Indigenous Peoples of Australia - Western Australia

Western Australia

• The Noongar (alternate spellings: Nyungar/Nyoongar), are a group of Australian Aboriginal people who live in the south west of Western Australia from Geraldton in the mid west to Esperance on the south coast. The population of the Noongar at the time of European arrival was estimated between 6000 and 10000. The population in the 2001 census was 21000. The Beeliar group encountered English settlers when they arrived in and established the Swan River Colony in 1829. Captain James Stirling declared that the local peoples were British subjects. Although the Nyungar at first traded amicably with the settlers, as time wore on, rifts and misunderstandings developed, and attacks and reprisal attacks grew. This resulted in the death of Yagan, who is now seen by many as one of the first Indigenous resistance fighters. The name of Mokare is commemorated for mediating peace between the colonists at King George Sound and his own people, and assisting in the exploration of the region. Many placenames in Western Australia are named after Noongar words, especially ending in "up" or "in/ing" (both meaning "place of" in different dialects) such as Joondalup, Manjimup, Narrogin and Merredin.

• The Spinifex people, or Pila Nguru, have their traditional lands situated in the Great Victoria Desert, in the Australian state of Western Australia, adjoining the border with South Australia, to the north of the Nullarbor Plain. They maintain in large part their traditional hunter-gatherer existence within the territory, over which their claims to Native title and associated collective rights were recognised by a 28 November 2000 Federal Court decision. The Australian Royal Commission was unable to determine if Pila Nguru people had been exposed to damaging levels of radiation from fallout after the nuclear testing near Maralinga in the 1950s.

• The Jarrakan are one of several groups in the north of the state.