Gangulu

Name

The name Gangulu is derived from the word gangu ‘no’. This naming convention is also used in other languages of the region such as Gureng Gureng (gureng ‘no’).

Language

The Gangulu language belongs to the Maric languages of the Pama-Nyungan language family. The language was silenced during the 19th and 20th centuries through the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act. The Gangulu community are now working to reawaken their language.

Country

Gangulu traditional lands occupy an estimated 6,000 mi2 about the Dawson River as far south as Banana and Theodore. To the west, they extend to the Comet River, including Blackdown Tablelands and the vicinity of Woorabinda, Duaringa and Coomooboolaroo, and north to the Mackenzie River. Their eastern frontier lay towards Biloela, Mount Morgan, Gogango Range, and the upper Don River. Thangool and the headwaters of Grevillea Creek marked its southeastern limits.

People

A correspondent of E. M. Curr, Peter McIntosh, a resident of the area, stated that the Gangulu were a confederation of several groups, the main ones being the Karranbal, the Maudalgo, and the Mulkali. No further data were recorded to enable ethnographer Norman Tindale to clarify the precise nature of the last two groups, but the AUSTLANG database by AIATSIS reports that the Karranbal is the Garaynbal (Garingbal) language and Maudalgo is a variant name of the Wadjigu language and people, a separate group from the Biri, who spoke a Bidjara dialect. Mulkali is not further described.

Along with many other Queensland tribes whose traditional lands had been annexed by colonial pastoralists, many Gangulu people were forcibly removed to the Woorabinda and Cherbourg government reserves.

Alternative spelling

• Ghungalu

• Kaangooloo

• Cangoolootha (tha meant "speech")

• Khangalu, Kangalo, Kongulu, Kongalu

• Kangool-lo, Konguli, Gangulu

• Cangoolootha, Gangu, Kangool lo, Kongulu, Khang, Ghangulu, Ka ngool lo

Notes

Citations

Sources

• {{Cite book | author-link = Robert M. W. Dixon
• {{Cite book | author-link = Alfred William Howitt
• {{Cite journal | title = Tribes on Cherburg Settlement, Queensland
• {{Cite journal | title = The Toara Ceremony of the Dippil Tribes of Queensland | author-link = Robert Hamilton Mathews | doi-access = free}}
• {{Cite book | editor-last = Curr | editor-first = Edward Micklethwaite | editor-link = Edward Micklethwaite Curr | chapter-url = https://archive.org/download/australianracei02currgoog/australianracei02currgoog.pdf
• {{Cite book | author-link = Norman Tindale | chapter-url = http://archives.samuseum.sa.gov.au/tindaletribes/kangulu.htm | archive-date = 2 October 2017 | access-date = 1 October 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171002235750/http://archives.samuseum.sa.gov.au/tindaletribes/kangulu.htm | url-status = dead

References

1. {{AIATSIS. E40. Gangulu
2. Dixon, R.M.W.. (2002). "Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development". Cambridge Language Surveys.
3. Frankland, Kathy. "A Brief History of Government Administration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in Queensland". Community and Personal Histories, Queensland Department of Communities.
4. Marie, Elisabeth. (2024-05-31). "Awakening a sleeping language".
5. Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation. "Blackdown Tableland National Park".
6. Holmer, Nils M.. (1983). "Linguistic Survey of South-Eastern Queensland". The Australian National University.
7. {{AIATSIS. E38. Garaynbal
8. {{AIATSIS. E39. Wadjigu
9. (14 August 2018). "The Ghungalu people".