Wardamani

The Wardaman are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory, whose traditional country ran from the upper Flora River west to the Victoria River Depot and south to Jasper Gorge. They speak Wardaman, a non-Pama-Nyungan language related to those of their neighbours the Dagoman and Yangman.

The Wardaman are known for their sandstone rock art, distinguishing buwarraja designs made by dreamtime beings, some at least 5,000 years old, from bulawula works made by people; the Yiwarlarlay site holds the giant images of the Lightning Brothers of dreamtime legend.

European contact, shared with the Dagoman and Yangman, was violent from the outset, and as their tribal lands were turned into pastoral leases Wardaman men took up cattle-droving while women worked as station hands.