TheYorta Yorta, also known asJotijota,^[a] are anAboriginal Australian people who have traditionally inhabited the area surrounding the junction of theGoulburn andMurray Rivers in present-day north-easternVictoria and southernNew South Wales.

As was customary with many tribal names in the Murray basin –Wemba-Wemba,Latjilatji,Muthi Muthi,Nari-Nari and so on – the Yortaethnonym is derived from reduplicating their word for "no" (yota/yoda).^[1][2]

Norman Tindale (1974) listed the following alternative names used to refer to Yorta Yorta people:^[3]

TheYorta Yorta language may be alanguage isolate within thePama-Nyungan language family,^[4] though it is often treated as a member of theYotayotic branch of that family along withYabula Yabula, which is not particularly close. It is adialect continuum of closely related languages traditionally spoken on either side of the Murray River from west of Echuca to east of theCobram/Tocumwal area, and south-east along the Goulburn River as far as theMooroopna/Shepparton. It was the first language for many of these groups down to around 1960 but elements of the language are still transmitted in families by descendants to this day.^[5]

It shares few similarities in vocabulary with the languages used by neighbouring tribes, and lexically seems closest toPallanganmiddang.^[4]

The Yorta Yorta were divided intoclans, of which the names of ten were enumerated byEdward Micklethwaite Curr based on the situation in the 1840s:

Tindale (1974) named only three:^[7]

• Gunbowerooranditchgoole^[c]
• Ngarrimouro
• Woollathura

Another source mentions"Dhulinyagan".^[8]

The numbers may well estimate the historic population since evidence from oven mounds in the area suggested a higher population density in former times, and it is known that the area was ravaged bysmallpox epidemics.^{[citation needed]}

In modern times, the Yorta Yorta comprise a number of historically distinct tribes, as well asclans and family groups descending directly from the original Yorta Yorta. Tribes that now come under the general umbrella term of Yorta Yorta include theBangerang andKwatkwat. Clans groups represented include theKailtheban, Wollithiga, Moira, Ulupna,Yalaba Yalaba, andNgurai-illiam-wurrung.^[9]

In aNative title claim submitted in 1995 by the Yorta Yorta people, it was determined byJustice Olney in 1998 that the "tide of history" had "washed away" any real acknowledgement of traditional laws and any real observance of traditional customs by the applicants.^[10] An appeal was made to the full bench of the Federal Court on the grounds that "the trial judge erroneously adopted a 'frozen in time' approach" and "failed to give sufficient recognition to the capacity of traditional laws and customs to adapt to changed circumstances". The Appeal was dismissed in a majority 2 to 1 decision.^[11] The case was taken on appeal to the High Court of Australia but also dismissed in a 5 to 2 majority ruling in December 2002.^[12][13]

In response to the failed native title claim, in May 2004 theVictoria State Government led by Premier Steve Bracks signed an historic co-operative management agreement with the Yorta Yorta people covering public land, rivers and lakes in north-central Victoria. The agreement gives the Yorta Yorta people a say in the management of the traditional country including theBarmah State Park, Barmah State Forest,Kow Swamp and public land along the Murray and Goulburn rivers. Ultimate decision-making responsibility was retained by theEnvironment Minister.^[14]

TheYorta Yorta Nation Aboriginal Corporation (YYNAC), established in 1999 and not to be confused with the former Yorta Yorta Local Aboriginal Land Council which took ownership ofCummeragunja Reserve in NSW in 1984,^[15] has its headquarters inBarmah and a branch office inShepparton.^[16] YYNAC is governed by a board of seven directors, one of whom is anElder’s representative, and a Council of Elders comprising 16 Yorta Yorta family group representatives. There is aCEO who manages the day-to-day operations, administration and personnel.^[17]

TheAborigines Advancement League (AAL) was established in the 1930s by Yorta Yorta activists such asWilliam Cooper,Sir Douglas Nicholls,Marj Tucker,Geraldine Briggs andShadrach James. It lodged a claim for theBarmah Forest in 1975 which was rejected by the Victorian Government.^[18]

TheYorta Yorta Tribal Council (YYTC), formally established in April 1983,^[19][18][20] but according to some accounts originally established in 1972 byElizabeth Maud Hoffman,Margaret Wirrpanda and others,^[21][22] took over the work of the AAL in working for the Yorta Yorta people. Among the founders were It made another claim for the Barmah Forest in 1984^[23] under theCain government, which did not succeed.^[18]

The Yorta Yorta Tribal Council was superseded by theYorta Yorta Clans Group (YYCG) in 1989, which broadened its scope and encompassed a wider geographic area of traditional Yorta Yorta land. YYCG was superseded by the YYNAC in 1999.^[18]

In October 2010, the State entered into aTraditional Owner Land Management Agreement with the Yorta Yorta, which established the Yorta Yorta Traditional Owner Land Management Board to jointly manageBarmah National Park (a "TOSA" settlement, under theTraditional Owner Settlement Act 2010^[24]).

TheYorta Yorta Traditional Owner Land Management Board is a unit of YYNAC.^[17] As recognisedtraditional owners of the land, a joint management plan is as of 2020^[update] being agreed between the YYNAC and theState of Victoria.Parks Victoria, as designated manager of Barmah National Park, will have responsibility for implementing many of the plan's strategies and actions, working in partnership with the YYNAC and other partners such as the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP).^[25]

• Briggs, hip-hop artist
• Burnum Burnum (1936–1997), activist, actor and author
• Deborah Cheetham (born 1964),opera singer and composer^[26]
• William Cooper (1861–1941), helped establish theAustralian Aborigines' League in 1935, led the first Aboriginal deputation to a Commonwealth minister, and another to protest the treatment of Jews and Christians in 1938^[27]
• Scott Darlow, singer, songwriter
• Jeremy Finlayson, Australian rules footballer^[28]
• Isaiah Firebrace, singer who representedAustralia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017
• Jade Gresham - Australian rules footballer^[28]
• Joel Hamling - Australian rules footballer^[28]
• Jarman Impey - Australian rules footballer^[28]
• Jimmy Little (1937–2012), musician whose career spanned over six decades. His 1958 song "Give the Coloured Boy a Chance" was the first written and recorded by anIndigenous Australian for the modern music industry.
• Sir Douglas Nicholls (1906–1988), professional athlete, pastor and pioneering campaigner for Aboriginal reconciliation, the first Aboriginal person to be knighted, and the 1976 first Indigenous Australian to hold vice-regal office (Governor of South Australia)
• Bill Onus (1906 – 1968), activist and actor
• Lin Onus (1948 – 1996), artist, son of Bill
• Jack Patten (1905 – 1957), professional boxer, civil rights activist, war veteran, writer, president and co-founder of theAborigines Progressive Association. He led the first delegation of Aboriginal people to meet with a serving prime minister.
• John Trevor Patten (born 1936), Australian bantamweight boxing champion between 1958 and 1962
• Jy Simpkin - Australian rules footballer^[28]
• Wes Patten (born 1974), actor, television host, and former NRL player
• Margaret Tucker, civil rights activist and writer, known for her part in the 1938Day of Mourning conference; first Aboriginal person to have published an autobiography
• Andrew Walker, a formerAFL player with theCarlton Football Club^[29]
• David Wirrpanda, former AFL player with theWest Coast Eagles, known for his community work in helping to improve the lives of young Indigenous Australians, named the 9th most influential Aboriginal Australian byThe Bulletin in 2007^[30]
• Margaret Wirrpanda, activist, niece of Margaret Tucker, born atCummeragunja, New South Wales, daughter of activists Geraldine Clements Briggs and Selwyn Briggs and mother to David Wirrpanda

The track "Ngarra Burra Ferra" sung by indigenous artistJessica Mauboy, from the 2012 hit filmThe Sapphires, is a song based on the traditionalAboriginal hymn "Bura Fera". The song is in the Yorta Yorta language and speaks ofGod's help in decimatingPharaoh's armies. The chorus, "Ngara burra ferra yumini yala yala", translates into English as "The Lord God drowned all Pharaoh's armies, hallelujah!" These lyrics are based on an ancient song in Jewish tradition known as the "Song of the Sea" from theBook of Exodus. Aboriginal communities of Victoria and southernNew South Wales may be the only people in the world who still sing the piece (in Yorta Yorta).^[31]

• Wharparilla Flora Reserve, a small environmental reserve, the place where the Yorta Yorta first met European settlers

• Bibliography of Bangerang language and people resources, at theAustralian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies

• Aboriginal peoples of New South Wales
• Aboriginal peoples of Victoria (state)
• Murray River
• Yorta Yorta

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