The Ngamba were an Australian Aboriginal people of New South Wales.
Language[edit]
The Ngamba language is poorly described because little has been transmitted of its nature. It is generally believed to have been similar to Gumbaynggirr.[1]
Country[edit]
Ngamba territory comprised some 900 square miles (2,300 km2) from Port Macquarie and the vicinity of Rollands Plains south to the Manning River. The inland extension has not been ascertained.[2]
People[edit]
A few remnants of the original tribe were attested as still living in 1929, when A.R. Radcliffe-Brown described them as lingering on with descendants of the Ngaku and Daingatti.[3] According to the reminiscences of Harry Buchanan, they had been systematically and savagely exterminated by the Australian native police.[4]
Customs[edit]
The Ngamba exploited the mangrove species Avicennia marina for its bark in order to fashion their military shields.[5]
Alternative names[edit]
- Ngambar
- Ngeunbah[2]
Notes[edit]
Citations[edit]
- ^ Eades 1979, pp. 249, 251.
- ^ a b Tindale 1974.
- ^ Radcliffe-Brown 1929, pp. 400, 407.
- ^ Eades 1979, p. 251.
- ^ Duke 2006, p. 22.
Sources[edit]
- Duke, Norman C. (2006). Australia's Mangroves: The Authoritative Guide to Australia's Mangrove Parts. MER. ISBN 978-0-646-46196-0.
- Eades, Diana (1979). "Gumbayngirr". In Dixon, Robert M. W.; Blake, Barry J. (eds.). Handbook of Australian Languages. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press. pp. 243–360. ISBN 978-0-708-10741-6.
- Radcliffe-Brown, A. R. (July–December 1929). "Notes on Totemism in Eastern Australia". The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 59: 399–415. doi:10.2307/2843892. JSTOR 2843892.
- Tindale, Norman Barnett (1974). "Ngamba (NSW)". Aboriginal Tribes of Australia: Their Terrain, Environmental Controls, Distribution, Limits, and Proper Names. Australian National University Press. ISBN 978-0-708-10741-6.