The Nanya Tribe: One of The Last to Live a Traditional Lifestyle

Nanya (c.1835-1895) was a member of the Maraura tribe of the lower Darling area. His tribe and others had been displaced due to European expansion and were living on camps and stations.

Oral tradition is that Nanya had a strong-will, and he came into conflict with his tribe because he wouldn't follow the strict marriage rules. He started a taboo relationship with a woman of his own moiety group, which is forbidden and punishable by death.

So Nanya, his lover, and another woman left his camp at Popiltah station, forty miles (64 km) north of Pooncarie and set off to the arid and unsettled land between the South Australian border and the western Anabranch of the Darling River.

Living in the remote area, known as the "Scotia blocks" for next the three decades, the group grew to include many children and grandchildren

The Nanya Clan lived off the land by hunting and gathering and obtaining water from the roots of various plants. However, by the 1890s, there were more sightings of the "wild tribe" as livestock spread into the region. 

A party led by local station owners set out in 1893 to capture the Nanya family, which now numbered 30 individuals. Later that year the clan were coerced by the party to return to the Popiltah station.

The Nanya family, shortly after their capture in 1894

The Nanya clan were in excellent physical condition and very healthy, but not for long. Within a few years, Nanya's children died from diseases to which they had no immunity, or became unhealthy and obese. One son, Billy, took his own life.

Nanya and two of his daughters

Nanya died in 1895 and was buried near the Great Anabranch.