Pre contact
Since time immemorial, the people of the Wagyl Kaip region have shared and cared for country.
The landscape of the Wagyl Kaip includes the Stirling Ranges, Mt Madden, and deep bays, forests and extensive plains that hold a variety of natural resources. Rivers and waterways include the Kalgan, King, Stokes, Fitzgerald, Wellstead, Gordon, Pallinup and Cullum Inlet.
We used the coastline, as well as the rivers, swamps and vegetation beyond it. Our traditional foods consisted of birdlife, eggs, plants, small and large animals like kangaroo, emu and goanna, as well as estuarine fish. Traditionally, we lived in the coastal regions during the summer months and moved inland for shelter with the onset of winter. At Oyster Harbour, close to the mouth of the Kalgan River, Minang Noongar made fish traps from stone. The fish were trapped in the harbour as the tide went out.
Avril Dean shared her brother Jack Williams’ story:
Now I just want to tell this story as a tribute to my brother, Jack, who’s passed away, and he was our historian. And he told this story about the traditional people and how they used to go and catch salmon to feed the whole tribe. So long ago, and it happened right up until our parents were young people, it was still happening. And it’s actually happened very, very recently where the same thing has happened. But this time the dolphins brought the salmon in, because there was Noongars on the beach.
And they said they just went crazy ‘cause they were catching the salmon with their hands. So – long time ago, they used to come down to the coast when the salmon were running, when they were at their prime condition. And they had a special man and only one man was allowed to do this. This was tribal lore. They used to have this special man that had – he had to have a beard and the wind had to be blowing in a certain direction. And he’d have to light a fire on the beach. And he’d have to have a fire and make it a smoky fire so that the smoke could blow out. And he used to sit on the beach with his legs crossed and he used to tap his sticks together. And he’d sing, djock, djock, djock. And then all of a sudden he would see the dolphins start to work. And they’d go around a big school of salmon and they’d go round and round and round and work ‘em around like, like a sheep dog does, I suppose, if you say that. And then they used to bring them right in to the beach and they’d go into a real frenzy ‘cause they’d be bringing them right in, bring them right down to the beach and then the whole tribe, even children could come in and catch them.