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https://australian.museum/learn/cultures/atsi-collection/ghost-net-art/

https://pacificpeoplespartnership.org/unravelling-ghost-nets-making-torres-strait-connections/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jzw2qwutaoA

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The Oxford History Boxes for Y5 and 6 have stories and accounts of some early colonial events from an Aboriginal perspective.

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The Oxford History Boxes for Y5 and 6 have stories and accounts of some early colonial events from an Aboriginal perspective.

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Home To Mother by Doris Pilkington Garimara children's version of Rabbit Proof Fence. 

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Home To Mother by Doris Pilkington Garimara children's version of Rabbit Proof Fence. 

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Shaun Tan and John Marsden - The Rabbits 

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Shaun Tan and John Marsden - The Rabbits 

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Discussion about Australia Day and the arrival of the The Rabbits, The British Colonialists.

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Noongar Words

"From the past, today, tomorrow and the future"

Kaya noonakoort. Wandju, wandju, nidja Noongar Boodja. Nguny djurapin, nguny koort djurapin wanganiny noonakoort. Nyininy, nih wer kaartdjinin Noongar wangkiny. Noonakoort kaartdijin wangkiny deman, maam, ngarnk wer boordier kura kura.

Hello everyone. Welcome to Noongar country. We are happy, our heart is happy to be speaking with you all. Sit, listen and learn about Noongar language. We Noongar people were given our knowledge through the oral tradition from our grandfathers, grandmothers, fathers, mothers and Noongar bosses long long ago.

An early colonial also observed and recorded our Noongar tradition: "I have reason to believe that their [Nyungar] history and geography are handed down from generation to generation orally." Robert Menli Lyon, 1833.

Noongar is the official language of the Aboriginal people of the south-west of Western Australia.

Nyungar language has a harmonious quality, and it is a real treat to hear two fluent speakers in conversation.
Noongar Elder Ralph Winmar in van den Berg, Collard, Harben and Byrne, Nyungar Tourism in the South West of Western Australia, Murdoch University, 2005

The word Noongar means 'a person of the south-west of Western Australia', or the name for the original inhabitants of the south-west of Western Australia'. While Noongar is identified as a single language, there are several ways of pronouncing it, which is reflected in the spelling: Noongar, Nyungar, Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, Yungar and Noonga.

Our language is made up of fourteen different dialects. Noongar dialects have changed over time, incorporating and mixing with English. Many Noongar people of today grew up speaking English in school and Noongar at home. The kurrlongurr - children who were taken away to missions - the Stolen Generations - were forbidden from speaking our Noongar language.

In 1932 I was going to school at the [Gnowangerup] mission. And while I was in the school, see I talked a hell of a lot of Aboriginal talk. Matter of fact I didn't learn to speak English properly until I was about seven. And I'm talking with my cousin now ... So one of these girls ... she told a teacher, reckoned that I was swearing at her, I was swearing. But I wasn't swearing. It wasn't swear words I was using. So teacher come along to me and she said, "You stop that talk". And I looked at her, you know, she said, "You, you! We don't want any heathens in this school". She said, "If you talk like that you can get out". She didn't have to tell me twice to get out. I was out alright. I just wheeled around, I didn't have - only had a slate and a pencil to leave behind, but I took off and I went.
Hazel Brown, oral history, SWALSC, 2008
Joe Northover - Minningup pool
Joe Northover talks about Minningup Pool on the Collie River

Audio Transcript

For nearly two centuries Noongar language has adapted to the impacts of colonisation and survived government reserves and missions, where it was also forbidden for Noongar people to speak our language. Noongar language has also been adapted into the local English vocabulary, notably with places, plants and animals. Consisting of 14 different dialects, Noongar is an oral language and the spelling of it is variable.

Noongar Prayer
Ngaala Maaman ngiyan yira moonbooli Moodlooga.
Kooranyi noonak korl. Noonak waangk, yoowarl koorl,
birdiyar ngaala boodja noonook woorn noonak kooranyi kaalak.
Nyinyak ngaalang nidja kedela ngaala mereny.
Nyinya nyinyak ngaalang ngaala wara waarniny.
Ngaalak nyinya nyinyak, baalang ngiyan waarn wara ngaalang.
Yoowart koorl ngaalang moort-moort djooroot. Maaman maar barang ngaalang, Noonak waangk birdiyar. Noonak moorditj, noonook ngaangk yira.
Kalyokool, kalyokool.
Kaya
FATSILC, The Federation of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Languages & Culture (Corporation)

Here are some Noongar words for you to practice.

marlee - swan, beeliar - river, boorn - wood/tree, n yingarn - echidna, koorlbardi - magpie, kitje - spear; koornt - camp, balga grass - balga tree

Noongar people also have many names for places and towns throughout our boodja. Some well known places in Whadjuk boodja are: Wadjemup, now known as Rottnest Island; Ngooloormayup, now known as Carnac Island; Meeandip, now known as Garden Island; Gargangara north of Armadale; Goolamrup, now known as Kelmscott; Dyarlgarro Beelya, now named the Canning River; and Derbal Yiragan, the Perth estuary waters. Some Noongar place names and their meanings are in Noongar Wangkinyiny.

A lot of the Nyungar history and culture have come from word of mouth from our Nyungar elders.
Craig McVee in van den Berg, Collard, Harben and Byrne, Nyungar Tourism in the South West of Western Australia, Murdoch University, 2005

The late Tom Bennell (Yelakitj), shared this story about moort (family) relationship names and how moort would have wangkiny (talked) with each other:

Deman is the name for Grandmother and Dembart is the name for Grandfather. I say dembart yaarl koorl - Grandfather come here or deman yaarl koorl - Grandmother come here. She is saying this to the daughter of her daughter. Wort koorl deman, that means go away grandmother.

They might go to some of their other relations, they don't call them uncles they call them konk and their brother-in-law they call them ngoorldja. They call their brother ngoony and sister djook. A child is called a nop. A maam (man) calls his yok - koorta. Koort is heart. Cousins well they call them same - grandfather, same as their cousin, dembart.
Noongar Elder Tom Bennell in Collard, Harben and van den Berg, 'Nidja Beeliar Boodjar Noonookurt Nyininy' website, 2004

Dialects

In the late 1930's, anthropologist Norman Tindale identified 14 language groups within Noongar country: Amangu, Yuat, Whadjuk, Binjareb, Wardandi, Balardong, Nyakinyaki, Wilman, Ganeang, Bibulman, Mineng, Goreng, Wudjari and Njunga [i] See Noongar Explained more information. More current is Horton's map of Aboriginal Language Boundaries.[ii] It differs slightly from Tindale's in that Horton removed the boundary between Wudjari and Njunja on the south coast near Esperance and named the group Wudjari. Click on the link to view Horton Map.

The main difference between the Noongar language groups is pronunciation, but because the groups are geographically and ecologically distinctive, there are also regional vocabularies. Some words may only be known in one region of Noongar country, particularly plants, which are unique to the local climate and soil type. Overall there are many common words in Noongar, for example: kaya = hello, moort = family, boodja = country and yongka = kangaroo. These words are used everyday but they sound slightly different from region to region.

But of course with the Nyungar culture we are basically all the same but there are some differences with regards to our language. And of course you know you have to have your language because the language that I refer to might not necessarily be the language that other Nyungar people refer to. But it is Nyungar language and not many people realise that this is the case.

Where we get the confusion sometimes with our Nyungar language is the writing down of it. Because you get one linguist or an Aboriginal person and another person writing it down and another person reading it, doesn't necessarily come out the way it was written down, and then it creates a bit of confusion but we all generally know what we are talking about.
Doc Renolds in van den Berg, Collard, Harben and Byrne, Nyungar Tourism in the South West of Western Australia, Murdoch University, 2005

This variation in our Noongar language reflects both regional dialect differences as well as an attempt by the fourteen language groups to retain, in a modern Australian society, a sense of independence and difference within.

Identity

Speaking Noongar immediately lets everyone know where we come from. It reinforces our group identity, which binds land and people. Noongar language is not only a way of communicating; it is a statement of who we are.

Nyungar wangkiny or speaking and understanding our language is central to our identity. We need to commit to reinvigorating our cultural heritage and teach our kurlonggur (children) so that they know where they come from, once they learn the language they can start to make that connection to their cultural identity and heritage and go forward with pride into the future.
Sandra Harben, SWALSC, 2012

My name is Bianca. I am a Noongar. I know who Hagan is. ( Yagan's biography). The wedjella cut his body up into pieces and put it around Australia. Hagan was a Noongar. I know Noongar words. Mooly is your nose, dwonk is your ear, marr is your hand and ngorrolick is your teeth ... I love going to Badgaling, we get gum from the trees, look for yonga (kangaroo)... when I am in the bush I feel free.
Bianca, 9 years old, interviewed February 2013, SWALSC

Language and Trade

The common language between neighbouring Noongar dialectal groups enable us to communicate and trade. Noongar have always been engaged in trade right back well before settlement. Trade took place before the settlers actually came to this country. Trade between our people and people from other nations is well documented. Our people went as far as Uluru and the centre of Australia and those people from there came back as well.

Travelling was a big part of ceremony and a big part of trade in those days as well. People going to ceremony would be going on business but when it wasn't ceremony time those people would still go and visit other areas and then when they would come for a visit they would bring with them gifts and exchange.

The different groups would bring stones and ochres and all sorts of different things from their country that didn't exist in Nyungar country and that is a form of "paying their way" which puts them into the category of trade and tourism. So trade in Nyungar country is very very old, thousands of years old.
Dr Richard Walley in van den Berg, Collard, Harben and Byrne, Nyungar Tourism in the South West of Western Australia, Murdoch University, 2005

"I used to listen to those stories and I remember [grandmother Yurleen Garlett] telling one of her nephews a story ... that happened there. The story happened a long time ago and it is as follows":

There was all the Nyungar or people who used to camp the Derbal or estuary [around Perth waters]. There were some fellas from the north; they came for some ceremony. They came and sat down and sang. They had come to trade and they brought some medicine and some fire. That was, like, along the river.

They reckoned that in the wintertime, it was cold, see, and these fellas who used to hunt up in the bush, they brought some things down, clothing and stuff ( yongka booka [kangaroo skin cloaks]). These fellas only used to stay for a little while, while the ceremony was there and they used to exchange things, you know?
Noongar Elder Sealin Garlett in Collard, Harben and van den Berg, 'Nidja Beeliar Boodjar Noonookurt Nyininy' website, 2004

Noongar Trade

Much of the trade that took place between the different Noongar groups was very dependent on the six Noongar seasons. One of the most well known Noongar trade fairs or meeting place was in Pinjarup Noongar budjar. It was known as the Mandura (Mandurah derives its name from this activity) which was a type of fair or meeting place where goods or presents were exchanged amongst the Noongar in the south-west during the Bunuru or summer season. Noongar from different areas brought their goods here for exchange.[iii] Daisy Bates records that Goonininup or Crawley Bay was a key camping place on a major trade route used by Nyungar travelling from other areas to Perth in order to trade for the highly demanded wilgi (red ochre).[iv]
Pinjarup Noongar would trade the following items at the Mandura:
* Burdun: a light gidgee, highly prized for the elasticity of the timber.
* Durda-dyer: a skin of a dingo tail, worn on the upper part of the forehead as an ornament.
* Ngow-er: a small tuft of feathers tied to a stick and worn in the hair for ornamentation.
* Niggara: a human hair girdle worn around the waist. * Nulbarn: a rope-like girdle made from possum hair, wound around the waist and used to carry the kylie (boomerang), tabba (knife), kodja (axe or axe heads) and the dowak (throwing stick). This rope was also used to tie up wounds.
* Tabba: a knife made of sharp pieces of quartz connected to a short wooden stick, as thick as a thumb, by kodja or blackboy tree gum.
* Wilgi: ochre used dry or mixed with grease for protection from the elements such as the sun and flies or mosquitoes. Also used during ceremonies.
Pibelmun Noongar would trade local goods such as:
* Booka/Boka/Bwoka: yongka (kangaroo) skin garment made from several skins of the female kangaroo and used for warmth and protection from the rain in winter.
* Burdun: a light, straight spear made from the mungurn (swamp wattle) collected from the local swamps.
* Choota: A possum or kangaroo skin bag used by the women to carry children or food collected while travelling between campsites.
* Gidgee-borryl: the dreaded quartz edged spear which in post-settlement times was glass tipped. It was up to ten feet long and about one inch in diameter and made from the mungurn (swamp wattle). This spear was made in the Ellensbrook and Wonnerup areas.
* Miro: the name of the south-west spear thrower used by Noongars to propel the aim of the gidjee.
* Weja: emu feathers used as ornamentation at ceremonies.
* Wonna: the women`s digging stick was about six feet long and and as thick as a broom handle. It was made from peppermint shafts. The wonna was fired for hardness and was used for digging, killing animals and fighting with other women. The wonna was always traded by women at the Mandura.
Yuat Noongar would bring for trade the following items, among others:
* Borryl: quartz used for the sharp edges on the gidgee and tabba.
* Dowak: a short heavy stick used for hunting animals and birds.
* D-yuna: a fighting stick used during wars and in friendly contests.
* Gidgee: a spear about two and a half metres in length.
* Kylie: a flat, curved piece of wood (boomerang) used for hunting animals and birds.
* Miro: a throwing board used by Noongar people to propel the gidgee. * Wirba: a heavy club traded from the northern areas.
Whadjuck Noongar would bring these items for trade:
* Boka: a kangaroo skin garment used for keeping warm and dry.
* Bo-ye: a rock for kodja, tabba or grinding stones.
* Bu-ruro: a possum hair neck band worn as an ornament.
* Bu-yi: a nut from the zamia plant that once treated, was fit to roast and eat.
* Dardark: a lime white clay used to paint the body at festivals.
* Kodja: a hammer or axe, broad and blunt at one end and sharpened at the other. Made by connecting a short strong wooden handle as round as a thumb, by kadjo or blackboy tree gum to the top of the handle.
* Wilgi - the highly demanded red ochre.[v]

So trade in Nyungar country is very, very old, thousands of years old.
Dr Richard Walley in van den Berg, Collard, Harben and Byrne,
Nyungar Tourism in the South West of Western Australia, Murdoch University, 2005

Place Names

Many places in the south-west have been named by Europeans, after European towns and people, such as Perth and Albany. Yet, there are nearly as many places that have been given Noongar names. The reason for this can be found in an early document from Governor Hutt. In a dispatch of British Parliamentary papers from Western Australia in 1840, Hutt wrote "...it is only an act of fair justice to the first inhabitants or discoverers of any spot, to retain the name that they may have conferred upon it."[vi]

Some Noongar place names in Perth are: Balga, Beeliar, Willagee and Mirrabooka. See history of suburb names courtesy of Landgate, WA. The names of many south-west towns are Noongar in origin: Gidgegannup (place to make spears), Ongerup (place of the male kangaroo) and Goomalling (place to find possum).

Knowing the Noongar language can open up a new world into our culture and also give a sense of place. In Noongar language, Fremantle, Rottnest, Perth and Albany are known as Walyalup, Wadjemup, Gabbi Darbal and Kinjarling. Noongar names provide significant information about that place: Wadjemup is the place 'where the spirits go'; Gabbi Darbal means estuary, 'the place where salt and freshwaters mix' and Kinjarling is 'place where it rains a lot'.[vii]

Watch Noongar of the Beeliar for a sense of place around the Swan River.

Plant and Animal Names

Adopted into the local English language are also many Noongar plant and animal names: Marri, Karri, Jarrah, Quenda (Bandicoot), Quokka and Jilgie. Early explorers had no English names for many of the species that occur in the south-west of WA. Much of the biodiversity in Noongar country is not found anywhere else in the world.[viii] In this way, names, knowledge and the habitat of south-west plants and animals share an identity with, and are locally understood by Noongar people.

Noongar Language Studies

Early attempts to develop Noongar word lists were done by explorers and colonists like Flinders, King, and Nind at Albany. In 1833, Robert Lyon published articles on Noongar customs manners and dialects.[ix] George Fletcher Moore published A Descriptive Vocabulary of the Language in Common Use Amongst the Aborigines of Western Australia in 1842 and included the descriptive vocabulary in his Diary of Ten years of an Early Settler in Western Australia (1884).[x]

In 1840, George Grey published A Vocabulary of the Dialects of South West Australia in London.[xi] Notes from Grey's Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North West and Western Australia, Vol. 2, (of 2) published in 1841, identify a common language between Perth and King George's Sound (Albany).[xii] The memoirs of Bishop Rosendo Salvado from New Norcia were published in 1851. They contain a word list of local Noongar people from the Victoria Plains.[xiii] The efforts of others who were conversant, and in some cases, fluent in local Noongar language, such as Brady, Hutt, Armstrong, Symmons and Bussell of Vasse, are acknowledged in many of the published works.

In 1992 the first Noongar Dictionary produced by Noongar people was compiled and published by Rose Whitehurst for the Noongar Language and Cultural Centre. It uses the spelling for Noongar words agreed at that time by elders from across Noongar country. This spelling is still used when teaching Noongar language in schools. The Dictionary also explains the sounds, spelling and pronunciation of Noongar words.[xiv]

In the same year, the Western Australian Museum published a Nyoongar Word List by Peter Bindon and Ross Chadwick. This contains an assemblage of the word lists gathered by Europeans in the early years of the colony, and described above, as well as work from Curr, Bates and Hassell.[xv] The spelling is as it was written by the original non-Noongar authors rather than the current accepted spelling.

Noongar Grammar

In Noongar language, words are ordered differently than in English. The subject comes before the verb in English and the object follows, but in Noongar, the word order is subject - object - verb. To explain that men are hunting kangaroo, in Noongar we say: 'maam yonga ngardanginy'. Translated into English this would be maam = men, yonga = kangaroo and ngardanginy = hunting.

Impact of English and Settlement on Noongar Language

Through the 1800's and up to the mid-20th century, Noongar children weren't allowed to speak their language in schools and missions. While missions set out to break the chain of learning Noongar culture and language, grouping Noongar people together allowed parents and Elders to continue to pass language on to the younger generation. In this way, Noongar language has been kept alive.

In the 20 th century, if a Noongar person wanted to become a citizen, he or she had to renounce their Noongar identity and were not permitted to speak their language or communicate with family or friends. This was orchestrated by the government of the day to abolish Noongar language and identity. Many people however, rejected citizenship because they were not prepared to give up their Noongar culture.

Doolan Leisha Eatts talks about Badjaling reserve and how the missionaries stopped the children from speaking Noongar.

And that was only one thing, the other thing was to teach 'em not to talk in their language, to teach 'em to talk in the English
Doolann Leisha Eatts, oral history, SWALSC, 2003

Language Living On

Noongar language has survived despite the impact of settlement and dominance of English. The custom of teaching Noongar continues to be handed down from Elders to children. In the past, as Kevin Fitzgerald said, 'a fly lizard was put on a child's tongue for them to learn how to pronounce Noongar language'.[xvi]

See long time ago, this is traditional law go back long time with Noongar for a little kid to talk Noongar, old fella get 'im in 'is arm and get the fly lizard and he say something and put it on his tongue, and put it away, and that kid he'll grow up talking Noongar, fluently.
Kevin Fitzgerald, oral history, SWALSC, 2006

Today, there are many Noongar language classes in schools and TAFE. Noongar people are often invited to speak in language at opening ceremonies and at places which have long been sacred to us. There are several projects which have begun to record the oral history and language of older Noongar men and women. Efforts have been made in our Noongar community to re-invigorate language. Classes for Noongar and non-Noongar alike aid in the transmission of knowledge. For example, Langford Aboriginal Association in Perth offers regular classes in Noongar language for adults and children. Revival of our language is also evident with Noongar being taught in addition to English in primary schools like Carralee in Willagee, Morditj Noongar in Middle Swan, Ashfield Primary School and Djidi Djidi School at Bunbury. The Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education and Batchelor Press have been working towards revitalising Noongar language. In the Yallingup region, the Wardan Centre brings an increased understanding of our language and culture through education programs. The South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council are producing posters in Noongar language.

Watch Kylie Farmer [Kaarljilba Kaardn], Noongar actor, TV presenter, writer and director, in her inspiring talk to TEDxManly in February 2014 on the topic Keep Our Languages Alive

All Should Speak Nyoongar. Courtesy The West Australian, 9 July 2002

If you wish to purchase Posters from SWALSC please fill in the SWALSC ORDER FORM.

References

[i] Tindale, N.B. Aborigines of Australia. ANU Press, Canberra, 1974

[ii] This map is just one representation of many other map sources that are available for Aboriginal Australia. Using published resources available between 1988-1994 this map attempts to represent all the language or tribal or nation groups of the Indigenous people of Australia. It indicates only the general location of larger groupings of people which may include smaller groups such as clans, dialects or individual languages in a group. Boundaries are not intended to be exact.

[iii] George Fletcher Moore, A Descriptive Vocabulary of the Language in Common Use Amongst the Aborigines of Western Australia (London: Orr, 1842), http://books.google.com.au/books?id=1e8UAAAAYAAJ&dq=George%20Fletcher%20Moore&pg=PR1#v=onepage&q&f=false,p.68

[iv] Bates, D. Aboriginal Perth: Bibbulmun Biographies and Legends. P.J. Bridge (ed.), Hesperian Press, Carlisle, 1992, cited in Vinnicombe, Patricia. Goonininup: A Site Complex on the Southern Side of Mount Eliza: An Historical Perspective of Land Use and Associations in the Old Swan Brewery Area. Perth: West Australian Museum, 1989, p.18

[v] George Fletcher Moore, A Descriptive Vocabulary of the Language in Common Use Amongst the Aborigines of Western Australia (London: Orr, 1842), http://books.google.com.au/books?id=1e8UAAAAYAAJ&dq=George%20Fletcher%20Moore&pg=PR1#v=onepage&q&f=false,p.68

[vi] Despatch from Hutt to Marquis of Normanby, 11 February 1840 with enclosure, British Parliamentary Papers, Papers relating to Aborigines, Australian Colonies, 1844, Colonies, Australia, Volume 8, Shannon University Press, 1968, pp.372-3

[vii] Bates, D. Aboriginal Perth: Bibbulmun Biographies and Legends. P.J. Bridge (ed.), Hesperian Press, Carlisle, 1992

[viii] Beard, J.S., Chapman, A.R. and Gioia, P. Species Richness and Endemism in the Western Australian Flora. 2000. Journal of Biogeography 27: 1257-1268.

[ix] Lyon, Robert Menli. 'A Glance at the Manners, and Language of the Aboriginal Inhabitants of Western Australia; With a Short Vocabulary', Perth Gazette and Western Australian Journal. vol 1, no 13, 30th March, 1833, pp.51-52

[x] Moore, G.F. Diary of ten years eventful life of an early settler in Western Australia; and also, A descriptive vocabulary of the language of the Aborigines, London: M Wallbrook, 1884

[xi] Grey, G. A Vocabulary of the Dialects of South West Australia. L. and W. Boone, London, 1840

[xii] Grey, G. Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia, During the years 1837, 38 and 39, under the authority of Her Majesty's Government. Describing many newly discovered, important, and fertile districts, with observations on the moral and physical condition of the Aboriginal Inhabitants &c. &c., T. and W. Boone, London, 1841

[xiii] Salvado, Dom Rosendo Memorie Storiche dell'Australia. 1851 (edited and translated in 1977 by E.J. Storman).

[xiv] Whitehurst, Rose (compiler). Noongar Dictionary: Noongar to English and English to Noongar. Noongar Language and Culture Centre (Aboriginal Corporation), Bunbury, 1992

[xv] Bindon, Peter and Chadwick, Ross. A Nyoongar Wordlist from the South West of Western Australia. Western Australian Museum, Perth, 1992

[xvi] Kevin Fitzgerald, oral history, South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council, 2006

Kaya (Hello). Drawn by Roni Forrest for the Aboriginal Cultural Expo at Curtin University, 22 March 2013. Courtesy of SWALSC

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Noongar Words "From the past, today, tomorrow and the future" Kaya noonakoort. Wandju, wandju, nidja Noongar Boodja. Nguny djurapin, nguny koort djurapin wanganiny noonakoort. Nyininy, nih wer kaartdjinin Noongar wangkiny. Noonakoort kaartdijin wangkiny deman, maam, ngarnk wer boordier kura kura. Hello everyone. Welcome to Noongar country.

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https://australianstogether.org.au/discover/indigenous-culture/kinship/

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How the Aboriginal people used the land sustainably. How they didn't need to "farm" the land as they are able to use traditional techniques like burning, sustainable hunting (no females with young etc.) and taking online what they need.

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Can link in with a text, place you have been looking at in Geography or History and compare the identity (through language groups/maps, seasons, identity with different people).

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Aboriginal people's reaction to the First Fleet

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Aboriginal people's reaction to the First Fleet

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Videos which explain through Aboriginal people's eyes how the early colonisation looked from their perspective.

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Original classification rating: PG. This clip chosen to be PG

Clip description

Narrator Rachel Perkins re-tells stories from the Dreamtime and historian Professor Marcia Langton of the Yiman-Bidjara Nation, historian Professor Janet McCalman and writer Bruce Pascoe of Boonwurrung Heritage weigh in on the unique prehistory experience of Australian Indigenous peoples.

Curator's notes

The images of the Australian landscape are breathtaking as Perkins recounts the Dreamtime stories. She states that 'in everything they (the giant beings of the Dreaming) touched they left their essence', and you can almost feel it as each story is accompanied by art and images of the land or 'country' they originate from.

Without the luxury of images of life before contact, this period of history is presented through shots of the aforementioned landscape, maps of Aboriginal Nations, and archival photographs of 'traditional' life which were taken over 100 years after contact. Despite such limited resources the filmmakers have made an impressive introduction to the series.

Thanks to the generosity of the rights holders, we are able to offer Life before contact from the documentary First Australians - Episode 1, They Have Come to Stay as a high quality video download.

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First Australians - Episode 1, They Have Come to Stay

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Original classification rating: PG. This clip chosen to be PG Narrator Rachel Perkins re-tells stories from the Dreamtime and historian Professor Marcia Langton of the Yiman-Bidjara Nation, historian Professor Janet McCalman and writer Bruce Pascoe of Boonwurrung Heritage weigh in on the unique prehistory experience of Australian Indigenous peoples.

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I'm wondering about some specific examples of this, and how we are relate these to our own students.

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I'm wondering about some specific examples of this, and how we are relate these to our own students.

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Sporting heroes. Perhaps the Aboriginal cricket team from the late 1800's. Can students think of anyone else? AFL, hockey, netball soccer etc. 

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Sporting heroes. Perhaps the Aboriginal cricket team from the late 1800's. Can students think of anyone else? AFL, hockey, netball soccer etc. 

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Also connects with OI.1, OI.3 and OI.7. Learn about the Nyoongar seasons and how they differ from traditional ones. How these connect very closely to the land, sea, sky and waterways, and how the diverse groups throughout Australia have different seasons.

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Nyoongar calendar

Nyoongar country spans from Leeman in the northwest to beyond Cape Arid in the southeast, in the southwest of Australia. The Nyoongar calendar includes six seasons.

Birak

First summer
December-January

Makuru

Winter
June-July

Permission to use the Nyoongar seasonal calendar is granted by "South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council".
Research and content by Jason Barrow.

In the southwest of Australia, the Nyoongar seasonal calendar includes six different seasons in a yearly cycle

These are Birak, Bunuru, Djeran, Makuru, Djilba and Kambarang. Each of the six seasons represents and explains the seasonal changes we see annually. The flowering of many different plants, the hibernation of reptiles and the moulting of swans are all helpful indicators that the seasons are changing.

The Nyoongar seasons can be long or short and are indicated by what is happening and changing around us rather than by dates on a calendar. Aligning Nyoongar seasons with Western calendar months can provide an overview of a typical year.

This six season calendar is extremely important to Nyoongar people, as it is a guide to what nature is doing at every stage of the year, as well as understanding respect for the land in relation to plant and animal fertility cycles and land and animal preservation.

For more information on Nyoongar culture visit

Disclaimer

Please be aware that there are different ways to spell Nyoongar (e.g. Nyungar, Nyoongar, Noongah) and Nyoongar words. Nyoongar language, like all traditional languages in Australia is an oral language. Throughout this calendar, we have maintained the spelling as Nyoongar, and we respectfully include all people in the southwest

Nyoongar seasons

Navigate back up to the calendar overview with the links at the end of each season.

Birak-season of the young
First summer: December-January
Mosaic burning time.

The lifestyle for the Nyoongar communities during Birak

Birak season sees the rains ease up and the warm weather really start to take hold. The afternoons are cooled by the sea breezes that abound from the southwest. This was the fire season, a time to burn the country in mosaic patterns.

An almost clockwork style of easterly winds in the morning and sea breezes in the afternoon, meant that traditionally this was the burning time of year for Nyoongar people.

They would burn the country in mosaic patterns for several reasons including fuel reduction, increasing the grazing pastures for some animals, to aid in seed germination for some plants and for ease of mobility across the country.

As for the animals, there are many fledglings now venturing out of nests, though some are still staying close to their parents. Reptiles are looking to shed their old skin for a new one.
Birak - Australian Broadcasting Corporation
With the rising temperatures and the decreasing rainfall, it's also time for the baby frogs to complete their transformation into adulthood.
Second summer: February-March
Bunuru-season of adolescence

Coast living and fishing time.

The lifestyle for the Nyoongar communities during Bunuru

Black swan by Luke Shelley

Bunuru is the hottest time of the year with little to no rain. Hot easterly winds continue with a cooling sea breeze most afternoons if you're close to the coast. Therefore, traditionally this was, and still is, a great time for living and fishing by the coast, rivers and estuaries. Because of this, freshwater foods and seafood made up major parts of the diet during this time of year.

Bunuru is also a time of the white flowers with lots of white flowering gums in full bloom, including Jarrah, Marri and Ghost Gums.

Another striking flower that is hard to go past is the female Zamia ( Macrozamia riedlei). Being much larger than that of its male counterpart, the huge cones emerge from the centre of the plant with masses of a cotton wool like substance.
Bunuru - Australian Broadcasting Corporation
As the hot, dry weather continues the seed upon the cones change from green to bright red, indicating they're ripening and becoming more attractive to animals, particularly the emu, that will eat the toxic fleshy outer.
Autumn: April-May
Djeran-season of adulthood

Ant season.
Time to repair housing and shelter.

The lifestyle for the Nyoongar communities during Djeran

Djeran season at last sees a break in the really hot weather. A key indicator of the change of season is the cool nights that once again bring a dewy presence for us to discover in the early mornings.

The winds have also changed, especially in their intensity, with light breezes being the go and generally swinging from southerly directions (i.e. southeast to southwest). Many flying ants can be seen cruising around in the light winds.

Djeran is a time of red flowers especially from the Red flowering gum ( Corimbia ficifolia), as well as the smaller and more petite flowers of the Summer Flame ( Beaufortia aestiva). As you travel around the Perth area, you may also notice the red 'rust' and seed cones forming on the male and female Sheoaks ( Allocasuarina fraseriana). Banksias start to display their flowers, ensuring that there are nectar food sources for the many small mammals and birds that rely upon them.
Djeran - Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Traditionally, foods at this time of year included the seeds that had been collected and stored for treatment from the Zamia last season along with the root bulbs of the Yanget (Bullrushes), fresh water fish, frogs and turtles.
Winter: June-July
As the season progresses, the nights will become cooler and damper along with some cool and rainy days which also means that traditionally mia mias (houses or shelters) were now repaired and updated to make sure they were waterproofed and facing in the right direction in readiness for the deep wintery months to come.

Makuru-season of fertility

Time to move inland
More food available.

The lifestyle for the Nyoongar communities during Makuru

Raven by Luke Shelley

Makaru sees the coldest and wettest time of the year come into full swing. Traditionally, this was a good time of the year to move back inland from the coast as the winds turned to the west and south bringing the cold weather, rains and occasionally snow on the peaks of the Stirling and Porongurup Ranges.
Makuru - Australian Broadcasting Corporation
As the waterways and catchments started to fill, people were able to move about their country with ease and thus their food sources changed from sea, estuarine and lake foods to those of the lands in particular the grazing animals such as the kangaroo. As well as a food source, animals provided people with many other things. For example, 'Yongar' or kangaroos not only provided meat but also 'bookas' (animal skin cloaks that were used as the nights became much cooler). Nothing was left; even the bones and sinews were used in the manufacturing of bookas and for hunting tools such as spears.
First spring: August-September
Makuru is also a time for a lot of animals to be pairing up in preparation for breeding in the coming season. If you look carefully, you might now see pairs of 'Wardongs' (ravens) flying together. You also notice these pairs not making the usual 'ark ark arrrrrk' that these birds are well known for when flying solo. Upon the lakes and rivers of the Southwest, you'll also start to see a large influx of the Black Swan or 'Mali' as they too prepare to nest and breed.

Flowers that will start to emerge include the blues and purples of the Blueberry Lilly (Dianella revoluta) and the Purple Flags (Patersonia occidentalis). As the season comes to a close, you should also start to notice the white flowers of the weeping peppermint (Agonis flexuosa) as the blues start to make way for the white and cream flowers of Djilba.

Djilba-season of conception

Transitional time of year
Flowers starting

The lifestyle for the Nyoongar communities during Djilba

Djilba season is a time to look for the yellow and cream flowers starting en mass.

Djilba is a transitional time of the year, with some very cold and clear days combining with warmer, rainy and windy days mixing with the occasional sunny day or two.

This is the start of the massive flowering explosion that happens in the South West. This starts with the yellow flowering plants such as the Acacias. Also colours that are around at this time of year are creams, combined with some vivid and striking blues.
Djilba - Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Traditionally, the main food sources included many of the land based grazing animals as in the season before. These included the Yongar (kangaroo), the Waitj (emu) and the Koomal (possum).
Second spring: October-November
As the days start to warm up, we start to see and hear the first of the new borns with their proud parent out and about providing them food, guiding them through foraging tasks and protecting their family units from much bigger animals, including people.

The woodland birds will still be nest bound, hence the swooping protective behavior of the Koolbardi (Magpie) starts to ramp up and if watched closely, so to do the Djidi Djidi (Willy Wag Tails) and the Chuck-a-luck (Wattle Birds) to name a couple of others.

As the season progresses and the temperatures continue to rise, we'll start to see the flower stalks of the Balgas (Grass Trees) emerging in preparation for the coming Kambarang season.

Kambarang-season of birth

Transformational time of year
Flowers abound

The lifestyle for the Nyoongar communities during Kambarang
Kambarang - Australian Broadcasting Corporation
During the Kambarang season, we see an abundance of colours and flowers exploding all around us. The yellows of many of the Acacias continue to abound, along with some of the Banksias and many other smaller delicate flowering plants including the Kangaroo Paw and Orchids. Also during this time the Balgas will also start to flower, especially if they've been burnt in the past year or closely shaved.

One of the most striking displays of flowers to be seen during this season will be the "Mooja", or Australian Christmas Tree ( Nuytsia). The bright orang/yellow flowers serve to signal the heat is on its way.

For the animals, October is also the most likely time of the year that you'll encounter a snake as the reptiles start to awaken from their hibernation and look to make the most of the warm to assist them in getting enough energy to look for food. It's also a time that many young families of birds will be singing out for their parents to feed them. Koolbardies (Magpies) will also be out protecting their nests and their babies.

Many things are undergoing transformation with the warm change in the weather.

Longer dry periods accompany a definite warming trend.

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The Indigenous meteorology of Australia, knowledge on weather, calendars and climate.

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Strength of language in sport. Play games with no voice, limited voice and full voice. Discuss the loss of aboriginal language as less is spoken, what could be the issues associated with this. 

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Strength of language in sport. Play games with no voice, limited voice and full voice. Discuss the loss of aboriginal language as less is spoken, what could be the issues associated with this. 

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How can we use the land to grow our food. What difference is that to the way aboriginal peoples grew and harvested their food. 

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How can we use the land to grow our food. What difference is that to the way aboriginal peoples grew and harvested their food. 

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The Nyoongar group is made up of 14 South Western Australian local groups that all speak the same language.

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'What was before Lord Vestey born and I born? It was blackfella country.' Vincent Lingiari (Wattie Creek 1966)

Australia's First Peoples have been living on the Australian continent for millenia.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australia is made up of many different and distinct groups, each with their own culture, customs, language and laws. They are the world's oldest surviving culture; cultures that continue to be expressed in dynamic and contemporary ways.

The AIATSIS map serves as a visual reminder of the richness and diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australia. It was created in 1996 as part of the Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia project and attempts to show language, social or nation groups based on published sources available up to 1994.

The map shows only the general locations of larger groups of people which may include smaller groups. There are also variations in the way that some language or group names are spelt. You can view some of these alternate spellings on the list of alternate spellings for names on the AIATSIS map of Indigenous Australia below.

Note that the borders between groups are purposefully represented as slightly blurred and are not meant to be exact. Some of the information shown on the map is contested and may not be agreed to by some traditional custodians - the map isn't suitable for native title or other land claims.

The map isn't the only source of information; if you would like more information about Australian Indigenous languages please see our Austlang database. The National Native Title Tribunal also produces maps that show native title claims determinations.

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The AIATSIS map serves as a visual reminder of the richness and diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australia.

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What are the significant places in our local area?

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What is the local language? Map of Australia/WA and different languages spoken

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What is the local language? Map of Australia/WA and different languages spoken

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Design a playing top based off their individual flags. Leads into discussion about differences, locations etc. Different sports played in different areas. 

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Design a playing top based off their individual flags. Leads into discussion about differences, locations etc. Different sports played in different areas. 

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Exhibition at Clontarf College, Waterford: Kerosene Tins and Love Hearts

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The Land Grab (Page 10-15)
Historic impact: disease brought by British and destruction of food sources.