Wakaya people

{{use Australian English|date=August 2020}} {{use dmy dates|date=November 2017}} thumb|upright|A Wakaya man The '''Wakaya''' are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory.

==Country== Norman Tindale's estimate of the Wakaya's territory assigns them some {{convert|15,000|mi2|km2}}.{{sfn|Tindale|1974|p=236}} ==Language== {{further|Wakaya language}} The Wakaya language is now extinct.<ref>{{cite web | title=C16: Wakaya | website=AIATSIS Collection (AUSTLANG) | date=26 July 2019 | url=https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/language/C16 | access-date=22 August 2020}}</ref>

==Social economy== The Wakaya were one of the Australian peoples, the others being the Watjarri, Wanman, Pitjantjatjara, Ngadadjara and Alyawarre, who are known to have harvested purslane seeds, and threshed them within stone circles for the oily nutrients they provided.{{sfn|Tindale|1974|p=95}} ==Land==

In 1980 the Wakaya people lodged a land claim along with the Alyawarre people for land somewhere near the remote outstation of Purrukwarra. As a result, they were handed back {{convert|1874|km2}} on 22 October 1992, while the Alyawarre were given {{convert|2065|km2}}, both of which were only small parts of the original claim.<ref>{{cite web | title=From the days of whips and guns now we have our land back | website=Central Land Council, Australia | date=22 October 1992 | url=https://www.clc.org.au/index.php?/land-won-back/info/from-the-days-of-whips-and-guns-now-we-have-our-land-back/ | access-date=22 August 2020}}</ref>

==Alternative names== * ''Wagaja, Waggaia'' * ''Wagai, Waagai'' * ''Wagaiau, Waagi'' * ''Warkya'' * ''Wogaia, Worgaia, Worgai, Workaia, Warkaia'' * ''Workia, Workii, Woorkia'' * ''Lee-wakya'' * ''Akaja'' ( Kaytetye exonym) * ''Ukkia, Arkiya''{{sfn|Tindale|1974|p=236}}

== Notable Wakaya people == A notable Wakaya man was Kudajarnd who, alongside his wives Langinkab and Kulindab, in the Wild Australia Show in the 1890s.<ref name=":0">{{Citation |last=Memmott |first=Paul |title=Kudajarnd (c. 1845–c. 1905) |work=Australian Dictionary of Biography |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/kudajarnd-31444 |access-date=2025-08-26 |place=Canberra |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Aird |first=Michael |last2=Allen |first2=Lindy |last3=Knowles |first3=Chantal |last4=Memmott |first4=Paul |last5=Nugent |first5=Maria |last6=O'Rourke |first6=Tim |last7=Richards |first7=Jonathan |year=2022 |title=Essay - Wild Australia Show |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/essay/30 |access-date=2025-08-27 |website=Australian Dictionary of Biography}}</ref>

==Notes== {{notelist}}

===Citations=== {{Reflist|20em}}

==Sources== {{refbegin|30em}} *{{Cite book| chapter = Wakaja (NT) | last = Tindale | first = Norman Barnett | author-link = Norman Tindale | year = 1974 | title = Aboriginal Tribes of Australia: Their Terrain, Environmental Controls, Distribution, Limits, and Proper Names | publisher = Australian National University Press | chapter-url = http://archives.samuseum.sa.gov.au/tindaletribes/wakaja.htm | isbn = 978-0-708-10741-6 }} {{refend}}

{{Aboriginal peoples of the Northern Territory}}

{{authority control}}

Category:Aboriginal peoples of the Northern Territory