About the Canning District
There are many Aboriginal sites in the Canning district where artifacts and other material have been found. From the hills along the Canning River, down to the Swan River, sites have been identified as places where Aboriginal people camped, lived, and practiced cultural activities between their nomadic times. The Canning River was used as a source of marron and turtle as well as for recreation purposes by the Aboriginal clans in the area. It was also of historical and spiritual significance to the Noongar people from the Shelley Bridge right through to the Darling Range.
Aboriginal sites are found in Mundijong, Armadale, Kelmscott, Gosnells, Belmont and places near the Burswood Resort. For example, Tomato Lake was a meeting and hunting ground for Aboriginal people from Guildford and from the Canning area. It is probably a place where Yellagonga, Midgegooroo Munday’s and Weipa’s clans may have met for ceremonies and other cultural activities. Hillside Farm in Gosnells is also a significant site but like some others in the District, it is now closed. (Information from the Department of Indigenous Affairs.)
Most Aboriginal groups would tend to stay in their boundaries eg inside the river boundaries and the bottom edge of the Darling ranges and would not walk into another clan’s territory unannounced.
Significant Events and Important Dates
One of the significant events that all Aboriginal people participate in across Australia is National Aboriginal Islander Day Observance Committee week (NAIDOC). NAIDOC Week is usually held in the first Week of July every year. More information can be found on the NAIDOC website.
The Minnawarra Festival in Armadale is where Aboriginal people get to participate with the local people in this festival. See the City of Armadale website.
Australia Day celebrations on the foreshore where people can attend the Survival Concert and displays run by Aboriginal people. This is called the ”Survival” concert.
Sorry Day is celebrated during the year to remember the stolen generation. It was first celebrated on the 26th of May 1998.
Reconciliation day. The Council for Reconciliation held its first meeting in Canberra in 1992 after being formed in 1991.