Maijabi facts for kids

The Maijabi (also called Mayi-Yapi) were an Indigenous Australian people. They lived in the state of Queensland, Australia. They had a rich culture and deep connection to their land.

Maijabi Country

The Maijabi people lived on a large area of land, about 4,000 square miles (10,360 square kilometers). This area was mainly around the Cloncurry River. Their land stretched south to a place called Canobie and north to Donor Hills. The eastern edge of their territory was near the Flinders River and the lower Saxby River. To the west, their land reached the upper Dismal Creek.

Maijabi History and European Contact

When Europeans first arrived in their area, it's thought there were about 1,000 Maijabi people. Sadly, their numbers dropped quickly. By 1868, there were only about 250 Maijabi left. By 1879, only about 80 remained. This decline happened because of difficult times, including conflicts with new settlers and diseases like measles, which were brought by Europeans.

Edward Palmer was a European settler who took over land at Canobie Station in 1865. He learned about the Maijabi's traditional ways of finding food. He was one of the first to see how they harvested seeds from a plant called native purslane. The Maijabi called these seeds thukouro.

The Maijabi would gather the purslane plants and thresh them. This means they would beat the plants to get the seeds out. They often used a circle of stones to do this. The stems of the plant could be eaten raw or cooked in ashes. Maijabi women used shells from freshwater mussels to scoop up the tiny seeds. Then, they would grind the seeds between stones. The ground seeds were pressed into cakes and cooked in hot ashes. This shows how clever and resourceful the Maijabi people were in using their land for food.

Other Names for Maijabi

Over time, the Maijabi people were known by a few different names. These include:

• Maippe, Myappe
• Majabi
• Miappi
• Miubbi
• Miulbi (This was likely a mistake in spelling.)
• Myabi

Some Maijabi Words

Here are a few words from the Maijabi language:

• barrago (This word meant 'whiteman'.)
• mecum caramra (This meant 'tame dog'.)
• moochoo (This word meant 'father'.)
• yakoro (This word meant 'mother'.)
• yamby (This meant 'wild dog'.)