The Djerait were an indigenous Australian people of the Northern Territory

Language

The Djerait language was said to have been mutually intelligible with that of the Mulluk-Mulluk who spoke a Daly river language, being as distant as ancient Greek dialects were to each other. And it was also said to be interchangeable with that spoken by the Pongaponga.[1]

Country

According to Norman Tindale, the Djerait occupied some 500 square miles (1,300 km2) of tribal land on the north shores of Anson Bay, extending north to Point Blaze.[2] Neighbouring tribes were the Mulluk-Mulluk, the Madngella the Pongaponga and the Wogait.[1]

People

The Jesuit missionary Donald Mackillop stated that the Djerait were a "small but intelligent tribe".[1]

Some words

  • yinnung delluk (bamboo nose stick)[3]
  • wennu. (conical helmet smeared with pipe clay and topped with a bone to which an emu plume is affixed)[4]
  • barang (dangerous night spirit, noseless and with blanks for facial eyes, with two organs on the back for seeing at great distances.'[5]

Alternative names

  • Tjerait
  • Cherait, Cherite[1]
  • Sherait[6]
  • Jeerite
  • Scherits
  • Tjiras[7]
  • Paperbark natives[6]

Notes

    Citations

    Sources

    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.