antekerre ("west") and -arenye ("originating from").[3]

Language

Antakarinya language is a Western Desert language belonging to the Wati language family of the Pama–Nyungan languages.

Country

Norman Tindale estimated the total range of lands to extend over roughly 24,500 square miles (63,000 km2). They lived around the headwaters of four rivers, the Hamilton, Alberga, Wintinna, and Lora, and northwards over the modern border as far as Kulgera in the Northern Territory. Their southern frontiers, just before the start of the gibber desert terrain, ran down to Mount Willoughby, Arckaringa, and the Stuart Range, close to the Kokata territory at Coober Pedy. The line separating them from the Matuntara tribe roughly coincides with the northern reaches of the bluebush plains.[1]

Social organization

The Antakarinya were composed of several hordes.

  • Walarangunja (eastern Everard Ranges)
  • Kadjilaranda (clan north of the eastern Everard Ranges)[1]

Christopher Giles, a Telegraph Stationmaster at Charlotte Waters, wrote about their social organization (according to Norman Tindale, Giles' data is incorrectly ascribed to the Antakarinya and actually refers to Arrernte).[4] Giles wrote in 1875 they had four class names:

  • Parroola
  • Panungka
  • Booltara
  • Koomurra[5]

According to Giles, the marriage relations of the four were tabulated in the following manner:[6][7]

Male Marries Children are
Parroola Panungka Koomurra
Panungka Parroola Booltara
Booltara Koomurra Poonungka (sic)
Koomurra Booltara Parroola

Further reading

  • Ingkama Bobby Brown; Petter Attila Naessan, Irrititja – The Past: Antikirrinya History from Ingomar Station and Beyond, Keeaira Press, 2012[8]

Alternative names

  • Antakarinja, Antakerinya, Antakerrinya,[5] Andagirinja, Andagarinja, Andekerinja (Arrernte pronunciation), Andekarinja, Antekarinja, Andigarinya
  • Andigirinji, Antingari, Andigari, Andgari
  • Andegilliga, Andigarina, Antigari, Andigiri, Anjirigna
  • Anterrikanya, Antegarinya, Antigerinya,[9] Andjirigna
  • Untergerrie
  • Aldolinga
  • Ngonde
  • Tangara
  • Yandairunga
  • Njuntundjara (Yankuntjatjarra exonym)
  • Walarangunja
  • Walarenunga
  • Kadjilaranda
  • Aluna (language name for southern bands)[1]

Notes

  1. ^ "An alternative that may be more valid is Ngonde, but this term has been said by some aborigines to embrace also the Jangkundjara, being applied to two hordes in the Everard Range area."[1]

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d Tindale 1974, p. 210.
  2. ^ "Mobile Language Team | ANTIKIRINYA". Retrieved 4 July 2025.
  3. ^ a b Brown, Ingkama Bobby; Nœssan, Petter Attila (2012). Irrititja - the Past: Antikirrinya History from Ingomar Station and Beyond. Keeaira Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-9805942-5-6.
  4. ^ "Aboriginal tribes of Australia : their terrain, environmental controls, distribution, limits and... - Catalogue | National Library of Australia". catalogue.nla.gov.au. Archived from the original on 20 February 2025. Retrieved 30 March 2026.
  5. ^ a b Giles & Taplin 1879, p. 89.
  6. ^ Giles & Taplin 1879, p. 90.
  7. ^ Giles, Fison & Howitt 1880, p. 65.
  8. ^ Brown, Ingkama Bobby; Nœssan, Petter Attila (2012). Irrititja - the Past: Antikirrinya History from Ingomar Station and Beyond. Keeaira Press. ISBN 978-0-9805942-5-6.
  9. ^ Elkin 1931, p. 63.

Sources