In Norman Tindale's estimation, the Waanyi held about 9,700 square miles (25,000 km2) of territory, extending from the vicinity of the south of the upper Nicholson River,[3] west of Corinda, and at Spring and Lawn Hill creeks.
[8] The whole area of the north was affected deeply by the pastoral boom opened up in 1881 in the Northern Territory, with massive stations under the control of a few eastern investors hastily stocked with cattle: the key watering sites were locked out, tribes were shot at sight, and many groups moved east into the Gulf of Carpentaria, where the same phenomenon repeated itself.
The Eastern Waanyi were wiped out;[9] settler vigilantes and police magistrates employed native mounted troopers to ambush, murder and massacre any Aboriginal groups they came across.
[13] Eventually the terms of a settlement were agreed on, and CZL paid funding, training and employment to the traditional peoples, an accord known as the $90 million offer.
[18] Native title was formally recognised by consent by the Federal Court of Australia on 22 September 2021,[19] with its timing coinciding with new funding from the Queensland Government for four Indigenous rangers to work in the Boodjamulla and the Riversleigh.