TheNgiyampaa people, also speltNgyiyambaa,Nyammba andNgemba,[1][a] are anAboriginal Australian people of the state ofNew South Wales. The generic name refers to an aggregation of three groups, the Ngiyampaa, theNgiyampaa Wangaaypuwan, and theNgiyampaa Wayilwan, respectively clans of a larger Ngiyampaa nation.[2][3][4]
Their language consisted of varieties ofNgiyampaa,[b][5] which was composed of two dialects, Ngiyambaa Wangaaypuwan and Wayilwan Ngiyambaa.[6][7][8] TheWangaaypuwan (withwangaay) people are so called because they usewangaay to say "no", as opposed to the Ngiyampaa in the Macquarie Marshes and towardsWalgett, who were historically defined separately by colonial ethnographers asWayilwan, so-called because their word for "no" waswayil.[9][7] The distinction between Ngiyampaa, Wangaaypuwan, and Wayilwan traditionally drawn, and sanctioned by the classification ofNorman Tindale, may rest upon a flawed assumption of marked "tribal" differences based on Ngiyampaa linguistic discriminations between internal groups or clans whose word for "no" varied.[4]
According to Tindale's estimation, Ngiyampaa tribal lands (ngurrampaa, "country")[c] extended over some 6,600 square miles (17,000 km2) in the territory, much of itpeneplain, lying south of the south bank of theBarwon andDarling rivers, fromBrewarrina to Dunlop. Their area includedYanda Creek down to the source ofMulga Creek, and took in theBogan River.[1][10] TheWayilwan clan[3][4] were on their southeastern flank, theWangaaypuwan clan[11] southwest while theGamilaraay were to the northeast and thePaakantyi to their west and northwest.
Mount Grenfell, some 80 kilometres (50 mi) northwest ofCobar, is an important site for the Ngiyampaa people, who were barred from accessing it until the 1970s.[12]
A geographical distinction regarding the homeland camping world (ngurrampaa) is attested between three groups, all inhabiting areas devoid of permanent watercourses.
These two groups are collectively referred to as drylanders.
A further distinction was drawn between the above three groups and two groups of river people whose descendants now dwell to the east and west of thengurrampaa. These are the
In 1914 a regional newspaper stated that there had been a massacre in 1859 of around 300 Ngiyampaa at Hospital Creek, close toBrewarrina.[15]