DescriptionThe Wik peoples are an Indigenous Australian group of people from an extensive zone on western Cape York Peninsula in northern Queensland, speaking several different languages. They are from the coastal flood plains bounding the Gulf of Carpentaria lying between Pormpuraaw (Edward River) and Weipa, and inland the forested country drained by the Archer, Kendall and Holroyd rivers. The first ethnographic study of the Wik people was undertaken by the Queensland born anthropologist Ursula McConnel. Her fieldwork focused on groups gathered into the Archer River Mission at what is now known as Aurukun. Currently the area that APN Cape York helps native title owners manage extends south from the Watson River near Aurukun to the Kendall River around 80–100km south. Four ceremonial clan groups are identified as traditional owners and inhabitants for this region: Apalech • Puch • Wanam • Winychanam These four ritual clan groups traditionally spoke a number of Wik and Kugu languages. Today however, the traditional language is predominantly Wik Mungkan, which is the language group for the area of Aurukun. Wik and Kugu are intrinsically connected to our land. It holds all our stories, all our culture, and in fact, defines us as who we are.
