Country and Maps

Connection to Country

'Last night I went to sleep in my great homeland. My home, my home, my great, great miya-miya home'. Gus Ryder.

Noongar people have areas where we traditionally reside and have cultural connection for thousands of years. For Noongar people everything in our vast landscape has meaning and purpose. We speak our own language and have our own lore and customs. These lores are characterised by a strong spiritual connection to 'country'. This means caring for the natural environment and for places of significance. The customs relate to ceremonies and rituals for hunting, fishing and gathering only when the food is abundant and in season. Our connection to country is passed on through our stories, art, song and dance. Noongar people not only survived European colonisation but we thrived as family groups and sought to assert our rights to our land on our country. For Noongar people, the south-west of Western Australia is our country.

 


Food

'When the wattle comes out, you know it's a good time to go bush'. Joe Northover.

As Noongar people, we have traditionally hunted and gathered our food according to the six seasons. In this way, food is harvested at the right time and animals are hunted at their peak. Noongar communities have always taken care to assure the survival of animal and plant species. We always leave some honey for the bees to build on. And when the fish travel upstream to lay their eggs, we catch them on their way back down. For Noongar people, the bush is our gourmet delicatessen. We can harvest many types of berries, karda (goanna), bardi (witchetty grubs), kangaroo, marron, turtles, and birds' eggs. Noongars know when it is the season for harvesting by signs in nature. A hazy summer sky foretells of the salmon running or the blossom on paperbarks brings the mullet fish.

Home

For Noongar people the home is where the family heart is. In pre- settlement times through to the early 1900s, family groups lived in self- built bough huts (coornts or mia-mia's) in bush camps. During the 20th century, Noongars camped on 'Native Reserves' in humpies made from corrugated iron and hessian bags. The nature of Noongar homes evolved as government policies towards Noongars changed. Whatever the style, the home has been a refuge from the impacts of colonisation, a place where Noongar people could simply be together as families. In this theme we explore the changing nature of Noongar homes.

Identity

To be Noongar is to belong, to have connection to country. It is to have pride and to survive. We need to celebrate it - the journey.

Ask a Noongar person what does our identity mean to us and invariably, we will talk about the stories. The stories are part of the knowledge passed down from the Elders and family. They tell of how to survive in the bush. They are campfire stories of the stars and the seasons. How a change in the ants' activities can tell what will happen in one week or two. To be Noongar is to be a river person or a coastal person or just from the bush. Whichever it is, to be Noongar is to be always the same. It is to be free.

Language


Noongar language is central to who we are as people. Our language has an oral tradition and history, it is not written. Within Noongar language there are many special words, used in ceremonies and initiations. These words can be spoken, chanted or sung. Noongar language is made up of fourteen different dialects. Noongar dialects have changed over time, incorporating and mixing with English. Joe Northover tells how his Noongar name is 'Kwerdlung' and that it means 'currawong'. Many Noongar people of today grew up speaking English in school and Noongar at home. The children who were taken away to missions - the Stolen Generations - were forbidden from speaking their Noongar language.

Noongar Lore

Noongar people have complex lores and customs pre-dating European contact. These lores have existed alongside European law (and still do today). The terms lore and law are sometimes used interchangeably, but 'law' refers to written European law, whereas 'lore' for Noongars is unwritten and refers to kaartdijin (knowledge), beliefs, rules or customs. Our Noongar lore is linked to kinship and mutual obligation, sharing and reciprocity. Our lores and customs relate to marriage and trade, access, usage and ownership of land. Traditionally, it has governed our use of fire, hunting and gathering, and our behaviour regarding family and community. Noongar lores work with nature to conserve animals and our environment. Noongar people do not eat animals that have totemic significance with our names. This contributes to assuring biodiversity is maintained and food supplies are always in abundance.

Spirituality

Noongar spirituality lies in the belief of a cultural landscape and the connection between the human and spiritual realms. 'The Dreaming' or 'Nyitting' in Noongar, is the period before living memory, when spirits rose from the earth, and descended from the sky to create the land forms and all living things. Dreaming stories laid down the laws for social and moral order. Noongar people recognise the 'Waugal' or 'Rainbow Serpent', as the creator of life. The continuity of our belief systems is passed down from generation to generation by our Elders. They have the ability to comprehend the knowledge and to maintain it in an unchanging way. Noongar spirituality is the connection to nature and country. A river is a spirit home and we go there to visit our ancestors. We throw sand to let them smell us. When someone dies, we go there and sing them home.

Towns and maps

Since European settlement, Noongars have gathered in towns located throughout the south-west of Western Australia following work and family. Some towns were traditional Noongar campsites used long before they became present day towns. The five towns selected - Narrogin, Northam, Guildford, Margaret River and Moora - are each from a native title claim region. Early government policies penalized Noongar people for practicing their own laws and, during certain periods, prohibited them from entering or remaining in towns. Through the five featured towns, we look at Noongar history before and after European contact.