Mangarla facts for kids

The Mangarla (also called Mangala) are an Aboriginal Australian people. They traditionally lived in the north-western part of the Great Sandy Desert in Western Australia. Their land was west of the Karajarri people and east of the Walmajarri. The Juwaliny and Yulparija peoples lived to their south. Today, many Mangarla people live in places like Jarlmadangah and Bidyadanga.

Mangarla Language

The Mangarla language is part of the Marrngu languages group, which belongs to the larger Pama–Nyungan language family. There are two main ways of speaking Mangarla, called dialects: Kakutu (or Kakurtu) and Ngulatu (or Ngulartu).

Sadly, Mangarla is an endangered language. This means very few people still speak it as their first language. In 2002, fewer than 20 native speakers were counted. A Catholic priest named Father Kevin McKelson (1926–2011) worked hard to create the first dictionary of the language in 1998. He was known as Japulu (father) by the five tribes whose languages he learned. His work helped create a bigger dictionary in 2005.

History of Contact

The Mangarla people, along with groups like the Walmajarri and Wangkatjungka, were often called a "desert mob" by early European settlers. This was because they lived in dry, desert areas.

Around 1885, farmers started using Mangarla land for their animals. Many Mangarla men were then asked to work on these farms as "jackaroos," which are trainee stockmen. According to their traditions, they were often paid with just a pair of boots, a shirt, and trousers each year. This situation continued for a long time.

Things began to change after the 1967 referendum. This important vote helped establish the idea of equal pay for Aboriginal workers. After this, many Mangarla people unfortunately lost their jobs on the farms.

Native Title Rights

Native title is a special legal right that recognizes the traditional land ownership of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In 2014, a court decision was made about the Nyikina-Mangarla people.

Justice John Gilmour of the Federal Court of Australia ruled that the Nyikina-Mangarla people were granted native title over a large area of land. This area is about 26,000 square kilometers (about 10,000 square miles). It stretches from the King Sound through the Fitzroy Valley all the way to the Great Sandy Desert. This decision recognized their deep connection to their traditional lands.

See also

• Ngurrara, a grouping of peoples of language groups including Mangarla