Mondalmi

Mondalmi (born c. 1910; died 23 October 1969) was an Aboriginal activist and cultural informant from Australia.

Biography Mondalmi was born around 1910 in Wighu, South Goulburn Island, Western Arnhem Land (although her brother, in his autobiography, states she was born in 1906 ). Her people were the Maung. Mondalmi's dreaming was an ubaidj (njindjarigarngulg). Her mother, Ngalmiyjalwarn, was from the Junction Bay area. who like Mondalmi, became an important guardian of cultural heritage.

In 1916 she was taken to the Methodist Mission on South Goulburn Island, where she learnt to read and write English, as well as learning how to sew and basketry. She later continued to work there as a domestic servant. She married Gadawar, also known as Ganaraidj, on 27 June 1927. He also used the name John and was a lay preacher at the mission. They had seven sons and two daughters, who were born between 1928 and 1953. She also discussed sexual relations within their community with Bernt, including how polygamous marriages were banned from the mission. Mondalmi also discussed practices of gathering food with the seasons. She also helped others learn the Maung language, like nurse Heather Hewett. She tried to transfer much of her knowledge of plants, children's songs, sign language, kinship, bush medicine and many more topics to Berndt, to enable others to understand her culture more deeply, with a particular focus on her lived experiences as a woman. When talking about her culture, she had "a real storyteller's sense of balance and detail". She was proud of her heritage and proud of the distinction in being a "saltwater person", "from the beach" rather than the bush. She spoke many languages in addition to Maung, including Yiwadja, Gunbalang and English, and she understood Kunwinjku.