![[from left] Mulkas Cave Hyden; Wedge Island; Shark's Mouth](/Resources/Images/slides/nat_photos.jpg)
![[from left] Camp at Crawley; Noongar men at Guildford 1901. Both photos courtesy of Battye Library](/Resources/Images/slides/hist_photos.jpg)
Country and Maps | Connection to Country
Mouth of Margaret River. Photographer: Yvette Bradley
"White fella got but it's still in my heart, this is my country."
Noongar Elder Angus Wallam, October 2005
'Land while not owned by Noongar people in a legal sense, remains as much the Noongar country it was before Europeans or wadjelas claimed the land nearly 180 years ago'. i
Noongar people have long been the traditional owners of the south-west of Western Australia, the land on which we have lived for 45,000 years and continue to live on. We have a deep knowledge and respect for our country, which has been passed down by our Elders.
Noongar boodja (country) extends from north of Jurien Bay, inland to north of Moora and down to the southern coast between Bremer Bay and east of Esperance. It is defined by 14 different areas with varied geography and 14 dialect groups. Link to Language
'It doesn't matter where you go, you know where you come from. You might go out of your country, but you know where your home is. Where you were born is where you will be buried.' Glen Colbung
Noongar people have a profound physical and spiritual connection to country. It relates to our beliefs and customs regarding creation, life and death, and spirits of the earth. Spiritual connection to country guides the way we understand, navigate and use the land. It also influences our cultural practices.
Being Noongar is to be part of a family and community, which determines our relationship to country. It empowers our identity as a Noongar person.
Kokerbin
Family and Country
As Noongars, we come to know our connection to country throught our moort, or family. This means we can identify our country - the place where we feel at home, where we can move about freely without having to obtain anyone's permission.
Noongar Lore
Noongar lore and custom guide the ways in which we define our country and our rights to it Lore influences how we connect with and care for country. As Noongars we have a duty to speak for our country, to acknowledge its value to our communities and to observe lores
that govern who may or may not 'speak for country'. Link to Lore
Noongar Land Ownership
Gin Gin. Photographer: Brendan Moore
Traditional Noongar rights and interests in boodja (country) are not the same as the Western concept of land ownership. For Noongar people, to have connection to country is to have a responsibility to the land. Duties and responsibilities for country also include protecting and sustaining sites of spiritual significance and family heritage.
We consider it a traditional land owner's right to have free use and access to his or her country. Those who do not share rights in the land should seek permission before they enter or use it.
Different Noongar groups have custodial status over certain parts of the south-west. Within these areas are moort boodjas or family runs. These are the areas in which Noongar family groups traditionally travel and enjoy special privileges relating to that part of our country.
Traditional Noongar lore and custom does not dictate that custodians remain permenently within their territorial borders to be on country. Traditionally, Noongars travelled widely and we accepted that our territories would be occupied by others during our absence. ii
Noongar Native Title Journey (SWALSC)
Bula Meela (Bluff Knoll). Photographer: Chris Owen
Kaartdijin
Our understanding and knowledge - kaartdijin - of Noongar boodja (country) reflects our deep spiritual and physical connection to country and to places of significance. For each Noongar group, there is a place of significance where we go to celebrate or pay tribute to those who have passed on. Link to J. Northover and Minningup Pool
Caring for Country
In respecting the land, caring for it and protecting it through traditional sustainable practices, we continue to demonstrate our strong connection to country.
Hazel Brown talks about the conservation of mallee fowl eggs.
'And every about a week or two, just there put the horse in the cart and off to Qualup or down to Bremer or down to Dillon Bay or even down to Marianup, have three or four days, fishing and lazing around and go looking for goanna eggs or mallee eggs, we knew what to eat, you know, the bush tucker and things like that. We often went hunting for mallee hen nests and if there were eggs in the nest we would always leave one or two for the mothers to look after.'
Noongar people have always used our knowledge of the six seasons in the south-west of Western Australia to hunt, fish, and gather only the most ripe and abundant food sources for our needs. Link to 6 seasons map
The rituals and ceremonies performed by Noongar people over many thousands of years reflect our sustainable use of the environment and reinforce our connection to country. These rituals include domestic and social customs that observe Noongar lores governing the use of land and resources. Link to food. An important and significant part of our Noongar culture is the teaching of sustainable environmental practices, handed down by our Elders.
Zamia fruit
Patrick Hume talks about sustainable use of country.
'We never catch marron when the creek didn't run, or the river didn't run. Always catch marron when the water runs. That's our culture. You gotta give 'em a chance to breed. And if you got anything with eggs on 'em, you threw 'em back....We never had nets, yeah, we coulda made nets but we didn't believe that you know, you rape the country. So you gotta leave some for the breeding.'
There is a duty to pass on knowledge and our connection to country to the next generation, expressed here by Hazel Brown.
'We were always taught by the Elders, you know, by the Elders. If you wanted to know anything, mother and father had no time to tell you, you had to go, oh, the Elders of our tribe used to have to tell you, the Elders of our group.' Hazel Brown.
References
[i] Host, J and C. Owen, It's Still in my Heart, This is my Country, The Single Noongar Claim, UWA Publishing, 2007. p.vii
