Gooniyandi facts for kids
The Gooniyandi people, also known as the Konejandi, are an Aboriginal Australian group. They live in the Kimberley area of Western Australia.
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Gooniyandi Language
The Gooniyandi people speak the Gooniyandi language. It is one of two languages in the Bunuban language family, the other being Bunuba.
Traditional Lands
The Gooniyandi's traditional land covered about 11,900 square kilometers (4,600 square miles). This area stretched from Fitzroy Crossing in the west to Margaret River Stations in the east. Their main area was north, around the limestone parts of the Wunaamin Miliwundi Ranges and near the Stony River.
According to Norman Tindale, their land also included places like Bohemia Down, the Ramsay, Sandstone, Mueller, Burramundy, and Geikie Ranges. The Gooniyandi also traditionally owned plains near Christmas Creek. However, they lost this land to the Walmadjari people after Europeans arrived.
How Gooniyandi Society Works
Gooniyandi society is organized into eight main groups called gooroo. These groups help decide who can marry whom and how people are related. Each gooroo is divided into male and female classes.
- (Male) jawalyi
- (Female) nyawajaddi
- (Male) jawangari
- (Female) nawangari
- (Male) joowooddoo
- (Female) nyawooddoo
- (Male) jangala
- (Female) nangala
Daily Life and Trade
The Gooniyandi were skilled at finding food in their environment. They lived in small groups and gathered food from rivers, pools, and springs. They ate reptiles, fish, and small water creatures.
They had special names for different types of land:
- walibiri: This meant "river country," where they often moved around water sources.
- pindiri: This referred to plains with scrubland (ti:winji) and forests (ke'rede). Here, they hunted animals like kangaroos.
- ka:waro: This described mountainous areas where they found euros (a type of wallaroo).
Men usually hunted larger animals such as bustards, echidnas, and emus. Women gathered plants, honey, and protein-rich foods like witchetty grubs and frogs.
The Gooniyandi living near Fitzroy Crossing were important in a large trade network. They called this trade tjirdi or wirnandi. Fitzroy Crossing was a key spot for trading goods over long distances. They traded items like tjimbila, which were special stone knives, with tribes to the south.
Shells collected by the Djaui from the Sunday Islands were also part of this trade. These shells, called tjakuli by the Gooniyandi, were traded through different groups. The Warwa and Nyigina people traded them for spears, then passed them to the Bunuba and Gooniyandi. The Gooniyandi then traded these tjakuli with the Gija people and the Djaru. Many of these shells eventually reached tribes in the Western Desert.
Contact with Europeans
In 1879, Alexander Forrest explored Gooniyandi lands. He wrote good things about the area, saying it was good for farming. Because of this, people started claiming land for cattle and sheep farms in the late 1880s. This was when settlers began to develop the Fitzroy River area.
Other Names for Gooniyandi
The Gooniyandi people are also known by several other names:
- Gunian, Gunan
- Konean, Konajan, Konejanu (a name given by the Mangarla people)
- Kuniandu, Kunian, Kunan, Goonien
- Wadeawulu (a name given by the Gija people)
Notable Gooniyandi People
- Nyibayarri (Jack Bohemia): He was a police tracker in the Kimberley region. He spoke several languages and helped the police for 32 years. In 1970, he received the British Empire Medal for his service.
