Weeip was an

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 ...

leader of the Boora clan (Boya Ngura people) of the

Whadjuk Whadjuk, alternatively Witjari, are Noongar (Aboriginal Australian) people of the Western Australian region of the Perth bioregion of the Swan Coastal Plain. Name The ethnonym appears to derive from ''whad'', the Whadjuk word for "no". Countr ...

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 in the 1830s, during the early years of the

Swan River Colony The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just Swan River, was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, and it ...

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 ...

. His territory extended from 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 upper reaches of the Swan River (modern day

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

) 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 ...

. In 1834 Weeip negotiated a truce with Governor James Stirling to improve relations between the Boora and the British settlers, around the time of the Pinjarra massacre. The negotiations took place while Weeip's younger son Billyoomerri was held in prison. Billyoomerri was released after the truce was agreed. In December 2019, the

City of Swan The City of Swan is a local government area of Western Australia. It is in the eastern metropolitan region of Perth and includes the Swan Valley and 42 suburbs. It is centred approximately 20 km north-east of the Perth central business d ...

named the open public space in the Midland New Junction precinct after him, Weeip Park. The park opened was in November 2020.

References

Noongar people {{IndigenousAustralia-stub