Jawoyn people have occupied our lands since the time of the Burr - the Dreaming. The term "Jawoyn" is used to denote language, people and country. It is recognised by Aboriginal people, both Jawoyn and non-Jawoyn, throughout a region extending from the Roper River to the Alligator River. It is also recognised by non-Aboriginal people: formally through legislative and other legal arrangements in the region, and informally through local acknowledgement. Such Aboriginal territoriality is not uncommon throughout the Top End.

The Jawoyn people as a "nation"
Jawoyn country is not simply achieved, in the western sense, by drawing lines on a map. It is understandable only in the context of the "Jawoyn-ness" that its traditional owners possess and continue to maintain through their social connectedness with Jawoyn lands. In traditional terms, affiliation to Jawoyn lands is by virtue of one's connections to sites in the land. In other words, "Jawoyn-ness" is projected from the land to the people affiliated with it.

The primary criterion for being "Jawoyn" is one of descent from a Jawoyn father and, in some cases, through a Jawoyn mother. It is the affiliation of one or both parents to Jawoyn country, and their maintaining connectedness to and knowledge of our lands, that makes us Jawoyn.

Current distribution of our people
It has not been possible to carry out an entirely accurate census of Jawoyn people. According to the records of the Jawoyn Association there are currently about 450 adult Jawoyn people. Most Jawoyn (about 90 per cent) live on or close to Jawoyn traditional lands, the majority in or close to Katherine township, either in "town camps" such as Rockhole, Mayali-Brumby, Binjari and Jodetluk, or in town housing. Significant Jawoyn populations are also located at Wugularr, Barunga, Manyallaluk, Jilkminggan and Pine Creek.

There is also one permanent outstation on Jawoyn traditional land at Werenbun. Smaller groupings of our people live in northern Kakadu National Park at Patonga, and Gunbalanya in western Arnhem Land. Other Jawoyn people live in Darwin, Alice Springs, Nguiu as well as interstate.