![Noongar1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Noongar1.jpg)
Whadjuk, alternatively Witjari, are
Noongar
The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the so ...
(
Aboriginal Australian
Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...
) people of the
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
n region of the
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
bioregion of the
Swan Coastal Plain
The Swan Coastal Plain in Western Australia is the geographic feature which contains the Swan River as it travels west to the Indian Ocean. The coastal plain continues well beyond the boundaries of the Swan River and its tributaries, as a geol ...
.
Name
The
ethnonym
An ethnonym () is a name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, or endonyms (whose name is created and used ...
appears to derive from ''whad'', the Whadjuk word for "no".
Country
The traditional tribal territory of the Whadjuk, in
Norman Tindale
Norman Barnett Tindale AO (12 October 1900 – 19 November 1993) was an Australian anthropologist, archaeologist, entomologist and ethnologist.
Life
Tindale was born in Perth, Western Australia in 1900. His family moved to Tokyo and lived ther ...
's estimate, takes in some of land, from the
Swan River, together with its eastern and northern tributaries. Its hinterland extension runs to
Mount Helena and a little beyond. It includes
Kalamunda on the
Darling Scarp
The Darling Scarp, also referred to as the Darling Range or Darling Ranges, is a low escarpment running north–south to the east of the Swan Coastal Plain and Perth, Western Australia. The escarpment extends generally north of Bindoon, to th ...
and
Armadale. It encompasses the
Victoria Plains to the north, the area south of
Toodyay and reaches eastwards as far as
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
and a little beyond. Its southern coastal frontier extends to the vicinity of
Pinjarra. Their northern neighbours are the
Yued
Yued (also spelt Juat, Yuat and Juet) is a region inhabited by the Yued people, one of the fourteen groups of Noongar Aboriginal Australians who have lived in the South West corner of Western Australia for approximately 40,000 years.
European ...
, the
Balardong people lay to their east, and the
Pindjarup
The Bindjareb, Binjareb, Pindjarup or Pinjareb are an Indigenous Noongar people that occupy part of the South West of Western Australia.
Name
It is not clear if ''Pindjarup'' is the historically correct ethnonym for the tribe. After their dis ...
on their southern coastal flank.
Culture and pre-history
The Whadjuk formed part of the
Noongar
The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the so ...
language group, with their own distinctive dialect. Culturally they were divided into two
matrilineal
Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which each person is identified with their matriline – their mother's Lineage (anthropology), lineage – and which can in ...
moieties: ''Wardungmaat'', from ''wardung'' ("
crow
A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not pinned scientifical ...
", that is, the Australian raven, ''Corvus coronoides'') and ''maat'' ("
lineage
Lineage may refer to:
Science
* Lineage (anthropology), a group that can demonstrate its common descent from an apical ancestor or a direct line of descent from an ancestor
* Lineage (evolution), a temporal sequence of individuals, populati ...
"; literally "leg") and; ''Manitjmaat'', from ''manitj'' ("
sulphur-crested cockatoo
The sulphur-crested cockatoo (''Cacatua galerita'') is a relatively large white cockatoo found in wooded habitats in Australia, New Guinea, and some of the islands of Indonesia. They can be locally very numerous, leading to them sometimes being ...
, ''Cacatua galerita'' ") and ''maat''. Moieties were
endogamous
Endogamy is the practice of marrying within a specific social group, religious denomination, caste, or ethnic group, rejecting those from others as unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relationships.
Endogamy is common in many cultu ...
, and children took the moiety of their mother. Each moiety also contained two "
sections
Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea
* Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents
** Section sig ...
" (or "skins"): in the case of the ''Manitjmaat'' these were ''Ballarok'' and ''Tondarup'' and for the ''Wardungmaat'', they were ''Ngotak'' and ''Naganyuk''.
The Whadjuk also preserved many stories of the
Wagyl
The Wagyl (also written Waugal and Waagal and variants) is the Noongar manifestation of the Rainbow Serpent in Australian Aboriginal mythology, from the culture based around the south-west of Western Australia. The Noongar describe the Wagyl as ...
, a water-
python
Python may refer to:
Snakes
* Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia
** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia
* Python (mythology), a mythical serpent
Computing
* Python (pro ...
held to be responsible for most of the water features around Perth. This may have been a cultural memory of an extinct
Madtsoiidae
Madtsoiidae is an extinct family of mostly Gondwanan snakes with a fossil record extending from early Cenomanian (Upper Cretaceous) to late Pleistocene strata located in South America, Africa, India, Australia and Southern Europe. Madtsoiida ...
python-like serpent, a water dwelling ambush predator, part of the extinct
megafauna of Australia that disappeared between 40,000 and 20,000 years ago.
Coastal dwelling Whadjuk have an
oral tradition
Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985 ...
describing the separation of
Rottnest
Rottnest Island ( nys, Wadjemup), often colloquially referred to as "Rotto", is a island off the coast of Western Australia, located west of Fremantle. A sandy, low-lying island formed on a base of aeolianite limestone, Rottnest is an A-class ...
from the mainland, which occurred between 12,000 and 8,000 BCE, technically a post-glacial
Flandrian transgression The Flandrian interglacial or stage is the name given by geologists and archaeologists in the British Isles to the first, and so far only, stage of the Holocene epoch (the present geological period), covering the period from around 12,000 years ago ...
.
Seasonal divisions
Like other Noongar peoples, the Whadjuk seem to have moved more inland in the wetter weather of winter, returning to the coast as interior seasonal lakes dried up.
The Whadjuk, like many Noongar people, divided the year into six seasons.
* ''Birak'': November to December, was the "fruiting", characterised by the onset of hot, easterly winds which blow during the day. Noongar people used to
burn
A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ultraviolet radiation (like sunburn). Most burns are due to heat from hot liquids (called scalding), solids, or fire. Burns occur mainl ...
mosaic sections of
scrubland
Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, Herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or ...
to force animals into the open to hunt, and to open the
canopy
Canopy may refer to:
Plants
* Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests)
* Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes
Religion and ceremonies
* Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an a ...
and allow the few November rains to increase
germination
Germination is the process by which an organism grows from a seed or spore. The term is applied to the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm, the growth of a sporeling from a spore, such as the spores of fungi, fer ...
of summer foodstuffs and
marsupial
Marsupials are any members of the mammalian infraclass Marsupialia. All extant marsupials are endemic to Australasia, Wallacea and the Americas. A distinctive characteristic common to most of these species is that the young are carried in a po ...
grazing. This was the season of harvesting wattle seeds which were pounded into flour and stored as
damper
A damper is a device that deadens, restrains, or depresses. It may refer to:
Music
* Damper pedal, a device that mutes musical tones, particularly in stringed instruments
* A mute for various brass instruments
Structure
* Damper (flow), a mechan ...
.
* ''Bunuru'': January to February, was the "hot-dry", characterised by hot dry easterly conditions with afternoon
sea-breezes, known locally in Western Australia as the
Fremantle doctor
The Fremantle Doctor, the Freo Doctor, or simply The Doctor, is the Western Australian vernacular term for the cooling afternoon sea breeze that occurs during summer months in Southwest Australia, south west Coastal regions of Western Australia, ...
. To maximise the effects of these cooling breezes, the Noongars moved to coastal estuaries and reefs where fish and
abalone
Abalone ( or ; via Spanish , from Rumsen ''aulón'') is a common name for any of a group of small to very large marine gastropod molluscs in the family (biology), family Haliotidae. Other common name
In biology, a common name of a taxon o ...
(''Haliotis roei'') constituted a large proportion of the seasonal diet.
Mallee fowl
The malleefowl (''Leipoa ocellata'') is a stocky ground-dwelling Australian bird about the size of a domestic chicken (to which it is distantly related). It is notable for the large nesting mounds constructed by the males and lack of parental ca ...
eggs from
tuart forests also formed a part of the diet.
* ''Djeran'': March to April, was "first rains-first dew", with the weather was becoming cooler with winds from the south west. Fishing continued (often caught in
fish traps
A fish trap is a trap used for fishing. Fish traps include fishing weirs, lobster traps, and some fishing nets such as fyke nets.
Traps are culturally almost universal and seem to have been independently invented many times. There are two main ...
) and
zamia palm
''Macrozamia riedlei'', commonly known as a zamia or zamia palm, is a species of cycad in the plant family Zamiaceae. It is endemic to southwest Australia and often occurs in jarrah forests. It may only attain a height of half a metre or form an ...
( nys, djiriji, la, Macrozamia ridlei) ''cycad'' nuts ( nys, buyu), (
nardoo
''Marsilea drummondii'' is a species of fern known by the common name nardoo. It is native to Australia, where it is widespread and common, particularly in inland regions. It is a rhizomatous perennial aquatic fern that roots in mud substrates an ...
, ''Marsilia quadrifolia'') bulbs and other seeds were collected for food. Zamia palm, which is naturally highly poisonous, was prepared in a fashion which removed its
toxicity
Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subst ...
. Burrowing frogs (''kooyar'', ''
Heleioporus eyrei
The moaning frog (''Heleioporus eyrei'') is a burrowing frog native to south-western Western Australia.
Description
The moaning frog is round, with a large head and large, bulbous eyes. The dorsal surface is brown, with marbling of white, grey o ...
'') were caught in large numbers with the opening rains of winter.
* ''Makuru'': from May to June, was "the wet", and Noongars moved inland from the coast to the
Darling Scarp
The Darling Scarp, also referred to as the Darling Range or Darling Ranges, is a low escarpment running north–south to the east of the Swan Coastal Plain and Perth, Western Australia. The escarpment extends generally north of Bindoon, to th ...
to hunt ''yongka'',
grey kangaroo Grey kangaroo is a kangaroo that is grey
Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "wit ...
(''Macropus fuliginosus'') and
tammar
The tammar wallaby (''Notamacropus eugenii''), also known as the dama wallaby or darma wallaby, is a small macropod native to South and Western Australia. Though its geographical range has been severely reduced since European colonisation, the ...
(''Macropus eugenii'') once rains had replenished inland water resources. This was the season of mid-latitude
cold frontal rains. Noongar ''gnow'' (or
malleefowl
The malleefowl (''Leipoa ocellata'') is a stocky ground-dwelling Australian bird about the size of a domestic chicken (to which it is distantly related). It is notable for the large nesting mounds constructed by the males and lack of parental ca ...
(''Leipoa ocellata'')) were also caught.
* ''Djilba'': from July to August, was "the cold-wet" saw Noongar groups moving to the drier soils of the Guildford and Canning-Kelmscott areas, where roots were collected and
emu
The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus ''Dromaius''. The emu' ...
s ( nys, wej, la, Dromaius novaehollandiae),
ringtail possums ( nys, goomal, la, Psudocheirus occidentalis) and kangaroo were hunted.
* ''Kambarang'': from September to October, was "the flowering" at the height of the wildflower season. This time saw rain decreasing. Families moved towards the coast where frogs, tortoises and freshwater crayfish or
gilgies (''Cherax quinquecarinatus'') and
blue marron, ( nys, marrin – from nys, marr, label=none, translation=hand) were caught. Birds returning from their Northern Hemisphere migration also formed a part of their diet.
These seasons were roughly divided (rather than by specific date) and Whadjuk took account of environmental signals such as the spring call of the
motorbike frog (green tree frog ( la, Litoria moorei)), in marking seasons. For example, the onset of Kambarang, or the flowering of the
Western Australian Christmas tree
''Nuytsia floribunda'' is a hemiparasitic tree found in Western Australia. The species is known locally as moodjar and, more recently, the Christmas tree or Western Australian Christmas tree. The display of intensely bright flowers during the ...
(''Nuytsia floribunda'' showing the onset of Bunuru.
Ceremonies
Whadjuk used high quality ''wilgi'' (
red ochre
Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...
) in ceremonies, which they obtained from the site now occupied by Perth Railway Station and which they traded with people to the east. By repute it was traded as far as
Uluru
Uluru (; pjt, Uluṟu ), also known as Ayers Rock ( ) and officially Gazette#Gazette as a verb, gazetted as UluruAyers Rock, is a large sandstone geological formation, formation in the centre of Australia. It is in the southern part of the ...
. Prior to the colonisation it was used to colour hair, which was worn long (in a style similar to
dreadlocks
Dreadlocks, also known as locs or dreads, are rope-like strands of hair formed by locking or braiding hair.
Origins
Some of the earliest depictions of dreadlocks date back as far as 1600–1500 BCE in the Minoan Civilization, one of Europe' ...
). Among indigenous groups that practised initiatory
circumcision
Circumcision is a surgical procedure, procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin ...
, the territory of the Whadjuk was known as "The Land of the Boys". Quartz from the Darling Scarp was also traded with
Balardong groups for the making of spears.
Contact history
The Whadjuk people bore the brunt of the European colonisation, as the cities of Perth and Fremantle were built in their territory.
No doubt Whadjuk people had been familiar with Dutch explorers like
Vlamingh, and the occasional visit of
whalers to the coast, before the arrival of settlers under the command of
Governor James Stirling. After a near disaster at
Garden Island, a long-boat under the command of Captain (later Lieutenant Governor)
Irwin Irwin may refer to:
Places
;United States
* Irwin, California
* Irwin, Idaho
* Irwin, Illinois
* Irwin, Iowa
* Irwin, Nebraska
* Irwin, Ohio
* Irwin, Pennsylvania
* Irwin, South Carolina
* Irwin County, Georgia
* Irwin Township, Venango County, Pe ...
was dispatched and met with
Yellagonga
Yellagonga (d. 1843) was a leader of the Whadjuk Noongar on the north side of the Swan River. Colonists saw Yellagonga as the owner of this area. However, land rights were also traced through women of the group. Yellagonga could hunt on wetlands ...
and his family at
Crawley
Crawley () is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a population of 106,597 at the time of th ...
, on the coast of what is now the
University of Western Australia
The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...
or by
Mount Eliza ( nys, Goonininup). As Aboriginal women had been earlier seized by European seal hunters, Yellagonga subsequently moved his encampment to what is now
Lake Monger
Lake Monger ( nys, Keiermulu) is a large urban wetland on the Swan Coastal Plain in suburban Perth, Western Australia nestled between the suburbs of Leederville, Wembley and Glendalough.
Located less than from the city of Perth and situated ...
( nys, Kallup).
With the alienation from their lands due to settlers claiming land and fencing it off, Aboriginal people lost access to important seasonal foods, they did not understand or accept private ownership of their lands, which led to spearing of stock and digging in food gardens. Reprisals led to a cycle of increased violence on both sides. The first attempted Aboriginal massacre was the "Battle for Perth" when there was an attempt to surround and capture Aboriginal people who had retreated into Lake Monger. The area was cordoned, but the hunted people escaped. Once Lake Monger was settled by the Monger family, Yellagonga moved to
Lake Joondalup
Lake Joondalup is a medium-sized freshwater lake in Perth, Western Australia. It is in the Perth northern suburbs of Joondalup, Wanneroo, and Edgewater. It is a nature reserve and part of the Yellagonga Regional Park.
Description
Lake Joondal ...
. In 1834 this
Wanneroo
Wanneroo is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Wanneroo.
Geography
As it is on the Swan Coastal Plain, the Wanneroo wetlands stretch parallel to the coastline and to the north and south of the suburb.
Education
W ...
area was explored by
John Butler John Butler may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*John "Picayune" Butler (died 1864), American performer
*John Butler (artist) (1890–1976), American artist
* John Butler (author) (born 1937), British author and YouTuber
*John Butler (born 1954), ...
, and in 1838 by
George Grey
Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Go ...
. With the lands seized for settlement in 1843, Yellagonga was reduced to begging for survival, and shortly thereafter he accidentally drowned.
The situation for
Midgegooroo
Midgegooroo (died 22 May 1833) was an Aboriginal Australian elder of the Nyungar nation, who played a key role in Aboriginal resistance to white settlement in the area of Perth, Western Australia. Everything documented about Midgegooroo (various ...
was even more precarious. Violence flared when it was said 200 "savages" were going to attack the ferry from Fremantle, and citizens armed themselves and rushed to the site to find nothing but a bemused ferryman. A Tasmanian settler shot one of the local Aboriginal men and Yagan, Midgegooroo's son and Yellagonga's nephew, speared a white in revenge. Yagan was arrested and sent to
Carnac Island
Carnac Island (Noongar: ''Ngoorloormayup'') is a , A Class, island nature reserve about south-west of Fremantle and north of Garden Island in Western Australia.
History
Carnac Island is aeolianite limestone remnant of Pleistocene dunes. It ...
in the care of
Robert Lyon who claimed he was a
freedom fighter
A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objectives ...
. Yagan escaped from the island in a boat, and waged a guerrilla campaign on both sides of the river. He was eventually killed by one of two European boys he had befriended and his head was smoked and sent to England, finally being recovered and returned home by
Ken Colbung
Kenneth Desmond Colbung AM MBE (2 September 1931 – 12 January 2010), also known by his indigenous name Nundjan Djiridjarkan, was an Aboriginal Australian leader from the Noongar people who became prominent in the 1960s. He was appointed an MB ...
in 1997.
Following the
Pinjarra massacre, Whadjuk Aboriginal people became totally dispirited, and were reduced to dependent status, settling at their site at
Mount Eliza for handouts under the authority of
Francis Armstrong
Francis Fraser Armstrong (1813–1897) was a Scottish Methodist pioneer of the Swan River Colony who befriended and recorded the language of the Nyungar people in Western Australia. His father Adam Armstrong, was a well known early settler of We ...
. An Anglican school was established for a number of years at Ellenbrook, but was never very successful and was greatly underfunded.
Relations between the settlers and the Noongar people had deteriorated badly in the final years of Stirling's reign, with settlers shooting at Aboriginal people indiscriminately for the spearing of stock, leading to payback killings of settlers. Stirling's response was to attempt to subdue the Aboriginal people through harsh punishment. When Stirling retired he was replaced as Governor by John Hutt, 1 January 1839, who rather than adopting Stirling's vindictive vengeful policies against "Aborigines", tried protecting their rights and educating them. This ran foul of
frontier
A frontier is the political and geographical area near or beyond a boundary. A frontier can also be referred to as a "front". The term came from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"—the region of a country that fronts o ...
settlers intent on seizing Aboriginal lands without
compensation, who felt they needed strong-arm tactics to protect themselves from Aboriginal "reprisals". In 1887 an
Aboriginal reserve
An Aboriginal reserve, also called simply reserve, was a government-sanctioned settlement for Aboriginal Australians, created under various state and federal legislation. Along with missions and other institutions, they were used from the 19th c ...
for the remaining Whadjuk people was established near
Lake Gnangara
Lake Gnangara is the most southerly of the Wanneroo wetlands in metropolitan Perth, Western Australia.
The state government's ''Wetland Atlas'' defines the body of water as a lake. The surrounding terrain consists of low dunes and undulating sa ...
, one of a whole series of wetlands which may have, within the memory of Aboriginal people here, been a series of caves along an underground river whose roof fell in. This reserve was re-established in 1975. In addition to the "feeding station" at Mount Eliza, under the control of Francis Armstrong, first "Protector of Aborigines". Hutt also tried to establish an Aboriginal yeomanry by giving Aboriginal "settlers" grants of government land. The lands chosen for this venture were marginal and Aboriginal people were expected to make improvements without giving them access to needed bank finance, so the scheme quickly collapsed. Aboriginal campsites were temporarily established at many metropolitan locations including
Ellenbrook,
Jolimont,
Welshpool
Welshpool ( cy, Y Trallwng) is a market town and community in Powys, Wales, historically in the county of Montgomeryshire. The town is from the Wales–England border and low-lying on the River Severn; its Welsh language name ''Y Trallwng'' m ...
and Allawah Grove. These sites however were frequently moved at the discretion of European authorities once an alternative use was found for the land (as happened at
Karrakatta Cemetery
Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, the first being that of wheelwright Robert Creighton. Managed by the Metropolitan Ce ...
, the Swanbourne Rifle Range and
Perth Airport
Perth Airport is an international, domestic and general aviation airport serving Perth, the capital city of Western Australia.
It is the fourth busiest airport in Australia measured by passenger movements and falls within the boundaries of ...
).
In 1893 the granting of self-government to Western Australia, specifically excluded provision for Aboriginal Affairs, which remained vested in the British crown. The state's constitution also stated that 1% of government expenditures had to be for the benefit of Aboriginal people,
Constitution Act 1889
', s 70 (repealed by the
Aborigines Act 1905
'). a condition that has never been met. The Premier
John Forrest
Sir John Forrest (22 August 1847 – 2 SeptemberSome sources give the date as 3 September 1918 1918) was an Australian explorer and politician. He was the first premier of Western Australia (1890–1901) and a long-serving cabinet minister i ...
unilaterally took control in Aboriginal Affairs, without an amendment to the constitution in 1896. As of 2016, Aboriginal people number 3% of the state's population, but number 50% of the women in
Bandyup Women's Prison
Bandyup Women's Prison is located in the northeastern rural Perth suburb of West Swan, Western Australia. Prior to its construction, the female prisoners were at Fremantle Prison, which was overcrowded and offered women limited opportunities.
B ...
and of youth in detention in Western Australia. Many are imprisoned for the non-payment of fines incurred for minor offences. The number of Noongar youth in incarceration exceeds the number in school or formal training.
Daisy Bates claimed she interviewed the last fully initiated Whadjuk Noongar people in 1907, reporting on informants
Fanny Balbel and Joobaitj, who had preserved in oral tradition the Aboriginal viewpoints of the coming of the Europeans. Fanny had been born on the Aboriginal sacred site that underlies
St George's Cathedral, while Joobaitj's sacred lands were near the current youth hostel at
Mundaring Weir
Mundaring Weir is a dam (and historically the adjoining locality) located from Perth, Western Australia in the Darling Scarp. The dam and reservoir form the boundary between the suburbs of Reservoir and Sawyers Valley. The dam impounds the Hele ...
.
Social structure
The Whadjuk people were divided by the Swan and
Canning
Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container (jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although u ...
Rivers into four
residence groups, each with its own territory:
* Beeliar. Their country lay south west of Perth, between the Canning River and Swan River. At the beginning of white settlement were led by
Midgegooroo
Midgegooroo (died 22 May 1833) was an Aboriginal Australian elder of the Nyungar nation, who played a key role in Aboriginal resistance to white settlement in the area of Perth, Western Australia. Everything documented about Midgegooroo (various ...
, father of
Yagan
Yagan (; – 11 July 1833) was an Aboriginal Australian warrior from the Noongar people. Yagan was pursued by the local authorities after he killed Erin Entwhistle, a servant of farmer Archibald Butler. It was an act of retaliation after ...
.
* Beeloo. The area south of the Swan River, from
Perth Water
Perth Water is a section of the Swan River on the southern edge of the central business district of Perth, Western Australia. It is between the Causeway to the east, and Narrows Bridge to the west – a large wide but shallow section of river, ...
to the Canning River and bordered in the east by the
Helena River
The Helena River is a tributary of the Swan River in Western Australia. The river rises in country east of Mount Dale and flows north-west to Mundaring Weir, where it is dammed. It then flows west until it reaches the Darling Scarp.
It passes ...
and
Darling Ranges
The Darling Scarp, also referred to as the Darling Range or Darling Ranges, is a low escarpment running north–south to the east of the Swan Coastal Plain and Perth, Western Australia. The escarpment extends generally north of Bindoon, to t ...
. During winters they camped in the hills around
Kalamunda and
Mundaring, and moved back towards the rivers in spring.
*
Mooro
The Mooro are a Nyungar Aboriginal clan, a subgroup of the Whadjuk. Their territory stretches from the Swan River in Perth north to the Moore River beyond the northern limits of metropolitan Perth and east to Ellen Brook. Evidence of Aborigi ...
. Led by
Yellagonga
Yellagonga (d. 1843) was a leader of the Whadjuk Noongar on the north side of the Swan River. Colonists saw Yellagonga as the owner of this area. However, land rights were also traced through women of the group. Yellagonga could hunt on wetlands ...
, they lived north and west of the Swan River.
* The Upper Swan or "mountain people", whose proper name is unknown. Early settlers believed they were led by
Weeip
Weeip was an Aboriginal Australian leader of the Boora clan (Boya Ngura people) of the Whadjuk Noongar people in the 1830s, during the early years of the Swan River Colony in Western Australia.
His territory extended from the Helena River and up ...
.
Several Europeans in particular contributed to modern understanding of Whadjuk Noongar language and culture.
*
Robert Menli Lyon
Robert Menli Lyon (born Robert Milne; 1789–1874) was a pioneering Western Australian settler who became one of the earliest outspoken advocates for Indigenous Australian rights and welfare in the colony. He published the first information on the ...
befriended the Aboriginal resistance fighter
Yagan
Yagan (; – 11 July 1833) was an Aboriginal Australian warrior from the Noongar people. Yagan was pursued by the local authorities after he killed Erin Entwhistle, a servant of farmer Archibald Butler. It was an act of retaliation after ...
, when the latter was exiled to
Carnac Island
Carnac Island (Noongar: ''Ngoorloormayup'') is a , A Class, island nature reserve about south-west of Fremantle and north of Garden Island in Western Australia.
History
Carnac Island is aeolianite limestone remnant of Pleistocene dunes. It ...
.
*
Francis Armstrong
Francis Fraser Armstrong (1813–1897) was a Scottish Methodist pioneer of the Swan River Colony who befriended and recorded the language of the Nyungar people in Western Australia. His father Adam Armstrong, was a well known early settler of We ...
took early efforts to befriend Aboriginal people (being known to them as "Pranji Djanga"), but later in life became very authoritarian and bitter in his dealings with them.
*
George Fletcher Moore
George Fletcher Moore (10 December 1798 – 30 December 1886) was a prominent early settler in colonial Western Australia, and "one fthe key figures in early Western Australia's ruling elite" (Cameron, 2000). He conducted a number of exploring ...
rapidly came to understand the
Whadjuk dialect of the Nyungar language, and later came to serve as magistrate in legal cases in which Whadjuk people were involved.
*
Lieutenant George Grey took great efforts to learn the Whadjuk tongue, and was recognised by the Yellagonga's Whadjuk group as being the returned dead son (i.e. Djanga) of an Aboriginal woman, before going on to a distinguished political career in
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
and
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
.
European settlers were initially called ''Djanga'' – a term referring to spirits of the dead – by the Whadjuk. This belief incorporated Europeans into the social structure of the Noongar peoples and was reinforced by several factors. To the Whadjuk, the settlers resembled dead people because they:
* came from the west, the direction of the setting sun and ''Kuranyup'', the land of the dead for the Whadjuk;
* were pale in complexion – which was seen by the Whadjuk as the pallor of people after death;
* often changed their clothing and, therefore, their general appearance;
* smelled bad and often had rotten teeth, reflecting early 19th century standards of hygiene and;
* were not affected by infectious diseases to which most Aboriginal people had no genetic resistance.
Work by
Neville Green in his book ''Broken Spears'' has shown how Aboriginal culture could not explain the high
death rate
Mortality rate, or death rate, is a measure of the number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in a particular population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit of time. Mortality rate is typically expressed in units of de ...
s associated with European infections, and believed that Aboriginal sorcery was involved, leading to rising numbers of reprisal spearing and killings within the Aboriginal community. Coupled with the declining
birth rate
The birth rate for a given period is the total number of live human births per 1,000 population divided by the length of the period in years. The number of live births is normally taken from a universal registration system for births; populati ...
s, these factors led to a collapsing population in those areas nearby European settlement. In addition to white killings and massacres in Fremantle and elsewhere, the arrival of Europeans saw many deaths from diseases to which Aboriginal people had no resistance. These were interpreted as sorcery within traditional culture and led to "pay-back"
vendettas
A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one par ...
, which increased mortality of those in closest contact with Europeans.
Aboriginal camping sites around Perth
* ''Goonininup'', now built over by the present day
Swan Brewery
The Swan Brewery is a brewing company, whose brewery was located in Perth, Western Australia.
History
The brewery was established in 1857 by Frederick Sherwood at the foot of what is now Sherwood Court in Perth. The brewery was named for ...
, together with the nearby site of ''Goodinup'', marked the place where coastal and inland Nyungar met for trade and ritual purposes. It was a focal point for trading in red ochre. Male initiations also took place there. Close by was ''Koyamulyup'' (frog camp), so-called because of the abundance of frogs, an important part of the local diet. The Boya (or birthing stone) there was pushed into the river by European settlers to try to prevent Aborigines accessing the site.
*
Lake Monger
Lake Monger ( nys, Keiermulu) is a large urban wetland on the Swan Coastal Plain in suburban Perth, Western Australia nestled between the suburbs of Leederville, Wembley and Glendalough.
Located less than from the city of Perth and situated ...
was an Aboriginal camping site until the 1920s. When it was closed the land was used for market gardening, and the Aboriginal groups moved to
Jolimont and Njookenboro (
Innaloo).
* People from the site of Jolimont later moved to the site of the
Swanbourne Rifle Range, later resumed by the Australian Army in 1913.
* There was also a small Aboriginal camping site near the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
building in
East Perth
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sunrise, Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from ...
and on
Heirisson Island
Heirisson Island is an island in the Swan River in Western Australia at the eastern end of Perth Water, between the suburbs of East Perth and Victoria Park. It occupies an area of , and is connected to the two foreshores by The Causeway. The ne ...
. The shallows off Heirisson Island, known as ''Matagarup'' ("Leg Deep") afforded a passage for crossing the Swan River. They were later moved to
Burswood, until the site became garbage dump for the city of Perth, before finally becoming the site of the
Burswood Casino.
*
Wanneroo
Wanneroo is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Wanneroo.
Geography
As it is on the Swan Coastal Plain, the Wanneroo wetlands stretch parallel to the coastline and to the north and south of the suburb.
Education
W ...
("the place where women dig yams") had a number of Aboriginal camp sites, well into the 20th century. Orchestra Shell Cave in Wanneroo had Aboriginal paintings on the roof and walls.
George Grey
Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Go ...
met Aboriginal people at Lake
Joondalup
Joondalup () is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, approximately north of Perth's central business district. It contains the central business district of the regional City of Joondalup and acts as the primary urban centre of Perth's outer ...
when he returned to Perth.
*
Welshpool
Welshpool ( cy, Y Trallwng) is a market town and community in Powys, Wales, historically in the county of Montgomeryshire. The town is from the Wales–England border and low-lying on the River Severn; its Welsh language name ''Y Trallwng'' m ...
was a camping site for Aboriginal people at the turn of the 20th century.
Daisy Bates conducted most of her interviews with Perth Aboriginal people here.
*
Bennett Brook is significant to Aboriginal people, as it is believed that it was formed by the creative activities of the
Waugal. It is said that the Waugal's resting place is a cave in the deep, still water. Python Bridge crosses Bennett Brook approximately 200 meters from its confluence with the Swan River and it is believed to be the home of an evil and dangerous spirit. Some Aboriginal families have said that camping areas existed from the Southern boundaries of this site to Bennett Swamp in pre-contact times. There is a tradition of digging wells for freshwater supplies in the western bank of Bennett Brook and a traditional fish trap supplied food for these camps. Benara Road is the southern boundary to this Aboriginal site. From the 1930s to 1960s, Aboriginal camps spread across Lord Street into the area that is now a housing estate. It is reported that burials have taken place between Benara Road and Widgee Road, however their exact location is not known.
*
Aboriginal people
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
from the
Swan River made their campsites along
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
's central lakes to avoid the salty lakes closer to the coast. 16 Aboriginal campsites have been found in the
City of Cockburn
The City of Cockburn ( ) is a local government area in the southern suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth about south of Fremantle and about south of Perth's central business district. The City covers an area of and had a po ...
* In 1941 a group of Swan Valley Nyungah women purchased of bushland bounded by Gallagher Street and Mary Crescent, Eden Hill. The local council refused their requests for water and applications to build housing so they camped in
mia-mia
A mia-mia is a temporary shelter made of bark, branches, leaves and grass used by some Indigenous Australians. The word is also used in Australian English to mean "a temporary shelter". Coming from the Wathawurrung language, the term is also use ...
s, bush breaks and tin camps and relied on water dug from their own wells. In the 1950s the area was resumed by the State Housing Commission for the creation of the suburb of
Eden Hill.
* The
Swan Valley Nyungah Community
The Swan Valley Nyungah (Noongar) Community was an Aboriginal community of Noongar people at Lord Street, in the outer Perth suburbs of Lockridge and Eden Hill.
The Government of Western Australia closed the settlement in 2003 by act of Par ...
was an Aboriginal community of
Noongar
The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the so ...
people at
Lockridge, Western Australia
Lockridge is a suburb of Perth, in the Bassendean division of Western Australia, and the City of Swan local government area.
Land was first granted in the area to Edward Hamersley in 1837. Lockridge's name is derived from that of Lockeridge H ...
. In controversial circumstances, the
Government of Western Australia
The Government of Western Australia, formally referred to as His Majesty's Government of Western Australia, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of Western Australia. It is also commonly referred to as the WA Government o ...
closed the settlement in 2003 by act of Parliament. The buildings were later bulldozed by the
Barnett
Barnett is both a surname and a masculine given name. Notable people with the name include:
Surname
Barnett is an Anglo-Saxon and Old French surname that came after the Norman Invasion.The original Anglo-Saxon spelling is baernet which means'the ...
government. SVNC are amongst the leaders of the 2015-2016 Aboriginal Refugee community on Heirisson Island.
*
Munday Swamp is located against the northeastern perimeter fence of Perth Airport, southwest of King Road and west of the Forrestfield and Kewdale Railway Yards. Munday Swamp was an area of ancient Aboriginal usage and had been used as a turtle-fishing ground in pre-contact times. The Melaleuca shrub offered shade and coolness to the turtle fishermen, who were known to camp there on occasions. These days, Munday Swamp lies on private property beside the Perth Airport's perimeter fence.
*
Nyibra Swamp has been used by Aboriginal people from Bayswater and Bassendean areas as a fishing area from the 1920s until recent times.
*
Bibra Lake Bibra may refer to:
Organisations
* British Industrial Biological Research Association, now known as BIBRA in the UK
Places
* Bibra, Schmalkalden-Meiningen, a village in the district Schmalkalden-Meiningen, Thuringia, Germany
* Bibra, Saale-Holz ...
was a frequently used camping ground as the presence of Aboriginal artefacts from the area attests.
*
Walyunga hosts one of the largest known Aboriginal campsites near Perth, used by regional tribes for more than 60,000 years, now a National Park.
*
Gnangara hosted a large Aboriginal camping site. Gnangara contained the Aboriginal Community College (K-12), founded in 1979 and closed in 2008. It was one of two independent
Indigenous
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention
*Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band
*Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
schools in the metropolitan area.
* Allawah Grove on the north-west edge of
Perth Airport
Perth Airport is an international, domestic and general aviation airport serving Perth, the capital city of Western Australia.
It is the fourth busiest airport in Australia measured by passenger movements and falls within the boundaries of ...
in South Guildford has long been associated with "campies", as Aboriginals called themselves. It was gazetted as an aboriginal reserve in 1911, and repeated efforts were made to shift indigenous people into there, despite their refusal to stay on the site, preferring their traditional campsites around
Eden Hill. Eventually in the late 1950s, aboriginals from camps in Bassendean and Eden Hill accepted the site because, harassed by a policy of keeping native people out of the Perth area and often left homeless, the government offered to house them on the site and guarantee some freedom from continual police harassment. By February 1958 some 29 families, constituted by 220 people, had settled there.
* Weld Square in Northbridge, Western Australia, Northbridge was often used as a camping spot by Aboriginal people. The Aboriginal Advancement Council established its headquarters there in the 1940s.
Alternative names/spellings
* ''Caractterup tribe''
* ''Derbal''
* ''Ilakuri wongi'' (language name)
* ''Juadjuk''
* ''Karakata'' (a toponym for Perth)/''Karrakatta'' (bank of Swan River at Perth)
* ''Minalnjunga'' (
Yued
Yued (also spelt Juat, Yuat and Juet) is a region inhabited by the Yued people, one of the fourteen groups of Noongar Aboriginal Australians who have lived in the South West corner of Western Australia for approximately 40,000 years.
European ...
term composed of ''minang'' (south) and ''njunga'' (man))
* ''Minnal Yungar''
* ''Wadjuk, Wadjug, Whajook''
* ''Wadjup'' (toponym for the flats of the Canning River)
* ''Witja:ri''
* ''Yooadda''
* ''Yooard''
Source:
Some words
* ''gengar'' (whiteman)
* ''jukan'' (mother)
* ''mamman'' (father)
Source:
Notes
Citations
Sources
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{{Aboriginal peoples of Western Australia
Noongar
Swan Coastal Plain