Baijini are a mythical people mentioned in the Djanggawul song cycle of the Yolngu people, an Aboriginal Australian people of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. Many speculations have arisen that try to link these mythical culture-bearers with historical immigrants from either China directly or Southern Asia. The name Baijini According to Garry Trompf, the word "Baijini" itself is said to have been derived from a Makassarese root with the meaning "women". Joseph Needham wondered if the word Baijini itself might not have been derived from Chinese bái rén (白人, "white people" (i.e., those with lighter skin than the Australian natives), běirén (北人, "northern people"), or even běijīngrén (北京人, "people from Beijing"). The Baijini in Yolngu legend In the Djanggawul song-cycles, it is told how, in the legendary land of Bu'ralgu somewhere beyond Groote Eylandt, there once lived three eternal beings called the Djanggawul: a brother, and his elder and younger sisters, together with a fourth man, Bralbral. Bu'ralgu itself had been a stepping stone in their journey south from an even more distant land. The four, after a series of ceremonies, rowed out from the island and, after several days, came to Arnhem Land, and followed the coast to Yalangbara (Jelaŋbara, aka Port Bradshaw). They then travelled overland until they came to Wabilinga Island and it was there that they came across the Baijini folk, cooking trepang at a site still marked by a tamarind grove. The Djanggawu claimed this place as their own, asking the Baijini to move off, which they did, either to the other side of the island or to the mainland. The dreamtime landing site at Jelaŋbara was, according to the song cycle, also, later, a Baijini settlement. Theories It has been argued that the account of the Baijini in the Aboriginal folklore are in fact a mythological reflection of the experiences of some Aboriginals who have traveled to Sulawesi with the Macassans and came back. If there was indeed an historical reality behind the Baijini mentioned in Yolŋu myth, the origin and timing of those Asians who would have served as the prototype for this mythological people remains lost in the past. It has been suggested that they may be identified with the Sama-Bajau, or Sea Gypsies, the fishing folk of South East Asia who traveled with their families. The Australian anthropologist Ronald Berndt studied the people of Yirrkala and Milingimbi Island in the