Location: On the Palmer River south of the Levi Range; east to Erldunda; west to Curtin Springs; south to beyond the South Australian border, especially in the parallel sand dune country; they are sometimes considered to be a southern horde of and part of the Kukatja tribe whose territory lies in the upper Palmer River area. The southern boundary lies at the ecological transition from the wooded hilly country to the flat bluebush covered plains of the Antakirinja. The history of the Matuntara is complicated by their absorption of much of the Maiulatara horde of the Pitjandjara who shifted east from north of the Petermann Range area to Tempe Downs in the early years of the century. The mother of the F1; half-caste Tommy Dodd belonged to that horde. He was reared principally among the Jangkundjara. Note that the Antakirinja sometimes apply the name Matuntara to their southern neighbors, the Kokata, and prefer the term Maiulatara for their northern contact, the term having reference to their supposedly chronic lack of food. The name ['madu] is applied by several tribes to the so-called spinifex wallaby, otherwise termed the ['mala], and sometimes the term has a derogatory signficance.
Co-ordinates: 132°30'E x 25°25'S
Area: 14,000 sq. m. (36,400 sq. km.)
References: C. Strehlow, 1907-1920; Roheim, 1933; Tindale, 1957 MS, 1963 MS, 1966 MS; T. Strehlow, 1965.
Alternative Names: Matutara and Matjutu (valid alternatives), Maduntara (Pitjandjara version with derogatory implications), Madutara, Maiulatara (Antakirinja and Jangkundjara terms applicable strictly to the Pitjandjara horde that formerly was absorbed by the Matuntara), Maiuladjara, Southern Loritja (of C. Strehlow), ? Mularatara, Aluna (language term given them by the Pitjandjara), [Ku'dadji] (name applied by Pitjandjara differentiating them from the Wenamba whom they call Mangawara).