Mbewum

The Mbewum were an indigenous Australian people of the Cape York Peninsula of northern Queensland. They were dispossessed and became extinct soon after colonization.

Language

The Mbewum spoke Mbiywom, a northern Paman language.

Country

The Mbewum had an estimated 600 square miles (1,600 km2) of tribal domain territory on the Upper Watson River, which included Merluna in the area 120 miles south-east of Weipa. Their land, together with that of the Totj was incorporated into a state-run enterprise, the Queensland State Pastoral Station of that name, which by 1916 was running over 12,000 head of cattle.

Social organization

They had four kinship divisions like other tribes in the area, according to R. H. Mathews.

Alternative names

Notes

Citations

  1. ↑ Dixon 2002, p. xxxi.
  2. 1 2 Tindale 1974, p. 181.
  3. ↑ Cohen 1988, p. 233.
  4. ↑ May 1994, p. 212, n6.
  5. ↑ Mathews 1900, pp. 131–135.
  6. ↑ Mathews 1900, p. 131.

Sources