Moora – 1840s
In 1845, conflict developed between European pastoralists and Noongar people in the Moora area when Kabinger, a local Noongar guide (who assisted James Drummond with his botanical collecting expeditions), fatally speared Johnston Drummond at Victoria Plains for having taken his young wife. Two weeks later, Kabinger was shot dead by Johnston’s brother and Police Inspector, John Drummond. Governor Hutt relieved Inspector Drummond of his position in the police force but he was not sent to trial for his crime.[iii]
In 1846, Bishop Rosendo Salvado arrived at ‘Maura’ and established the New Norcia Mission to ‘Christianize and civilize’ Noongar people. Salvado noted of Noongars that ‘every individual has his own territory for hunting; gathering gum and picking up yams, and the rights he has are respected as sacred’.[iv]