Sunday, January 25, 2009

Aboriginal History

Aboriginal history

The Aboriginal people of the Perth area belong to the southwest region and are referred to by various names. The best known are Nyoongar, Nyungar, Noongar, Wajuk and Wudjari. The country along the Swan River was rich and allowed a high density of Aboriginal people.

Life, contact and war

Living conditions

The climate in winter (makuru) is cool and moist and the Aboriginal people adapted to it by wearing kangaroo skin cloaks and building weatherproof huts (when they stayed longer).

Contact with white settlers

It was not before 1825 that the Nyoongar of the Perth area had contact with white people. A military base was established in King George Sound and the Swan River area was subsequently colonised. The area that was occupied by the settlers had a great ceremonial and economic significance to the Nyoongar, and the spreading of the settlers led in 1834 to the "Battle of Pinjarra" in which a lot of Aboriginal people were murdered.

Aboriginal resistance

Aboriginal resistance was led in the early 1830s by people like Yagan and Calyute. The whites tried to break their war by imprisoning them on Rottnest Island or sending them to remote missions like Moore River (which became famous through the blockbuster "Rabbit-proof Fence") and Carrolup.

You can visit the statue of Yagan on the west end of the south island of Heirisson Island.

Content from: http://www.creativespirits.info/ozwest/perth/aboriginalhistoryperth.html

Read More:

Australian Aboriginal History Timeline

Australian Aboriginal People

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