Wardaman people

The Wardaman people are a small group of Indigenous Australians living about 145 km South-West of Katherine on Menngen Aboriginal Land Trust in the Northern Territory of Australia. They speak the Wardaman language which is said to be a near-extinct Australian Aboriginal language.

Wardaman country stretches from Katherine in the east across to the Victoria River in the west and includes sacred sites of culteral significance, the more well-known of these being the rock art site of two spirits, Yagjadbula and Jabaringi, the "Lightning Brothers" of the wet season storms.

Perhaps the most famous Wardaman person is Bill Yidumduma Harney, who is known as an advocate for Indigenous Australians, and has written several books, including his most recent, on Australian Aboriginal Astronomy, written with Hugh Cairns, entitled Dark Sparklers.

Further reading

• Dark Sparklers - a description of Wardaman culture, their cosmology, and how it relates to the night sky
• Ethnologue entry for Wardaman