Warnman people facts for kids

The Warnman (sometimes called Wanman) are an Aboriginal Australian people. They live in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. They have a rich history and culture, adapting to life in the desert.

Warnman Lands

The Warnman people's traditional lands, called waran, cover about 9,300 square miles (24,000 km²). These lands stretch from the McKay Range and Kumpupintil Lake in the south. To the west, their country reaches Wadurara on the Rudall River (Karlamilyi).

In the north, their land is near Lake Dora (also known as Walerelere), Mendidjildjil, and Karbardi. Eastward, their territory extends to the George, Wooloomber, and Auld lakes. The Warnman people loved their claypan lakes country (tjapipodari). They saw the change to mulga (a type of tree) land in the south as a sign of danger.

Language

The Warnman people speak the Warnman language.

Desert Life and Food

Natural features often act as boundaries between different Aboriginal groups. For the Warnman, the southern boundary was where their clumpy porcupine grassland changed into the thick mulga shrubland of the Kartudjara people.

When droughts hit, the Warnman would move northwest. They would go towards Karbardi, Pulburukuritji, and Kalamilji. Their desert home has many sandhills and few trees. It doesn't have many large animals like emus or kangaroos. However, they could find smaller animals like hare wallabies and opossums for meat.

Because their grasslands were poor, the Warnman became very skilled at grinding grass seeds for food. This is called grass-milling. Only a few other Aboriginal groups, like the Ualarai and the Pila Nguru, used this method.

What the Warnman Ate

A Warnman man once shared a list of their main foods with a researcher named Norman Tindale:

• Their main grain food (mai) came from threshing and cleaning Triodia grass seeds (ŋotja 'waruru).
• Cyperus bulbs (qalku) were gathered from clay flats between sand-dunes after heavy rains.
• Hare wallabies (mala) were hunted using a throwing stick (kitibaru).
• Brushtail possums (kuji/wigamu) were also a food source.
• Porcupines (tjilka) were hunted.
• Cossid moth grubs (pilku) were found on shrub roots.
• Pig weevil grubs (tjulalu) were another type of grub they ate.
• Lizards (watawata) like the sleepy lizard (luma) were part of their diet.
• Black goannas and sand goannas (walana) were hunted.
• Sandhill frogs (boboka) were found after rain in the desert.
• Ducks (kunjilidja) were hard to catch, but their eggs, laid after the rains, were highly valued.

After harvesting Portulaca seeds, the Warnman would process them using stone rings. The kitibaru throwing stick also worked as a digging stick to find marsupial moles. They made string from animal fur or human hair. This string was worn around the waist and used to lasso lizards. Once caught, the lizards could be tied to the string belt to carry back to camp.

Social Life

The Warnman people likely lived in six different groups or clans. Each group had its own wells for water. These areas gave each group member special rights to cut wood. However, all Warnman people, no matter their clan, could use the main watering holes (wongal).

Sometimes, severe droughts forced them to move into Nyangumarta lands. To get water, they would sometimes arrange marriages between their people and the Nyangumarta. The Nyangumarta people also sometimes sought wives from the Warnman.

Adapting to Change

Life in the harsh desert meant the Warnman had to develop clever ways to find food, like grinding grass seeds. This traditional knowledge helped them greatly when they moved closer to the coast. They could quickly use their skills to gather buffel or Afghan grass. This grass had spread into the area from camel saddles and was used as animal feed in dry regions.

Other Names for Warnman

• Wanmanba (a name used by the Mandjildjara people)
• Wanmin
• Nanidjarara (a name sometimes used by the Kartudjara and others, which the Warnman then used for the Nangatara people)
• Nenidjara
• Njanidjara
• Warumala (a name used by the Mangala people, meaning 'foreigner' or 'stranger')