About the Narrogin District
The two major towns of Narrogin and Katanning service a large surrounding area of smaller rural towns and medium to large-scale farms. Many small vibrant communities also service local populations and are a source of local pride.
Narrogin has a population of about 4,000 people and includes a shopping precinct, several banks, a supermarket, a recreation centre and sports grounds, and other services.
Katanning has a rich cultural mix of Noongar people and other people from many parts of the world including Christmas Island, South Africa, Italy, Great Britain, and India. Interestingly, it was the first inland town in Western Australia to install streetlights, and the first town in Western Australia to have a below ground pool!
Aboriginal Families
In modern times, most Aboriginal families live in towns that formerly had Aboriginal reserves eg Brookton, Wagin, Williams, Katanning, Pingelly, Beverley, Narrogin, and Wandering. These areas still have the greatest concentration of Aboriginal people in the district.
Even today, family ties are very strong within family groups living in specific towns and some have little interaction with people from neighbouring towns. Noongars believe that it is important for them to maintain contact with their ancestors' families who previously lived in the area.
Some of the prominent families of the district are Abrahams, Bennells, Boltons, Boyces, Colbungs, Coles, Collards, Dinahs, Eades, Farmers, Garletts, Hansens, Haydens, Henrys, Herdigans, Humes, Humphries, Jacksons, Jettas, Johns, Jones, Kicketts, Littles, McGuires, Meades, Micheals, Mourishs, Narkles, Ninyettes, Pennys, Picketts, Pindowns, Quartermaines, Reidys, Ricks, Rileys, Rodneys, Slaters, Smiths, Thornes, Ugles, Wallams, Wards, Websdales, Williams, Winmars and Woods.