About the Albany District
Albany has significant Aboriginal Heritage value. The granite hills, and the harbours and rivers that run into them provided a wide range of environmental zones and supported a rich diversity of plant and animal resources. These were expertly exploited by Aboriginal people. The water courses in particular formed a seasonal focus of Aboriginal life as well as having mythological significance. The many sites recorded in the area reflect Aboriginal usage, both prior to, and since European occupation and the continuing cultural knowledge of local Aboriginal people.
The Aboriginal people from the Albany area form part of a large cultural block that covers the South West of WA, known as the Noongar. This word is spelt and pronounced in a variety of ways in different parts of the region. The territory around Albany was the traditional country of the Minang (spelt Meananger by Nind in 1831). Within this area there were particular stretches of country and sites of significance belonging to various family groups.
As the first area of Western Australia to be settled by the British the area is the focus of early information about Aboriginal traditional life and practices that was collected by the people such as Nind, Baxter and Collie. It is also the area visited by members of pre-settlement scientific and exploration teams such as those of Vancouver, King, Baudin & Freycinet.
Much information was passed on to the early settlers by Mokare, an Aboriginal man who developed a close relationship with the early settlers and shared his knowledge of the land, its natural resources and the rich cultural practices of his people. Like many other Noongars of the area, he succumbed to European diseases to which he had no natural resistance, and died within a few years of European settlement.
Aboriginal interest in the area as a whole, and in particular sites, continues to be strong. Associations exist with places traditionally used by Noongar people, places for which creation stories exist (such as Oyster Harbour) and places that are associated with Aboriginal life as it has adapted since European settlement.
Significant archaeological sites including the 19,000 year-old Kalian Hall site and the stone fish traps at the northern end of Oyster Harbour. The Fish Traps, recorded in 1971, form one of the best preserved and extensive sites of their type in the region. Other stone fish traps exist near Denmark, and riverine traps are also recorded on the Kalian River which is the southern-most site where Aborigines could cross the river to travel along pathways that linked the land and its people.
Oyster Harbour, like many significant features in the region, is itself a mythological site. The creation mythology for it relates to the excavation of the harbour to create a burial mound (Green Island) for ancestral beings of the region. Other sites in the area include artefact scatters with evidence of prehistoric campsites, water sources, traditional camping and food gathering places.
The Aboriginal Affairs Department holds a register of Aboriginal heritage places. This list is far from complete, and other sites exist which have not yet been recorded with the Department. These are likely to include archaeological sites with physical evidence of Aboriginal occupation, ethnographic sites where the Aboriginal community has knowledge of mythology and usage of particular places, and historical sites relating to more recent events in the lives of the Aboriginal community or documented in the writings of early researchers. Under the Aboriginal Act 1972-1980, all Aboriginal sites in Western Australia are protected whether known to the Department or not. (Compliments Department of Indigenous Affairs, Albany).
Other important areas include the Stirling Range National Park which features five peaks rising over 1000 metres above sea level including Boola Meela (Bluff Knoll) meaning “Many Eyes”. It is a place where many faces and eyes are looking at you. There is a warning for children to stay close to their family when climbing, and to think about the story of the lonely woman, who caused two brothers to fight to their death. She now lives with Nootj, the Spirit of Death, and would like to take little children. The Noongar spiritual beliefs and Noongar culture are strong in this area. The Stirling Ranges is one of the world’s most spectacular wildflower areas.
The Porongurup Range National Park is an ancient forest that rises abruptly from the surrounding farmland. It has a range of attractions, such as Devil’s Slide, Marmabub Rock, and Nancy and Hayward Peaks.
Bremer Bay and the Fitzgerald River National Park are perched overlooking the Southern Ocean and have more species of flowering plants than anywhere else in the world.
Gnowangerup. Sister and Brother Wright established the Gnowangerup Mission in 1926. Prior to marrying Brother Wright, Sister Wright was known as Sister Malcolm and was the spiritual adviser at Carrolup Aboriginal Settlement, until the settlement was dissolved in 1922. After the closure of Carrolup, many Aboriginal people contacted her and expressed their regret that Carrolup had been disbanded. They had regarded it as their home and they appealed to the Sister, to “Find them another home”. The Mission later became an agriculture school for Noongar boys and today as part of the Gnowangerup Agricultural School it takes in a wider male population.
Mt Barker town serves a wide agricultural area and is the administrative centre for the Shire of Plantagenet. It is also the home of the Krakouer brothers who played for North Melbourne in the AFL. Mt Baker Reserve was created in 1922, as a centralised camping ground where Police could “control the movements of the Natives and unruly whites,” (Report on the Land Tenure of Former Aboriginal reserve Land in Western Australia, page 66). By 1946, the Department of Native Affairs had come to consider the site unsuitable, particular as it lacked a water supply. As a result of the water problem, Aborigines had preferred to camp on a nearby railway reserve. Therefore the Mt Baker Reserve 18154 was cancelled in 1946, and another reserve 22942, was established as a replacement. It was never used because it lacked a water supply and the Commissioner of Native Affairs did not want to spend money on improving facilities on reserves within 100 miles of Carrolup. Aborigines continued to camp on the railway reserve, and on other sites around the town.
The Valley Of Giants Tree Top Walk is famous for viewing the gigantic forest of tingle trees from the forest floor to 40 metres up in the canopy. Situated between Walpole and Denmark, which saw a large massacre around this area.
The Sandalwood Factory owned by Mt Romance Australia Pty Ltd in synergy with Australian Sandalwood Oil Co aims to develop “Tribal Dreaming” which promotes unique relaxation systems and plant based body care products that interact with Indigenous science. Noongar chemistry has been the driving force in this business. Sandalwood oil and emu oil have been traditional Noongar medicines .Aveda, the natural arm of Estee Lauder’s empire is now working with Mt Romance Australia Pty Ltd.