is a Western Desert language belonging to the Wati branch of the Pama-Nyungan languages. Ngaanya literally means "this" and -tjarra means "with/having" ; the compound term means "those that use 'ngaanya' to say 'this'". The neighbouring Ngaatjatjarra use ngaatja for "this". Many Ngaanyatjarra are multilingual, not only speaking English but also a number of other dialects in the area.
The area dwelt by the Ngaanyatjarra people has a record of human habitation going back some 10,000 years. In traditional society, the Ngaanyatjarra comprised numerous bands, usually constituted by a group of a dozen people. Males only reached marriageable age at around 30, after a thorough training and graduation through a complex initiatory system, that transformed tjilku into wati. Passage to this status was marked by the right to wear a red headband, though as post-initiates they were still required to dwell apart from the main camp as elders continued to instruct them. Learning the lore required that the initiates had to supply their elders with foodstuffs like meat, a scarce resource in the area. In this sense, the tjukurrpa system also functioned as a cross-generational mode of exacting obedience and an income from the younger men. Females entered into wedlock just after the onset of puberty. Ceremonial induction consisted of learning to absorb the complex details of tjukurrpa, namely the lore/law of the dreamtime. The process is graded so that full knowledge only comes after 50 the normal age after which one can begin gain recognition as a wati yirna or tjilpi, a thoroughly knowledgeable elder, though even 60-year-olds can still be denied that recognition. The Ngaanyatjarra had a moiety system divided into sun-side and shade-side, with a 6 section classification. Sun-side
Tjarurru men have Purungu children as the offspring of marriage to either Panaka or Yiparrka women
Panaka men marry only Tjarurru women, producing Karimarra offspring
Yiparrka men marrying a Tjarurru women have Milangka offspring
Shade-side
Purungu men have Tjarurru through marriage to either Karimarra or Milangka women.
Karimarra men only marry Purungu women to have Panaka children
Milangka men marry Purungu women and produce Yiparrka children.
Estimates of the number of Ngaanyatjarra range from 1,600, referring to permanent residents and 2,700, including a more mobile people of Ngaanyatjarra descent, who often visit the area. Though life is generally peaceful, the adaptation to modern society has produced considerable trauma and alienation, as the genealogical continuity of family structures has suffered disruption from numerous accidents or family violence, including sexual abuse and assault, and suicide. The area is "dry" meaning that the destructive effects of excessive alcoholic consumption are not in evidence throughout their communities, and longevity has been a characteristic of the people. However, incarceration rates, predominantly for offences of sexual or domestic violence or reckless driving, are high, 14 times higher than the non-indigenous rate. Ngaanyatjarra councils have lobbied, with some success, to get more police stationed in their areas in order to address the problem.
History of contact
Until the establishment of the Warburton Mission in 1934 there had been no external agency established on their lands. Until the 1960s, contact with the outside world had been sparse and relatively benign, with none of the disruption of displacement from their traditional terrain typically suffered by Aborigines generally. The mission sowed the seeds of Christian culture which continues to this day, particularly in the form of charismaticevangelism.
