TheYukulta people, also speltJokula,Jukula, and other variants, and also known asGanggalidda orGangalidda, are anAboriginal Australian people of the state ofQueensland.
They may be the same as theYanga group.[1]
Norman Tindale (1974) estimated that the Yukulta had about 5,400 square miles (14,000 km2) of tribal land extending fromBurketown to Hann Creek and Massacre Inlet in northern Queensland. They were also present on the coastal area to the west ofCliffdale Creek. Their inland extension was close to theNicholson River. Their eastern frontier was on the mouth of theAlbert River nearEscott.[2]
Kerwin (2011) and Trigger (2015) report that the Ganggalidda traditionally lived on the southern coast of theGulf of Carpentaria, west ofsv:Moonlight Creek. Many of their descendants now dwell in and aroundMungubie (Burketown) in northernQueensland.[3][4] TheGarrwa people occupied land to their west, theWaanyi to their south-west, theNguburinji to their south, and theMingginda to the east.[5]
The Yukulta/Ganggalida are one of four groups who placednative title claims to coastal areas in the southern gulf region. Their claim includes the area which was originally Mingginda territory, but to which the Yukulta/Ganggalida petitioners successfully maintained that they had a right to succession. In modern Yukulta/Ganggalida tales, by virtue of many of their forebears having shifted into the area since the late 19th century, the former Mingginda sites from Burketown south through theAlbert River and the lower reaches of the Nicholson River have become part of theirdreamtime creation narratives.[6]
The Yukulta/Ganggalidda people spoke theYukulta language, aTangkic language which is nowextinct. Kangkalita (Ganggalidda) is reported as a word meaning "language".[7]