Gangulu facts for kids
The Gangulu people are an Aboriginal Australian group. They come from the Mount Morgan area in Queensland, Australia. Their name can be spelled in many ways, like Kangulu or Ghungalu.
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The Name Gangulu
One way the name Kangulu is spelled is Kaangooloo. This name comes from the word ka:ngu, which means "no".
Gangulu Language
The Gangulu people speak a language that is considered a dialect of the Biri language. A dialect is a special way of speaking a language that is used in a certain area or by a certain group of people. The Biri language belongs to a larger group of languages called the Greater Maric languages.
Gangulu Country
The traditional lands of the Gangulu people covered about 15,500 square kilometres (6,000 square miles). This area was around the Dawson River. It stretched south to places like Banana and Theodore. To the northwest, their land reached the Mackenzie River and near Duaringa.
Their eastern border was close to Biloela, Mount Morgan, the Gogango Range, and the upper part of the Don River. The towns of Thangool and the start of Grevillea Creek marked the southeastern edge of their country.
The Gangulu People
A person named Peter McIntosh, who lived in the area, once said that the Gangulu were made up of several smaller groups. The main groups he mentioned were the Karranbal, the Maudalgo, and the Mulkali.
Today, we know more about some of these groups. The AIATSIS (which stands for the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies) has a database called AUSTLANG. This database shows that Karranbal is actually the Garaynbal (or Garingbal) dialect of the Biri language. It also says that Maudalgo is another name for the Wadjigu people and their language. The Wadjigu people are a separate group from the Biri, and they spoke a dialect of the Bidjara language. We don't have much more information about the Mulkali group.
Over time, many Aboriginal groups in Queensland lost their traditional lands. Members of the Kangulu people, like many others, moved to the Cherbourg settlement. This was a place set up for Aboriginal people.
Other Names for Gangulu
The Gangulu people are also known by several other names, including:
- Ghungalu
- Kaangooloo
- Cangoolootha (where tha meant "speech")
- Khangalu
- Kangalo
- Kongulu
- Kongalu
- Kangool-lo
- Konguli
- Gangu
- Khang
- Ghangulu
- Ka ngool lo
