Maduwongga

The Maduwongga are a purported Aboriginal Australian people of the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia.

Martu Wangka has been used as an alternative name but this is now understood to have been incorrect.

Language

As there is little information on Maduwongga, classification of the language has been difficult. When purporting its existence, it is generally classified as a dialect of the Western Desert language.^[1]

According to Tindale, the language spoken by the Maduwongga was called "Kabal".^[2] It has also erroneously been conflated with the Western Desert dialect of Martu Wangka.^[1]

Country

In Norman Tindale's estimation, the Maduwongga tribal territory extended over some 9,000 square miles (23,000 km²), ranging westwards from Pinjin on Lake Rebecca as far as Mulline, including the area a few miles south of Menzies, where their borders with the Ngurlu ran,^[3] over to Kalgoorlie, Coolgardie, Kanowna, Kurnalpi, and Siberia.^[2] Ecologically they lived in country marked by mallee eucalypt species.^[4]

However, Tindale's description of this group and country has not stood close examination. In a native title case involving people identifying as Maduwongga, it was found that Tindale's mapping "was probably wrong"^[5] and "unreliable".^[6] After hearing detailed expert evidence and examining the relevant data, the judge stated: "Inexplicably, Tindale's map of Maduwongga territory does not correspond with his own data collected in 1939 when he spoke to [relevant informants] .... Further, the information given to Tindale [by other informants in 1939 and 1966] ... all but disposes of the notion of Maduwongga country ...".^[7] In addition, the judge cites part of the expert evidence, which states: "the 'Maduwongga tribe' is essentially a Tindale creation - a case of what my colleague, Dr Paul Burke, in a very similar context, has called 'cartographic ethnogenesis'.^[8] In short, 'Maduwongga' seems to have been a mistake, and the area in question appears likely to have been originally distributed amongst Wangkayi ('Wongi') people (not 'Martu' people) and those who spoke the language which [was] ... recorded as 'Kabul' (... [who Tindale called] 'the Kalamaia') ...".^[9]

History

According to oral traditions picked up by ethnographers, the Maduwongga may have moved in from an original homeland further east, and displaced the Kalamaia, westwards beyond Bullabulling.^[2]

Alternative names

• Jindi, Yindi
• Maduwonga
• Kabul
• Julbaritja (Ngurlu exonym for them meaning 'southerners') ^{[citation needed]}