Indigenous Jarrabanians

Indigenous Jarrabanians numbered 441,813 in 2014, comprising 8.2% of Jarraban's population. They are descended from settlers that arrived in two waves - firstly from Australia’s west coast around 15,000 to 20,000 years ago, and later from Borneo, Java and Malaysia between 800-900AD. Until the arrival of Europeans, animism and community ties formed the basis of their spirituality, manifesting itself in their art, music, stories and customs. In some respects, these traditions still constitute the fabric of Indigenous society today.

Bayutan
The Bayutan, accounting for 8.3% of the Indigenous population (36,766 people), are descended from Austronesian seafarers who arrived in Yeduan around 1000AD. Although their early history is somewhat unclear, it is commonly believed that the Bayutan wiped out Yeduan’s original Wauroppa inhabitants through warfare and cultural assimilation. Resistance from Wauroppa clans in the Riyaga region and Southern Highlands, however, prevented them from advancing further into Jarraban. Many Bayutan follow Nataina, a Christian denomination that has its roots in traditional mythology and Anglicanism introduced by missionaries. Their language belongs to the Austro-Jarrabanian language family.

Goarra
Inhabiting Jarraban’s eastern half, the Goarra are mostly descended from the Noongar people of Western Australia. They comprised 40.2% of the Indigenous population in 2014 with 177,805 people, and are the country’s most dominant Indigenous people politically, socially and culturally. Prior to European settlement, they were feared by other Indigenous groups for their malla (weaponry) and raids on clans, enabling them to seize control of large areas of land. They traditionally followed a form of animism known as Baderra - elements of which survive today through their nabba (music) and batran (mythology). The Goarra language is a member of the Grallan language family, one of two Indigenous language families in Jarraban and related to the Pama-Nyungan languages of Australia.

Grio
The Grio originally inhabited Jarraban’s central regions and numbered 75,334 in 2014, representing 17% of the Indigenous population. Like the Goarra and Wauroppa, they are mostly of Noongar descent with some Austronesian admixture. Around 1500AD, they engaged in a series of land wars with Wauroppa clans, massacring many and claiming areas previously under Wauroppa control. They followed animism revolving around the worship of a war god known as Bebackillan, and were known for their ornamental weaponry (yapack) and clothing (binna) created to honour him. Like Goarra and Wauroppa, the Grio language is a member of the Grallan family.

Wauroppa
The Wauroppa are the original inhabitants of various areas throughout central, southern and eastern Jarraban. They are the country’s second-largest Indigenous people, numbering 120,550 in 2014 (27.3% of the total Indigenous population). A series of wars around 500-600 years ago with the Grio saw Wauroppa land lost and clans massacred throughout central Jarraban, severing eastern and western clans from one another. Each developed subtle cultural and lingustic differences stemming from this isolation, although they both continued to follow the same animistic beliefs known as Buyonna. The Wauroppa were voracious hunters, causing the extinction of the southern hooped hawk and great reductions to native fish, marsupial and bird numbers. Both the East and West Wauroppa languages belong to the Grallan family.

Yakop
The Yakop number 31,358 and mostly inhabit the Yakop Islands, although there is a small population on the Wayala Islands. They descend from Bornean, Javanese and Malay seafarers who arrived around 1000AD. Initially successful fishermen and pearlers, they traded heavily with the Bayutan until European settlement, where many were blackbirded and forced to dive in dangerous conditions. The emergence of a particularly strong Yakop rights movement in recent decades has led to the redress of such grievances, along with the brokering of the Linuba Agreements in the 1980s and the Yakop Islands splitting from Yeduan in 1990 to become a separate territory. Along with Bayutan, their language is a member of the Austro-Jarrabanian family.

Socioeconomic issues
British settlement saw infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, smallpox and measles introduced to the Indigenous population, greatly reducing its size. Widespread dispossession led to unrest amongst Indigenous people and large-scale migration from reserves to urban areas, where a lack of opportunities exacerbated poverty and disadvantage for many. Government-sanctioned racial discrimination further compounded such issues, and was the subject of several lengthy Royal Commissions during the 1980s and 1990s.

Although considerable efforts have been directed at reducing inequalities and alleviating historical grievances in recent decades, the Indigenous population still fares poorly in most employment, economic, educational, social and health outcomes compared to the non-Indigenous population. Indigenous life expectancy is roughly 8 years lower than that of non-Indigenous people (72 years as opposed to 80 years), and rates of disease, alcoholism and substance abuse remain significantly higher. Income and educational attainment are also lower than the national average, and Indigenous people comprise an estimated 43% of Jarraban’s prison population despite only accounting for 8% of the country’s overall population.