Ildawongga (WA)

LocationWest of Lake Mackay to about Longitude 126°E; north toward a native place named Manggai which is tentatively identified as in the Stansmore Range. Manjildjara say their country begins at Ngila, an unidentified place several days walk east of Liburu (Libral on maps, Canning Stock Route Well 37). South to about 23°30'S latitude. A group of them supposedly suffering from the effects of drought were officially removed in April 1964 from ['Pundudjaba] (Jupiter Well; 126°43'E x 22°50'S) to Papunya Station. Their name was first heard in the west as Ilda in 1953, again in 1956 from a Pintubi man at Haast Bluff and directly from a tribesman in 1964. They may have been the last of the free-living aborigines of Australia to come into Western contact. Birdsell heard two names Nabiwangkadjara and Karo from aborigines of the Kokatja tribe at the Balgo Pallotine Mission. I heard a term Orailku which may apply to this group. J. Long checked my informants data for me in the field.
Co-ordinates127°0'E x 22°30'S
AreaNo estimate possible.
ReferencesTindale, 1951 MS, 1953 MS, 1956 MS, 1964; Birdsell, 1954 MS; Long, 1964.
Alternative NamesIlda, Ilta, Manggawara (of Ngadadjara-so-called from their style of hairdressing), Wananwanari (a lone native who arrived at Yuendumu from west of Lake Mackay in 1950 was called this by Pintubi men), Maiidjara (of a Kokatja man), Maiadjara.