Maiawali facts for kids

The Maiawali people, also known as the Mayuli, are an Indigenous Australian group from Queensland, Australia. They have a rich history and culture connected to their traditional lands.

Maiawali Language

The Maiawali people spoke a language that was a dialect of Pitta Pitta. Early European settlers who came to their area made some short records of their language. This helps us learn about how they communicated.

Traditional Lands

The Maiawali people lived on a large area of land that was their traditional country. Experts like Norman Tindale estimated their lands covered about 31,600 square kilometers (12,200 square miles). This area included parts of the Diamantina River region. Their lands stretched from places like Davenport Downs and the Diamantina Lakes north towards Old Cork. It also went from the Mayne River to Mount Vergemont. Their western border was near Spring Vale, and to the southeast, their territory reached Farrars Creek. Important places like Connemara and Brighton Downs were also part of Maiawali country.

History with Settlers

In the 1870s, European settlers began to establish large sheep and cattle farms, called pastoral stations, on Indigenous lands. Writers like Mary Durack noted that the Maiawali's traditional lands were among those taken over by these new farms.

By 1901, a settler named Sid Hill, who lived at Brighton Downs, wrote about the Maiawali people. He said they were excellent stockmen, meaning they were very skilled at working with livestock. At that time, he estimated there were still about 500 Maiawali people. However, he also observed that their numbers were quickly getting smaller. This was mainly due to new diseases that arrived with the European settlers, which the Maiawali people had no protection against.

Native Title Rights

Today, the descendants of the Maiawali people, along with the Karuwali people, have worked to have their rights to their traditional lands recognized. They made an agreement about mining rights in a large area southwest of Winton, covering about 49,110 square kilometers (18,960 square miles). This is part of the process called Native Title, which acknowledges the traditional ownership of land by Indigenous Australians.

Other Names for the Maiawali

Over time, the Maiawali people have been known by several different names or spellings, including:

• Maiali
• Majawali
• Mailly
• Myall or Myallee
• Myoli
• Miorli
• Majuli (which is sometimes considered a mistake)