Aboriginal tribes of Australian

Author: Norman Barnett Tindale
Date of Publication: 1974
Copyright: Anthony Tindale and Beryl George

The is an alphabetical list of Australian Aboriginal language groups, decribed by Norman Barnett Tindale (AA 338) as ‘tribes’, in Part II of his 1974 publication Aboriginal Tribes of Australia -Their Terrain, Environmental Controls, Distribution, Limits, and Proper Names. This book serves as a catalogue to the tribal map. You can also browse the Boundary Map.

The data from the Catalog has been reproduced electronically, incorporating the ‘List of Alternatives, Variant Spellings, and Invalid Terms Associated with Australian Tribes’ listed in Part III of the 1974 publication. Data includes: location, co-ordinates, area, references and alternative names. The online guide allows the researcher to search and browse the Catalog. Once the researcher has made a selection, a list of relevant South Australian Museum archival collections are retrieved and listed. The list of archival items is not conclusive as not all of the South Australian Museum archives have been processed.

The information in the Catalog is reproduced from Tindale’s Aboriginal Tribes of Australia (1974). Please be aware that much of the data relating to Aboriginal language group distribution and definition has undergone revision since 1974. Please note also that this Catalog represents Tindale’s attempt to depict Aboriginal tribal distribution at the time of European contact.