The Barindji, also written Parrintyi, are an
indigenous Australian people of the state of
New South Wales. They are to be distinguished from the
Paaruntyi, who spoke a similar language but whom they called the spitting people.[1]
Name
Parrintyi, according to one theory, meant forest dwellers[2] in the local languages,[1] but another view suggests it may have originated from the
toponym for a creek known as the Paroo, reflecting prior tribal links.
Tindale glosses this attribution by suggesting that the term may derive from a creek name, called the Paroo, reflecting prior tribal links. An
exonym, mamba (devils) was once used by the Darling River aborigines, who were terrified of the Parrintyi.[3]
Country
Aboriginal tribes of Riverina.
Norman Tindale estimated Parrintyi lands as encompassing roughly 9,000 square miles (23,000 km2) of tribal territory. Their land consisted of large stretches of
mallee,
mulga, swamp and sand land running parallel to, and east of, the
Darling River. Tindale set their southern boundaries from
Moira to within 30 miles (48 km) of
Euston, and their eastern extension in the vicinity of
Ivanhoe. To their west, he added, they took in
Manara RangeAlbermarle, Carowra,
Kilfera,
Manfred[3] and
Willandra Lakes.[1]
Running clockwise from the north, their neighbours were the
Naualko, followed by the
Ngiyambaa to their east, the
Yitayita on their southeastern flank, while the
southern Paakantyi inhabited the land to their west.
Social organization
The Parrintyi were organized into
clans (hordes) of which the following eight are known:
Their water often was obtained from the roots of water mallee (Eucalyptus) trees and Hakea, hence their camping places were widely dispersed and often were casual. Some of the neighbours had more disparaging names for them. The Barindji, living in dry country, extracted water from
hakea and
mallee. In periods of
drought, they would resort, in large mobs, to riverine areas in other tribal lands, engendering fear among, and conflict with, the riverine tribal groups.[1][3]
Their burial practices are similar to the very ancient burials at nearby
Mungo Lake indicating a long time in the area. The Parrintyi were described by
Thomas Mitchell and
Charles Sturt on their respective explorations of the area and described in colonial times by local landowners A.L.P. Cameron and
Alfred William Howitt.
Douglas, Kirsty (2010). Pictures of Time Beneath Enlarge cover Science, Heritage and the Uses of the Deep Past.
Csiro publishing.
ISBN978-0-643-09704-9.