Dagoman facts for kids

The Dagoman are a group of Indigenous Australians who traditionally lived in the Northern Territory of Australia. They are one of the many Aboriginal groups with a rich history and culture.

Dagoman Language

The Dagoman people spoke the Dagoman language. This language was closely related to the Wardaman and Yangman languages. Some experts believe these three might have been different forms of the same language.

Sadly, the Dagoman language is now extinct. This means there are no longer any people who speak it as their main language. The last known speaker was Mrs. Martha Hart from Pine Creek, who passed away in 1982. The Dagoman language also shared many words and ways of speaking with the Wakiman language.

Traditional Lands

The traditional lands of the Dagoman people were in the Northern Territory. Their country was located north of the Wardaman people's land. The borders with the Jawoyn people were near a place called Kumbidgee. This area had a special waterhole known as the rock bat's waterhole.

According to a map made by Norman Tindale, a famous researcher, the Dagoman lands covered about 1,600 square miles (4,100 square kilometers). These lands were northeast of the middle part of the Daly River. Their southern border was where the Flora and Katherine Rivers meet. They also lived in a place called Jindare.

An elder named Nolgoyma, one of the last Dagoman survivors, described their land's size. He said it stretched from the Ferguson River to the upper parts of the Roper River. Important places included Bamboo Creek, where they got bamboo for spears. Edith was another key site, known for axe heads. Leach Lagoon was important for "Turtle Dreaming" stories and wood for didgeridoos. Waterholes on the King River were also part of their territory.

Learning About the Dagoman People

In the 1950s, a researcher named W. Arndt met an elderly Dagoman person in Katherine. Arndt realized that not much had been written about the Dagoman people before. He started taking notes to record their history and culture.

In 1961, Arndt published a short report in a journal called Oceania. This report talked about how the Dagoman people used native grains for food. He also mentioned that he had a larger, unpublished manuscript. This longer work was titled "Recognition of the Previous Existence, Industry, Mythology and Rock Art of the Tagoman in the Katherine District, Northern Territory."

Food from Sorghum

The Dagoman people gathered three types of native Sorghum seeds for food. These were Sorghum plumosum, Sorghum intrans, and Sorghum macrospermum. Sorghum is a type of grain, similar to corn or wheat, and was an important part of their diet.