Diyari facts for kids

The Diyari (also called Dieri) are an Indigenous Australian group. They come from the desert areas of South Australia. Their traditional lands are around the delta of Cooper Creek, which is east of Lake Eyre.

Diyari Language

The Diyari language is part of the Karnic languages family. Some people once thought the language was almost gone. However, Peter Austin, a language expert, has shown that some people still speak it fluently. Hundreds more Diyari people know some of the language.

Lutheran missionaries helped create a way to write the Diyari language in 1893. They also made a German-Diyari dictionary. This written language was taught to many Diyari speakers. They even wrote letters to each other in Diyari until the 1960s. The Diyari language was the first Aboriginal language to have a full translation of the New Testament.

The Diyari also had a very good sign language. An explorer named Alfred William Howitt first noticed it in 1891. He thought the hand signs were just commands at first. But then he realized they were a full system of communication. He recorded 65 different signs. One important use for this sign language was for women to talk during times of mourning, when they were not allowed to speak.

Diyari Traditional Lands

The traditional lands of the Diyari people covered about 21,700 square kilometers (8,400 square miles). These lands were in the delta of the Barcoo River, also known as Cooper Creek, east of Lake Eyre.

Their southern border was near Mount Freeling. To the north, their land reached Pirigundi Lake on Cooper Creek. The eastern edge was at Lake Hope. The western border was about 130 kilometers (80 miles) west of Lake Hope.

The Diyari lived near other Aboriginal groups. To their east and north-east were the Yandruwandha and Yawarrawarrka people. To the north were the Ngameni. The Wangganguru lived to their north-west. The Thirrari and Arabana people were to their west. To the south were the Kuyani and Adnyamathanha people.

The environment in their lands was tough. Finding vegetables was very important because kangaroos were not common there. Emus, which they loved to eat, were also rare. However, native rats, snakes, and lizards were easy to find.

Diyari Stories and Beliefs

The Diyari have special stories about how the world and their people came to be.

One story tells that in the beginning, brothers, sisters, and close family members married each other. This caused problems. So, the chiefs had a meeting. They asked the Muramura (a Good Spirit) for help. The Muramura told them to divide the tribe into different groups. Each group was named after an animal or something from nature, like dogs, mice, emus, or rain. People from the same group could not marry each other. But they could marry someone from a different group. For example, a person from the "dog" group could not marry another "dog." But they could marry someone from the "mouse" or "rat" group. This rule is still followed today. When a stranger arrives, people often ask, "What murdoo?" This means, "What family are you from?"

Another Diyari creation story says that Mooramoora, the good spirit, first made small black lizards. He liked them so much that he decided they should rule over all other creatures. Mooramoora then changed these lizards to create humans. He cut off their tails and used his finger to make a nose. Then he divided them into male and female. After that, Mooramoora asked the Moon to create all other animals.

Humans found it hard to catch the fast emu. So, they asked the spirit to make the weather hot. This would make the emu tired, allowing people to catch them. Men were asked to do certain ceremonies. After they did, Mooramoora created the sun.

History of Contact with Europeans

Lutheran missionaries started the Bethesda or Killalpaninna Mission among the Dieri people in 1866. The first detailed reports about the Diyari were written by a police officer, Samuel Gason, in 1874. He thought there were about 1,000 to 1,200 Aboriginal people in the Cooper Creek area. The Diyari were the largest group, with about 230 members. By the end of World War II, their numbers were estimated to be around 60.

Diyari Family System

The Diyari's old stories say that at first, everyone in a family married each other. This caused many problems. To fix this, the Elders asked the Mooramoora creator for a solution. The solution was to divide the tribe into different groups. Each group was named after an animal or something from nature. Then, people were not allowed to marry someone from their own group.

Before Europeans came to their lands, the Dieri were split into two main tribal groups. The Ku'na:ri lived around Cooper Creek. The Pandu lived near Lake Hope.

Their family system was studied by early researchers. Their main family divisions, called moieties, were Matharri and Kararrhu. These divisions were common among speakers of Thura-Yura languages in South Australia.

Diyari Social Life

Samuel Gason, the police officer, wrote about the Diyari's social life. He said they were very welcoming. They respected older people and loved their children very much. Any stranger who came to their camp was given food. They were also very fond of their camp dingoes, treating them like family members.

Native Title for Diyari Lands

The Dieri Aboriginal Corporation (DAC) was formed in 2001. By 2014, it had 600 members. These members live in places like Marree, Lyndhurst, Port Augusta, Whyalla, and Broken Hill in New South Wales.

In 2008, the group bought the Marree Station property, which is around Marree. In May 2012, the Federal Court of Australia officially recognized the Diyari people's rights to about 47,000 square kilometers (18,000 square miles) of land. This land is along Cooper Creek and includes parts of the Strzelecki Regional Reserve and the Lake Eyre National Park. This recognition is called 'Native Title'. It means the Diyari people have special rights and interests in their traditional lands.

Other Names for Diyari

• Diari, Diyeri, Dieyerie, Dieri
• Deerie, Dieyrie, Dayerrie
• Dthee-eri, Dickeri (misprint)
• Kunari. (the native name for Cooper Creek)
• Koonarie
• Wongkadieri (Arabana name for them)
• Wonkadieri
• Ti:ari (Southern Aranda name for them)
• Urrominna (a southern name used for Diyari and also for the Kuyani people)

Some Diyari Words

• kunki (a very respected man, a clever man, or a medicine man)
• kutyi (a bad spirit or devil)

See also

• Adno-artina, a spirit that appears in Diyari stories
• Kadimakara, monsters in Diyari stories that might be linked to very large, ancient animals