Ngambri
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
 Australia
|
over 400 |
| Languages | |
| Walgalu | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Other Aboriginal Australians | |
Ngambri is an Aboriginal name for a locality in the south-east of Australia, near the centre of what is now Australia's capital city of Canberra. The area is close to Black Mountain along Sullivans Creek down to the Yeelamgigee, now Molonglo River. The extent of recognised Ngambri territory has been the subject of controversy in recent years.
The location was settled in October 1831 when John MacPherson was granted 640 acres (260 ha) of land. The homestead of the property was on the high ground above the river and called Springbank. MacPherson lived at Springbank with his wife Helen and their children, the first European family to live in what is now the Australian Capital Territory. One of their children, John Alexander MacPherson, was probably the first European boy born on the Limestone Plains.
The property to the east of Springbank was the larger Camberry station (Canberry), occupying what now is the suburbs of Acton and Turner.
The people who lived in the Ngambri location were part of the Nyamudy/Namadji people who spoke a language similar to Ngarigo spoken on the Monaro Plains. The Nyamudy/Namadgi people, some 300 persons, consisted of at least six family groupings, those around Queanbeyan (Ngyemutch), Pialligo, Brindabellas, Isabella Plains (Namwitch), Namadgi Range, and Black Mountain (Ngambri). The name used by the early European settlers for these people was the Limestone Blacks. In 1831 the Ngambri area was granted to John McPherson; the name Ngambri was possibly used by these early European settlers to refer to the Aboriginal people who lived there.
As detailed in the 2013 genealogical report to the ACT Government "Our Kin Our Country", there has been growth in the number of "new tribes" in the context of claims to country and land management in the current legal context. An example is the use of the name of the Ngambri locality to propose the existence of the tribe "Kamberri" or "Canberra" who speak Walgulu, with a large county, including Canberra, Cooma and Yass. The report concluded that, with "the paucity of the written record it may be assumed that the issue of which groups held traditional association over which areas will remain uncertain".
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