About the Warren Blackwood District
The Warren Blackwood District is part of the South West, which includes some of the richest farming land in the state, magnificent Jarrah, Karri and Tuart forests, unique underground cave systems, rivers and wetlands, and spectacular coastlines and estuaries.
More than 60,000 people live in the Warren Blackwood district; the region has one of the fastest growing populations of regional Western Australia.
The South West region has a diverse economy, deriving wealth from mining, forestry, agriculture, tourism, retail, construction, and fishing. The region is renowned world-wide for its premium wine industry and as a quality tourist destination. Further information about the south west can be obtained from the South West Development Commission and the website My South West.
Noongar History of Warren Blackwood
The Warren Blackwood Education District covers a broad and diverse range of Noongar cultural knowledge through various stories and through sites including Devil's Lair, Mileanup Engraving Site, Kudardup Cave, Black Point, Lake Jasper and Malimup. These sites also help inform people about the changes that have occurred to the ecology systems post Pleistocene Period. They confirm Noongar existence for over 60,000 years and are the subjects of many of the Dreaming stories that are told by the elders today. They are the crossroads and intersections of our histories where western science and "Noongar creation" meet. These are the "windows" of yesterday, today and tomorrow.
This country is home of the Noongar and the land of the Wardandi, Bibulmun, Kaneang, Wilmen and Pinjareb Peoples. These are some of the original nations of the Australian continent. The area is bordered by the Wardandi, Bibulmun and the Kaneang Peoples' family boundaries.
Noongar Seasons
The country has six distinctive seasons that are typified by the ceremonial practices. There are two summer seasons (Kambarang and Birak) that are brought about by the availability of food sources including herbs and medicines.
Kambarang brings about the flowering of the Christmas tree, which reminds us of our relationships with others. For example, the Pinjereb have a story about the "laying woman" at the bottom of a pool. People would dive to touch a stone that symbolised this woman as a means of a rite of passage initiation. Many of the flowering trees during the period of the Kambarang and the Birak have food uses e.g.:
- banksia cones are used to make a sweet drink;
- the nut of the zamia palm is harvested then soaked in water to rid of poisons before cooking and eating
- The quandong fruit is ready to eat and the nuts were used for decorative ornaments and personal jewellery and also in children's games
- the young roots of the Christmas tree are edible whilst the older roots are used for a different purpose e.g. herb and medicinal.
This is a bountiful time with successful hunting and gathering which was celebrated through song and dance to commemorate the lands' gifts. The other seasons are:
- the cool and cold seasons of autumn and winter (Mookaroo and Boonaroo);
- the main spring season and reproduction or fertility season (Djilba); and
- the other season that happens before winter (Djiran).
Kinships, Customs & Traditions
The Kaneang, Bibulmun, Wilmen, Pinjareb and the Wardandi have kinships, customs and traditions that are common to each other. In a traditional context the extended family kinship system revealed that 10 - 12 major family groups make up these nations/tribes. These nations/tribes are related along biological, language and cultural lines that define the kinship.
Traditionally Noongars are a monogamous matrilineal society with matrilineal moieties named manitjmat (the white cockatoo) and the waardangmat (the crow). Ritual affiliation is through the father. A person belonged to the moiety and totemic clan of his or her mother, and also to the local group of his or her father. The southwest Noongars are deeply attached to their "country" through mytho-ritual ties and the knowledge and practice of this association is acknowledged and conducted by more Noongar People today than over the last 50 years.
Ecological Features
The area has many ecological features and places that are unique and important to the Noongar people. Natural features like the glacier face, vegetation structures, geological formations and the water holes are all the result of the environmental changes that occurred thousands of years ago, during the nyitting (the big cold).
Current scientific research has found evidence that history and the Noongar elders knowledge of the natural geological formations are linked to the Dreaming stories of creation and connection to country (bush). The stories explain how the geological features were formed their current state. They were once passed verbally through generations to teach children the knowledge and skills on how to survive and live within the environment. Evidence still exists today of the ice age and can be located within the Noongar footprint.
The Noongar hand print is also important as handprints are linked to the meeting place of the five spirits that are found within a Dreaming story, and the five animals are the Waagle (Snake), the Karda (lizard), Waitj (emu), Yongka (kangaroo) and Noongar (the people).
Understanding and appreciation of this information will provide teachers with a physical and emotional connection to the region. This includes understanding and use of the biodiversity of the district, which is an area of focus of the Western Australian museum and Noongar community.