Noongar

The Noongar (alternate spellings: Nyungar / Nyoongar/Nyoongah)^*, are an indigenous Australian people who live in the southwest corner of Western Australia from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the south coast. Their tribal lands extend from Jurien Bay in the north, to the southern coast, and east to Ravensthorpe and Southern Cross. Noongar is also the name for their common language. In the south the spelling Noongar is preferred, reflecting a broader accent.

Prior to European settlement, the Noongar people were not a single tribe, but a group of around 13 separate groups who shared a common culture, including similar language with some dialectical differences. According to Green (1984), the Noongar people could be identified by two common factors: they used a word similar to "Noongar" to describe themselves; and unlike most indigenous Australian peoples, they did not circumcise their male children as part of the initiation ceremony. In modern times, much of the Noongar culture is lost, including the identification with particular regional groupings, although in modern times some Noongar people are claiming affiliation with the groups identified by Tindale in the 20th Century.

History

It has been suggested that, prior to the arrival of Europeans, the Noongar population numbered between 6,000 and some tens of thousands. Once the first white settlers arrived, both violence and diseases (including measles, influenza and smallpox) took a heavy toll on the population; nowadays, however, according to the Noongar themselves, they number today more than 28,000. [http://www.noongar.org.au/commitment.php The 2001 census figures indicated that there were approximately 21,000 Nyungar people living in the southwest at that time.

Traditional Noongar made a living by hunting and trapping a variety of game, including kangaroos and wallabies; by fishing using spears and fish traps; by farming possums and wattle seeds; as well as by gathering an extensive range of edible wild plants. Noongar people utilized quartz instead of flint for spear and knife edges and developed a now-lost art of working quartz crystals.

The Noongar considered themselves civilised, especially in comparison with the invading British. Reflecting this attitude, they called the newcomers 'Djanga' (or 'djanak'), meaning 'white devils'. ^* From early on, the Noongar were wary in their dealings with the Europeans. The Noongar were horrified by what they perceived as the waste and slaughter whites brought to the lands that were their home. The Noongar lived in large extended family groups, and historically their way of life included a respect and reverence for the land that fed them. Yagan arose as a leader of the Noongar at the time when English settlers first arrived in the Swan River area in 1829 and Captain James Stirling declared that the local tribes were British subjects. Although at first the Noongar traded amicably with the settlers, rifts and misunderstandings developed as land seizures went on, and attacks and reprisal attacks soon escalated. An example of such misunderstandings was the Noongar land-management practice of setting fires in early summer, mistakenly seen as an act of hostility by the settlers. Conversely, the Noongar saw the settlers' livestock as fair game to replace the dwindling stocks of native animals shot indiscriminately by settlers. Yagan participated in a number of food raids and in killing settlers in retaliation for the deaths of Noongar at white hands - notably, he warned nearby whites repeatedly that one white life would be taken for every Noongar killed by a white. He was eventually murdered and is now considered by many to have been one of the first indigenous resistance fighters. ^*

From August 1838 ten Aboriginal prisoners were sent to Rottnest Island. After a short period when both settlers and prisoners occupied the Island, the Colonial Secretary announced in June 1839 that the Island would become a penal establishment for Aboriginal people, and between 1838 and 1931, Rottnest Island was used as a prison to transfer Aboriginal prisonners "overseas". In "pacificying" an Aboriginal population, men were rounded up and chained for offences ranging from spearing livestock, burning the bush or digging vegetables on what had been their own land. It has been estimated that there may be as many as 369 Aboriginal graves on the Island, of which 5 were hanged. Except for a short period between 1849 and 1855 during which the prison was closed, some 3,700 Aboriginal men and boys, many of them Noongars, but also many others from all parts of the State, were imprisoned.

From 1890 to 1958, the lives and lifestyles of Noongar people were subject to the Native Welfare Act. Two state-run "concentration" camps, Moore River Native Settlement and Carrolup (known today as Marribank), became the home of up to one third of the population. It is estimated that 10 to 25% of Nyungar children were forcibly 'adopted' during these years, in part of what has become known as the 'Stolen Generation'.

Language

The FATSIL (Federation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages) website states that out of thirteen dialects spoken by the Noongar people at the time of European settlement, only five still remain. ^* The word 'Noongar' can be roughly translated into English as 'human being.'

A number of small wordlists were recorded in the early days of the Swan River Colony, for example Robert Lyon's 1833 publication A Glance at the Manners and Language of Aboriginal Inhabitants of Western Australia. Serious documentation of Noongar language began in 1842 with the publication of A Descriptive Vocabulary of the Language of the Aborigines by George Fletcher Moore, later republished in 1884 as part of Moore's Diary of Ten Years Eventful Life of an Early Settler in Western Australia. This work included a substantial wordlist of Noongar. The first modern linguistic research on Noongar was carried out by Gerhardt Laves on the variety known as 'Goreng', near Albany in 1930, but this material was lost for many years and has only recently been recovered. Beginning in the 1930s and then more intensively in the 1960s Wilfrid Douglas learned and studied Noongar, eventually producing a grammar, dictionary, and other materials. More recently Noongar people have taken a major role in this work as researchers, for example Rose Whitehurst who compiled the Noongar Dictionary in her work for the Noongar Language and Culture Centre.

Today the Noongar language is regarded as endangered, with few fluent speakers, although there has been a revival of interest in recent years. The Noongar Language and Culture Centre was set up by concerned individuals and has now grown to include offices in Bunbury, Northam and Perth. However, the language generally referred to as 'Noongar' today, bears questionable resemblance to what was spoken by indigenous Australians before white settlement, and the original Nyungar language is listed by ISO 639-3 (code nys) as extinct. Ethnologue treats Nyungar and Neo-Nyungar (a term coined by Wilf Douglas to refer to Nyungar people's English) as equivalent (see and [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=eng), suggesting that Nyungar is a variety of English: this appears simply to be a misunderstanding of Douglas. For comparison, the opening remarks of this paper are presented in both Noongar and English: Research and development in Kurongkul Katitijin, by self-described 'Nyungar at research' Leonard Collard of the Kurongkul Katitijin School of Indigenous Australian Studies at Edith Cowan University in Perth.

Visitors to Western Australia invariably notice the many placenames ending in '-up', such as Joondalup, Nannup and Manjimup. This is because in the Noongar language, '-up' means 'place of'. For example the name 'Ongerup' means 'Place of the Male Kangaroo.'^*

Many words vary in a regular way from dialect to dialect, depending on the area. For example: quernt(s), quenda(w) = bandicoot; kep(s), kapi(w) = water.

Noongar words which have been adopted into West Australian English, or more widely in English, include the given name Kylie, meaning 'boomerang,' and gidgie (or gidgee), meaning 'spear.'

Culture

Noongar people live in many country towns throughout the south west as well as in the major population centres of Perth, Bunbury, Geraldton, Esperance and Albany. Many country Noongar people have developed long standing relationships with wadjila (whitefella) farmers and continue to hunt kangaroo and gather bush tucker as well as to teach their children stories about the land. In a few areas in the south west visitors can go on bushtucker walks, trying foods such as: Kangaroo, emu, Quongdong jam or relish, bush tomatoes, witchetty grub paté & bush honey.

In Perth, the Noongar believe that the Darling Scarp is said to represent the body of a Wagyl/Waugal/Waagal - a snakelike being from Dreamtime that meandered over the land creating rivers, waterways and lakes, it is taught that the Wagyl created the Swan River.

Also in Perth, Mount Eliza was an important site for the Noongar. It was a hunting site where kangaroos were herded and driven over the edge to provide meat for gathering clans. In this context, the 'clan' is a local descent group - larger than a family but based on family links through a common ancestry. At the base of Mount Eliza is a sacred site where the Wagyl is said to have rested during its journeys. This site is also the location of the former Swan Brewery which has been a source of contention between local Noongar groups, who would like to see the land restored to them; and the owners who wished to develop the site. A Noongar protest camp existed here for many years in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Noongar culture is particularly strong with the written word. The plays of Jack Davis are on the school syllabus in several Australian states. Kim Scott won the 2000 Miles Franklin Award for his novel 'Benang'.

Yirra Yaakin ^* describes itself as the response to the Aboriginal Community’s need for positive self-enhancement through artistic expression. It is a theatre company which strives for community development and which also has a drive to create "exciting, authentic and culturally appropriate Indigenous theatre".

Many local governments in the south west have developed 'compacts' or 'commitments' with their local Noongar communities to ensure that sites of significance are protected and that the culture is respected. Elders are increasingly asked on formal occasions to provide a Welcome to Country and the first steps of teaching the Noongar language in the general curriculum have been made.

The Noongar season

The Noongar has a close connection with the earth and as a consequence they divided the year into 6 distinct seasons that corresponded with moving to different habitats and feeding patterns based on seasonal foods.

Birak - December/January

Dry and hot

Burned sections of scrubland to force animals into the open for easier hunt.

Bunuru - February/March

Hottest part of the year, with sparse rainfall throughout.

They moved to estuaries for fishing.

Djeran - April/May

Cooler weather begins.

Fishing continued and bulbs and seeds were collected for food.

Makuru - June/July

Cold fronts that have until now brushed the lower south west coast begin to cross further north. This is usually the wettest part of the year.

Moved inland to hunt once rains had replenished inland water resources.

Djilba - August/September

Often the coldest part of the year, with clear, cold nights and days, or warmer, rainy and windy periods. As the nights begin to warm up there are more clear, sunny days.

Roots were collected and emus, possums and kangaroo were hunted.

Kambarang - October/November

A definite warming trend is accompanied by longer dry periods and fewer cold fronts crossing the coast. The height of the wildflower season

They moved towards the coast where frogs, tortoises and freshwater crayfish were caught.

Economics

Since the Noongar are largely urbanised or concentrated in major regional towns studies have shown that the direct economic impact of the Noongar community on the WA economy was estimated to range from $500 million to $700 million per annum^*.

The Noongar people like other Aboriginal people are involved in Native Title disputes with the state government.

Current issues

As a consequence of the Stolen Generation and problems integrating with modern westernised society many difficult issues face the present day Noongar. For example the 'Noongar Men of the SouthWest' gathering in 1996 outlined the following major community problems:

Alcohol & Drugs
Diet & Nutrition
Language & Culture
Domestic violence
Father and Son relationships

Many of these issues are not unique to the Noongar, but in many cases they are unable to receive the appropriate government agency care. The report that was produced after this gathering also stated that Noongar men die 20 years sooner than non-Aboriginal men, and go to hospital 3 times more often.

The Noongar still have large extended families and many families find difficulties trying to fit into the available structures of sheltered housing in Western Australia - Paper on Housing. The West Australian government has dedicated several areas for the purpose of building communities specifically for the Noongar people, such as the Swan Valley Nyungah Community.

The Noongar themselves are tackling their own issues, for example, the Noongar Patrol System, which is an Aboriginal Advancement Council initiative. It was set up to deter Aboriginal young people from offending behaviour and reduce the likelihood of their contact with the Criminal Justice System. Most people in Perth would associate this with patrols run in the entertainment hotspot Northbridge. The Patrol uses mediation and negotiation with indigenous youth in an attempt to curb anti-social and offending behaviour of young people who come into the city at night.

References

External links

Australian Aboriginal culture | Indigenous_peoples_of_Australia | Australian_Aboriginal_languages | Western Australia

Noongar | Noongar

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