Tiwi people
Tunuvivi | |
|---|---|
Flag of the Tiwi people | |
A Mantiyupwi clan member of the Tiwi people during a traditional ceremony | |
| Total population | |
| 2,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Australia (Northern Territory) | |
| Languages | |
| Tiwi, English (Australian English, Aboriginal Australian English) | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholicism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| See List of Australian Aboriginal group names |
The Tiwi people (or Tunuvivi) are one of the many Aboriginal groups of Australia. Nearly 2,000 Tiwi people live on the Tiwi Islands. The landmass of the Tiwi Islands is made up mainly of Bathurst and Melville Islands, both located about 48 kilometres (30 miles) from Darwin. The Tiwi language is a language isolate, with no apparent link to the languages of Arnhem Land or of other Aboriginal Australians beyond recent linguistic interaction as a result of the federal government's Stolen Generations relocation policies. Tiwi society is based on matrilineal descent, and marriage plays a very important part in many aspects of their lives. Art and music form an intrinsic part of their societal and spiritual rituals as the Tiwi people tend to follow a certain form of indigenous Dreamtime belief system alongside Roman Catholicism.