Maung people

The Maung, or Warruwi are the indigenous Australian people living on the Goulburn Islands in the Arafura sea off the coast of the Northern Territory.

Maung is not one of the majority Pama-Nyungan languages but belongs to the Iwaidjic subgroup of the Iwaidjan languages, spoken, together with Manangkardi, on Goulburn Island. The language was first described in some detail by Arthur Capell and Heather Hinch

Norman Tindale estimated the extent of Maung territory at 500 sq. miles covering both the Goulburn Islands and the adjacent coastal lands. Their eastern extension was as far as east to King River, Braithwaite Point and Junction Bay. Their western limits were at the Sandy and Angularli creeks.

The seasons were of two basic kinds: the wet season, which lasted until either in May or June, followed by the dry season which concluded in October/ November. The native calendar was fixed by correlating the onset of seasons with minute changes observed in the fauna and flora. The harbinger for the end of the wet season was the peewee, whose arrival signaled that it was time to harvest mawain, a type of water lily root. Brown scum, mangirgirra, on the coastal waters meant it was time to go out and fish for a small variety of shark, which abounded at this time, in August; when the waluru' or stringy bark began to flower, it meant that turtles were mating, and, once the blossoms were due to fall, the hunting period for these turtles began.

Contrary to widespread perceptions concerning the Aborigines as a purely hunting and gathering nomadic people, evidence that a number of groups understood and engaged in agriculture, by culling roots and replanting them for a seasonal harvest has also been forthcoming in studies of the Maung. Lamilami's grandfather would gather mungubdi lilies and a tapioca like roots called gurabel and take them to other locations such as billabongs where they would be planted. The same was done with the banyan and cabbage trees, in order to provide shade.

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