Pitjandjara, South Australia, N.B. Tindale

Drawer 2 of 4. This drawer contains the second section (M-R) of a Pitjandjara vocabulary compiled by Tindale. Although entitled 'Pitjandjara', the vocabulary includes words from a number of Central Australian languages for comparative purposes.The first card in the drawer contains the following note: 'Dec 1935. 2830 entries. In May 1937 5 [sic] typed copies were made of which 2 are lodged at University of Adelaide. One to NBT. One to S.A. Museum. One to J.R.B. Love, passed by him to [RM] Trudinger. One registered in specials [?] Public Library of S.A. Blue cards Pitjandjara & dialects. White cards others for comparison' (for the 1937 document, see AA 338/8/4). The general pattern of cards according to colour is the following:

  • rose cards: Pintubi, Ngalia, Jumu;

  • white cards: Wirongu, Kukatja, Helms 1896, Pintubi, Ngalia, Jirkla miniŋ, Nauo, Walpiri, Woŋkaŋuru (& Dieri), Paŋkala, Aranda, Tjalkadjara, Jangkundjara, Kokata, Mirning;

  • blue cards: Pitjandjara, ŋa:dadjara, Jaŋkunzazara, Naŋatadjara.



Tindale compiled the vocabulary largely from his own fieldwork, but it also draws on a number of published works, including R Helms's 'Anthropology', Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, Vol.16, 1896, pp. 237-332, and Daisy Bates's 'Aborigines of the West Coast of South Australia; vocabularies and ethnological notes', Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, Vol.42, 1918, pp. 152-167.

Tindale Tribes: Pitjandjara; Pintubi; Ngalia; Jumu; Wirangu; Kukatja (NT); Tjalkadjara; Jangkundjara; Kokata; Mirning; Ngadadjara; Nangatadjara; Wongkanguru; Dieri; Pangkala.

CreatorDr Norman Barnett Tindale
ControlAA 338/7/2/4
Date Range1931  -  1966
Quantity 15.4cm,   1   metal filing drawer, approx. 35 cm of cards
Series AA338/07