Murunitja Explained

The Murunitja are an indigenous Australian people of Western Australia located within the Goldfields-Esperance region.

Name

The ethnonym Murunitja appears to derive for a word murun, meaning a "stout person", referring to the characteristic build of the tribe.

Language

The Murunitja language is closely related to Mirnung and Ngadjunmaya.

Country

Murunitja country covered about 11000mi2 from the northern edge of the Nullarbor Plain at Naretha to Loongana. They also ranged as far as Rawlinna and the Walawuluna Rockhole.

Alternative names

• Mooroon
• Murnidja
• Mara (?)
• Kogara ('east')

Notes

Citations

Sources

• Web site: AIATSIS map of Indigenous Australia . 14 May 2024 . . .
• Web site: Tindale Tribal Boundaries . . September 2016 . .
• Tribal Migrations and Myths Centring on Ooldea, South Australia . Berndt . R. M. . Ronald Berndt . . 12 . 1 . 1–20 . 40327930 . September 1941 . 10.1002/j.1834-4461.1941.tb00343.x .
• Death, Burial, and Associated Ritual at Ooldea, South Australia . Berndt . R. M. . Johnston . T. Harvey . Ronald Berndt . . 12 . 3 . 189–208 . 40327948 . March 1942 . 10.1002/j.1834-4461.1942.tb00357.x .
• Book: Tindale, Norman Barnett . Murunitja (WA) . Norman Tindale . Aboriginal Tribes of Australia: Their Terrain, Environmental Controls, Distribution, Limits, and Proper Names . 1974 . . http://archives.samuseum.sa.gov.au/tindaletribes/murunitja.htm . 20 March 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200320020206/http://archives.samuseum.sa.gov.au/tindaletribes/murunitja.htm . 978-0-708-10741-6 .