Cultural Awareness - TO BE UDATED / ADDED TOO

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Nyitting (dreaming) is the Noongar spiritual connection to ancestral times.  A time before time when the Wagyl (spirit snake) rose from the earth and descended from the sky to create the land forms and all living things.  The Wagyl ensured that there was weirn (spirit) to look after boodja (country) and all that it encompassed.  Nyitting stories laid down the lore for social and moral order and established kaartdijin (knowledge), cultural patterns and customs. Our kaartdijin is passed down the generation by Elders.   

For Noongar people this is a place where spirits and ancestors live. Noongar spirituality lies in the belief of a cultural landscape and the connection between the human and spiritual realms. Everything has meaning and purpose. Life is a web of inter-relationships where maaman (men) and yorga (women) and nature are partners, and where kura (the past) is always connected to yey (present).  Through our tradition of oral story-telling, paintings, music and kobori (dance) we are paying respect to our ancestral creators, and at the same time strengthening our belief systems.   Ref: NKAC local knowledge, Noongar cultural knowledge holders Rodney Garlett and Uncle Ben Taylor and some  information from SWALSC cultural website:  www.noongarculture.org.au/

For over 45,000 years Noongar moort (family) moved across this boodja (land).  Toodyay valley is a culturally rich area and covered in fertile lands. Noongar moort were highly active gathering and hunting foods, camping at sites, trading with others, managing their boodja, and tending to cultural responsibilities.  To be Noongar is to belong.  It is to have a connection to our waangkiny (languages), our boodja (land), our kaartdijin (knowledge) and our moort (family).  Family is at the heart of Noongar culture. Noongar ancestral connections are like an intricate system of roots and our people are connected by kinship.  

The Toodyay area is unique being within boundaries of three Noongar language groups:  Yued, Ballardong and Whadjuk. Noongar families had dedicated and distinct areas known as karlerl (meaning home or camping place) and rights to certain waterholes and springs. People moved in extended moort (family groups) across these lands, and camps usually consisted of several small mia-mia (temporary shelter) or koornt (semi permanent shelter). Noongar people achieved balance and adaptability through thousands of years of living in harmony with nature, across all six bonar (seasons). Noongar people know the season for hunting and harvesting by signs in nature.  

Connection to boodja shapes Noongar identity and traditions. Everything in the landscape has meaning and purpose.   Noongar moort (families) maintained a deep spiritual and cultural connection to their ancestral lands.  This connection, passed down through generations, fostered a profound sense of belonging.  Noongar groups followed cultural lore and customs with respect to boodja for thousands of years. In the intricate fabric of culture, traditional land owner right is a sacred inheritance, woven with ancestral connections and custodial responsibilities - guiding families in stewardship of their country. 

The custodial rights reflect the deep reverence and intimate knowledge Noongar people held for their ancestral lands.  Extended families had moort boodja (family lands) with special privileges relating to that part of country; and rights to certain waterholes & springs. Noongar shaped waterways and their land with intentional practices including channels for fish traps, selective harvesting and cultivating certain plants, fire-stick farming techniques to drive game into the open, and controlled burning to encourage vegetation growth and support biodiversity - all creating a system that was sustainable.  

Families were highly active throughout the six seasons gathering foods, managing their land and tending to cultural responsibilities. Seasons correspond to changes in the natural environment.  Those not sharing rights to a part of the country would seek permission before entering, and be ‘welcomed’ to that country by a traditional land owner.

Image: Trevor Stack Noongar Dance Troupe 'Goolamwiin' at Gnilgil (Redbank Pool)  reconnecting to culture at Gnilgil (Redbank Pool). A registered Aboriginal heritage site (Location 11 on Noongar Trail)

 Noongar people traditionally hunted and gathered food according to six bonar (seasons). Seasons are determined by weather patterns and nature around us. Each season is marked by distinct weather patterns, plant growth and animal behaviour reflecting the intimate relationship between Noongar people and their environment.  Noongar people have always had a deep understanding of the local environment, from where fresh water could be found to the methods of catching and preparing bush foods. Men would hunt large game while the women and children would gather plants and hunt smaller reptiles. It is an important part of Noongar custom and lore to take only what you need from nature. For Noongar these seasons are:  

Birak: Around December /January, the first summer. Season of the young.  Reptiles emerge from hibernation 

Bunuru: Around February / March, the second summer. Season of adolescence. Children learn the art of tool making. 

Djeran:  Around April / May, the autumn. Season of adulthood. Time of marriages and courtship ceremonies. 

Makuru: Around June / July, the first rains. Fertility season.  Time for coast Noongar to travel to inland hunting areas. 

Djilba: Around August / September, the second rains. Season of conception.  Rains fill lakes and waterholes 

Kambarang: Around October / November, the wildflower season.  Season of birth. Carpets of flowers.  

It is an important part of Noongar custom and lore to take only what you need from nature in order to maintain biodiversity.  By eating foods when they are abundant and in season, natural resources are not depleted and will still be available for the next year. As guardians of our country, we achieved balance and adaptability through thousands of years of living in harmony with nature 

Image: Six Seasons information at location 3 on the Noongar Trail.  See BOM website for additional seasons information.

Everything in the cultural landscape has meaning and purpose. Long, long ago, the Wagyl (spirit snake) rose from the earth to create all things. Many creation stories featured waterways. Stories reinforced their significance and role in shaping the natural environment and Noongar identity. Toodyay valley has cultural importance as a course travelled by the Wagyl. 

Waterways were integral to cultural activities and central to seasonal movements. Rivers were sites for ceremony, family camps and to exchange knowledge. Families had dedicated and distinct areas and rights to certain waterholes.

Waterways provided a vital source of freshwater for drinking, cooking and washing. They served as an abundant food resource with a range of food include fish, crustaceans, water birds and aquatic plants. It showcased Noongar people's knowledge of their environment and ability to sustain themselves across seasons.  

Waterways were important land-marks to follow for trade and communication. Practical knowledge was needed for survival. Track locations were often linked through song. One ancient track followed the Gugulja (Avon river). It continued northeast along the fertile lands of Toodyay Brook, through Boolagin (Bolgart) and joined other tracks and cultural areas on Yued country. 

Waterways hold healing properties, and rituals were undertaken for spiritual purification and renewal. As sacred places Noongar people fostered a deep sense of connection and environmental stewardship of waterways. This connection to waterways has been heavily impacted since colonisation. 

Boolagin is significant as the winter home of the Wagyl. The notion of Boolagin being deemed 'taboo' appears to have emerged post-colonisation, coinciding with a dark period where Noongar people were deprived of their land, culture and language. It seems that early settlers, perhaps driven by their own agendas, misrepresented the true narrative surrounding Boolagin. Despite these misrepresentations, Boolagin remains a sacred place. A place where Noongar observed ritual and protocol. In many ways akin to practices observed by other religions at their sacred spaces. 

Noongar people have traditionally hunted and gathered food according to the six bonar (seasons). The bonar tell us which animal and plant resources are plentiful at those times.   Noongar people are known as the first carers of the land, they always believed that if you looked after the land the land would provide for you. Everything they needed came from the land: food, water, tools and medicines, along with shelter from the elements in caves and koornt (mia-mia).    

Maaman (men) and yorga (women) had different roles. Fishing and hunting for food such as yonga (kangaroo), koomal (possum) and yet (black duck) was traditionally carried out by maaman; while yorga gathered grasses and seeds, and harvested vegetables and roots, along with searching for bardi (witchetty grub), kooyar (frogs) and koonak (jilgies).    

Noongar people made stone tools for specific purposes. Stones shaped like axes, are call kodj. These were attached to a wooden handle for chopping and shaping wooden objects.  Others for cutting and slicing. Some tools were attached to spears using resin or yongka (kangaroo) sinews to create a handle, making the tool easier to use.   

To make flour, yorga would grind koonart (acacia seeds) with a round stone that fitted neatly into our hands. The flat stones are called mullers and would be worn smooth by grinding.  Meal time was generally a communal event, but often portions or parts of the food given were dictated by status such as Elder and some cultural customs.   Noongar people would also ‘fire the country’ to drive game out and stimulate new growth.  This was a very effective technique but one that would cause enormous trouble to the early colonists. 

Image: Kodj (Axe). A traditional tool made by Noongar peoples. The knowledge, materials and techniques used to make kodj are unique to the south-west of WA. (Image from National Museum of Australia)