Malyangapa


The Malyangaapa are an Indigenous Australian Tribe of people who live in the far western areas of the state of New South Wales.

Language

The Malyangapa spoke a dialect of the Yarli language.

Country

Malyangaapa country extends over some with its centre at Milparinka around the head of Yancannie Creek. To the east their tribal boundaries ran to beyond Mount Arrowsmith. The southern boundaries lay around Mutawintji and Sturt Meadow.

Culture

The Malyangapa practiced circumcision as a rite for males undergoing initiation. In their dreaming lore the primordial creator-figure, rainbow serpent was called kakurra (corresponding to the Ngatyi of the Paakantyi and the akurra of their western neighbours, the Adnyamathanha. They shared close cultural and marriage links with the neighbouring Wanjiwalku.

History of contact

Reid states that settlement of Malyangapa lands began in 1862/1863, at which time they were thought to number 200. Within the decade this figure dropped by a quarter, and after 15 years of contact, Reid estimated only roughly 60 had survived, half of whom were under fourteen. Among these was a remnant of the Ngurunta

Alternative names