Marditjali (VIC)

LocationNaracoorte, So. Aust. to Goroke and the western vicinity of Mount Arapiles; on Mosquito Creek; south to Struan, Apsley, and Edenhope, north to Bangham, Kaniva, and Servicetown. This is a small tribe distinct from Jaadwa. Their term for man is ['ba:ngg]. Their language was known to western tribes as Wintjabarap, this was derived from the hordal name Wintjintanga in the west of Marditjali territory. Western tribes sometimes applied the name Marditali as a general term to the Ngarkat of the mallee desert country of South Australia. It is possible that the real name of this people has not been recovered since in western languages ['marti] means 'abrupt' or 'hard to understand' and ['tjale] means 'speech' or 'language,' hence may not have been of their own devising. No better term, however, has been discovered.
Co-ordinates141°10'E x 36°45'S
Area2,000 sq. m. (5,200 sq. km.)
ReferencesHartmann in Smyth, 1878; Smith, 1880; Curr, 1887; Tindale, 1939 MS, 1940; Tindale in Condon, 1955.
Alternative NamesWorangarait (['wora] = plain country, ['ngara] = to exist in-name applied by Bunganditj), Worangarit, Wragarait, Wintjabarap (language name), Lake Wallace tribe, Keribial-barap, ['tjal:e] = language, speech, Witjintanga (a hordal name), Wichintunga.