Wik Elken

The Wik Elken, also spelt Wik-Kalkan and also known as Wik-Ngatharr, are an Aboriginal Australian people, one of the Wik peoples of the Cape York Peninsula of the state of Queensland.

Language

The Wik-Kalkan language belonged to the Wik language group.

Country

The Wik-Kalkan lay north of the Wikepa, along the coast north of Cape Keerweer, and, according to Norman Tindale, once had tribal lands of approximately 300 square miles (780 km²) in extent.^[1]

People

The Wik-Kalkan has been described under the name of "Wikngatara" by Ursula McConnel in various papers. This term actually was a language name, rather than an ethnonym, and signified "my language". McConnel realised her error shortly before her death, and notified Tindale of the oversight.^[1]

Alternative names

Alternative names and spellings identified by Tindale include:^[1]

• Wik-ngatara (erroneous term)
• Wik Alkän
• Wikkalkin
• Wik-nätara
• Algan
• Ngadara

References

1. Tindale 1974, p. 189.

Sources

• "AIATSIS map of Indigenous Australia". AIATSIS. 28 July 2023.
• McConnel, Ursula H. (September 1939). "Social Organization of the Tribes of Cape York Peninsula, North Queensland". Oceania. 10 (1): 54–72. doi:10.1002/j.1834-4461.1939.tb00256.x. JSTOR 40327744.
• McConnel, Ursula H. (June 1940). "Social Organization of the Tribes of Cape York Peninsula, North Queensland (Continued)". Oceania. 10 (4): 434–455. doi:10.1002/j.1834-4461.1940.tb00305.x. JSTOR 40327867.
• Sutton, Peter (1979). Wik: Aboriginal society, territory and language at Cape Keerweer, Cape York Peninsula, Australia (PDF) (PhD thesis). University of Queensland.
• Thomson, D. F. (1946). "Names and Naming in the Wik Mongkan". Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. 76 (2): 157–168. JSTOR 2844514.
• Tindale, Norman Barnett (1974). "Wik-kalkan(QLD)". Aboriginal Tribes of Australia: Their Terrain, Environmental Controls, Distribution, Limits, and Proper Names. Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-708-10741-6.