TheUmiida, also writtenUmida andUmede, were anAboriginal Australian people of theKimberley region of northWestern Australia.
The Umiida spoke one of the dialects of the (western)Worrorra language.[1] What little is known of it, and Ungarrangu, was taken down by Howard Coate in the 1960s.[2]
Norman Tindale's estimate of their tribal domains assigns them 1,800 square miles (4,700 km2), along theYampi Sound coastline and its inlets, as far south as Cone Bay. In a northerly direction, they possessed the islands fromKoolan to Macleay. Their westward extension went as far asBathurst Island, Bayliss Island, and those in Strickland Bay. Their inland domains went only as far as the watershed.[3]
The Umiida were a nomadic rafter people who harvested the maritime resources off the many islands in their area, together with theDjaui andUnggarranggu, tribes with whom they had amicable relations.[3]
Like other Worrorra neighbouring peoples the Umiida belonged toWandjina/Wunggurr cultural complex where theDreaming imagined bothwandjina, fresh-water creator beings who were custodians of key sites, and a common Worrorranrainbow serpentWunggurr.[4]
A number of the Umiida were removed toBeagle Bay and died there. People of part Umiida descent are known to live inBroome.[3]