The Warlpiri language is spoken by the Warlpiri Aboriginal community in the central desert region of Australia, and is also known as WALBIRI, ELPIRA, ILPARA, WAILBRI and WALPIRI. When in mourning, Warlpiri women often do not talk for long periods of time, and a signed mode of the language is used in its place. The language may also be used when hunting. The Warlpiri language is spoken by about 3000 of the Warlpiri people in Australias Northern Territory. ... The Warlpiri are an indigenous Australian (or Aboriginal) ethnic group, many of whom speak a language also called Warlpiri. ... Indigenous peoples are: Peoples living in an area prior to colonization by a state Peoples living in an area within a nation-state, prior to the formation of a nation-state, but who do not identify with the dominant nation. ...

Other language groups of the region such as Aranda and Warumungu are known to have their own signed modes. Arrente is both a language, a group of people, and an area of land in Central Australia. ...

Further reading

• WRIGHT C.D. 1980. Walpiri Hand Talk: An Illustrated Dictionary of Hand Signs used by the Walpiri People of Central Australia. Darwin: N.T. Department of Education.
• MEGGITT M.J. 1954. Sign language among the Warlpiri of Central Australia. Oceania, 25(1), p. 2-16.
• KENDON A. 1985. Iconicity in Warlpiri Sign language. In Bouissac P., Herzfeld M. & Posner R. (eds), Inconicity: Essay on the Nature of Culture . TÅbingen: Stauffenburger Verlag. In press, p. .
• KENDON A. 1988. Parallels and divergences between Warlpiri sign language and spoken Warlpiri: analyses of signed and spoken discourses. Oceania, 58, p. 239-54.