Umpilan

The Umpila are an Aboriginal people of the north-eastern Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, whose traditional country ran along the Coral Sea coast from Temple Bay south towards Princess Charlotte Bay and inland as far as Coen.

They call themselves Umpila pama malngkanichi, people of the sand beach, and belong to the Kawadji family of coastal peoples, living by fishing, reef gathering and seasonal inland foraging.

Their speech is a North Cape York Paman language, split into several dialects and accompanied by a developed sign language. Their society was divided into two exogamous patrilineal moieties, the same two categories being used to classify plants and animals, and strict avoidance rules governed speech with certain in-laws. Captain Cook charted their coast in 1770.