Oitbi facts for kids

The Oitbi were an Indigenous Australian group of people who lived on the Cobourg Peninsula in the Northern Territory. They were one of several Aboriginal groups in that area.

Oitbi Language and Words

The Oitbi Language

The Oitbi people spoke a language that was part of the Iwaidjan languages family. A short list of their words was collected by Paul Foelsche in the late 1800s. He noted it as the language of people near Raffles Bay. The name "Oitbi" might have come from the Iwaidja word warrkbi, meaning 'person'. However, their word for 'no' was auitbi, which suggests their name might have come from that word, similar to how some languages in Western Australia are named.

Some Oitbi Words

Here are a few words from the Oitbi language:

• looloot (tame dog)
• lurkakie (wild dog)
• nowajuk (father)
• kamoomoo (mother)
• warrooline (children)
• warrangganaba (whiteman)

Oitbi Traditional Lands

Norman Tindale, a famous researcher of Aboriginal groups, estimated that the Oitbi's traditional lands covered about 300 square miles. These lands stretched from the southern coast of the Cobourg Peninsula all the way to the Sir George Hope Islands.

The Oitbi People

The explorer George Windsor Earl wrote one of the earliest descriptions of the Oitbi people. He noticed some interesting features about them. He thought they looked different from other Aboriginal Australians he had seen.

Earl described them as having:

• Arched eyebrows
• Straight, silky hair
• Fairer skin than many other Aboriginal people
• Eyes that were slightly slanted, which he thought was a feature of some Polynesian groups

He believed that there might have been some mixing of Polynesian people with the Aboriginal people in this part of Australia.

Oitbi History

Contact with Makassans

The Oitbi likely had a lot of contact with the Makassans. The Makassans were traders from Indonesia who visited northern Australia every year. They came to collect sea cucumbers (trepang). One of the Oitbi's names, Bidjenelumbo, seems to come from the Malay language, which was spoken by the Makassans. This shows how much they interacted.

European Arrival and Challenges

Like many Aboriginal groups in this area, the Oitbi faced big changes when Europeans started to settle. Their community began to break apart quickly. This might have also been due to pressure from other tribes pushing them towards the peninsula.

By 1881, their numbers had dropped significantly. Paul Foelsche, a police inspector, reported that only 30 Oitbi people were left: 7 men, 12 women, 9 boys, and 2 girls. This huge drop in population was mainly caused by smallpox. The disease was brought by Makassar trepang traders in 1866 and sadly wiped out many people. Many Oitbi people eventually joined the Iwaidja group.

Neighboring Tribes

Besides the Oitbi, there were five other tribes in the area who kept their separate identities when Europeans first arrived. These were the Wurango, Jaako, Iwaidja, Amarak, and Djalakuru. A seventh tribe, the Gaari, sadly became extinct.

Other Names for Oitbi

The Oitbi people were also known by a few other names:

• Heutbi (This name comes from their word for 'no,' which was oitbi or auitbi.)
• Oitbo
• Bidjenelumbo or Bijnalumbo