Widi people

TheWidiwere anAboriginal Australianpeople of theMid Westregion ofWestern Australia.

Country

The Widi were native to the area betweenLakes Monger and Moore.To the north, they were present aroundYuin,Talleringa Peak, andNalbarra.Their western confines ran toMullewaandMorawa.Their eastern limits lay atPaynes Findand Wogarno, south ofMount Magnet.Yalgooand the upperGreenough Riverwere also part of Widi territory.Norman Tindalesuggested that their tribal lands spread over about 13,800 square miles (36,000 km²).

Reputation

According to evidence taken atLake Darlot,the Widi had a certain reputation for savagery even among tribes far to their west.

Social organization and customs

The Widi made both circumcision and subincision an integral part of their initiation ceremonies.

Alternative names

• Wiri(wirisignifies 'no')
• Minango('southerners'Watjarriexonym)
• Minangu
• Nanakari(Nokaanexonym)
• Nanakati('my people')
• Barimaia(Watjarri exonym denoting both the Widi and theBadimaya)
• Jaburu( "northerners", perhaps aBallardongterm)

Sources

• "AIATSIS map of Indigenous Australia".AIATSIS.14 May 2024.
• "Tindale Tribal Boundaries"(PDF).Department of Aboriginal Affairs, Western Australia.September 2016.
• Spencer, Baldwin(1914).Native tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia(PDF).London:Macmillan Publishers.
• Tindale, Norman Barnett(1974)."Widi (WA)".Aboriginal Tribes of Australia: Their Terrain, Environmental Controls, Distribution, Limits, and Proper Names.Australian National University Press.ISBN978-0-708-10741-6.Archived fromthe originalon 20 March 2020.