Aboriginal cultures of Western Australia

Before the arrival of Europeans, the land now known as Western Australia was home to a diverse range of traditional Australian Aboriginal cultures, spread across numerous language groups, many of which remain today.^[1] The border delimiting Western Australia from South Australia and the Northern Territory was drawn by the British colonists, at the 129th meridian east,^[2] without regard to the boundaries of existing Aboriginal groups. Consequently Aboriginal cultural groupings are not limited by it; some "Western Australian" Aboriginal groups extend across the border into other states.

Culture groups

Grouping the various peoples of Western Australia, the largest of these groups being called "culture blocs", is a subjective endeavour often done by anthropologists.^[3]^: 40^[4]^{: 290–293} Groupings have been made that do not reflect how the Aboriginal peoples included in the groupings saw themselves, one example being the "aggregation of clan groups in north-east Arnhem Land who lack a single name for themselves", but whom Warner collectively labels the "Murngin".^[4]^: 293

In Western Australia, some large cultural blocs that are well attested are: Noongar, Western Desert cultural bloc, Kimberley peoples and Yamatji.^[5]^: 7^[6]^[7] Of these, Noongar and Yamatji are (at least post-colonisation) often self-identified, with the former being a cultural system that has existed prior to colonisation. Western Desert cultural bloc refers to a dialect continuum which contains many communities that before colonisation recognised "their own dialectical affiliations, and [had] no overall term for themselves".^[5]^: 7^[8]^{: 204–208} The Kimberley peoples are a collection of smaller cultural blocs in the region.^[7]^: 3

Kimberley region

The Kimberley region is linguistically complex, containing around 27 languages in 5 language groups. It is also one of the major rock art regions of Australia, as well as being a trading focus of pearl shell, shields, myths, rituals and body paint patterns.^[9]^: 548

Due to the region's rugged terrain and distance from coloniser population centres, it was one of the last areas to be colonised; graziers began moving in in the 1880s. Colonisation was resisted in "drawn-out guerilla warfare" but many massacres still occurred. It was only in the 1920s, after the Forrest River massacre, that public outcry resulted in Aboriginal people being treated in a "less brutal" manner.^[9]^: 548

Aboriginal divers were often central to the region's pearling industry in the 19th century, this being a "major platform for black-white relations".^[9]^: 548^[10]^: 85, 88

Noongar region

The Noongar people's homeland is the southwest corner of Western Australia. Dialects of the Noongar language were spoken across the region, estimates of the number of dialects range from 3 to 15.^[11]^[12]^{: 194, 1010}

The Noongar people exhibit a distinct material culture. Traditionally this includes wearing stitched kangaroo skin as an adaptation to the cool, moist winter climate, or using a particular style of axe and saw-like knife. Also constructed were temporary but waterproof semicircular dome huts made with a framework of tied branches and paperbark or grass-tree thatch.^[13]^: 22, 24^[12]^: 1010

Intensive contact with Europeans began in 1825 with the founding of a military base at Mammang Koort (King George Sound) and with the subsequent colonisation of the Swan River area from 1829. By 1840, seven massacres had taken place; this includes the Pinjarra massacre, where fifteen to eighty Pinjarup Noongar people were killed.^[14]^[15] Pushed off their lands, Aboriginal communities survived around small towns in the southwest while maintaining familial ties across the region.^[12]^: 1012

Western Desert region

The Western Desert cultural bloc covers much of Western Australia, as well as parts of South Australia and the Northern Territory, occupying area of approximately 670,000 square kilometres (260,000 sq mi).^[16] The Western Desert language is a dialect continuum that extends over much of the region.^[17]

A region of low rainfall and temporary rivers. Its aridity was a limiting factor on population densities, with areas of sandy desert varying perhaps as low as one person per 200 square kilometres (77 sq mi) in the sandy deserts to one person to 13 square kilometres (5.0 sq mi) in regions with more permanent water sources. People would gather at permanent water sources in summer and spread out after rain. Waterholes are prominent features of the stories, songs and paintings of the peoples of the region.^[9]^{: 273–275}

Mission stations and pastoral properties greatly affected the Desert peoples who moved into them, creating large population centres, a number of which have come under Aboriginal control. There has also been an extensive outstation movement.^[9]^{: 273–275}

Yamatji region

Originally a Wajarri word for 'man', it has become a general name for Aboriginal people from the Murchison and Gascoyne districts of Western Australia.^[12]^: 1215

Drainage basins and culture blocs

Australia's major drainage basins have been found to correspond with the main culture blocs. This has been explained as a result of the basins' margins being poor in plant, animal and water resources; consequently there is less cultural exchange on their margins than in their interiors.^[18]^: 78^[19]^: 61–68 Simultaneously, drainage basins are not understood to be a strong indicator of historical or social similarities, and are instead one of many elements used in the analysis of social and cultural dynamics.^[20]^: 68–70

There is also some correspondence between the traditional boundaries of language groups and Australia's bioregions.^[21]^: 42

Kinship groups found in Western Australia

This section gives an overview of Australian Aboriginal kinship groupings within Western Australia, with boundaries based on Norman Tindale's 1974 map, as published in Western Australia: An Atlas of Human Endeavour (1979) by the Government of Western Australia.^[22]^{[better source needed]}

Noongar - occupying the area of the South West Agricultural Division of Western Australia - affected from 1827 onwards, and today represented by the South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council. It includes five cultural groups:

Perth type: Matrilineal moieties and totemic clans. Patrilineal local descent groups. Includes Amangu, Yued, Whadjuk, Binjareb, Wardandi, Ganeang and Wiilman.
Nyakinyaki type: Alternate generational levels similar to Western Desert type, with patrilineal local descent groups. Includes Ballardong and Nyakinyaki.
Bibelmen type: Patrilineal moieties and patrilineal local descent groups. Includes Bibulman and Mineng.
Wudjari type: similar to Nyakinyaki except they have named patrilineal totemic local descent groups.
Nyunga type: similar to Wangai with two endogamous named divisions (Bee-eater and King fisher), in which marriage took place within one's own division but children were in the opposite, modified from the Western Desert system. Includes Nyunga.

Yamatji - occupying the Murchison, Gascoyne - affected from the 1840s onwards, represented today by the Yamatji Bana Baaba Marlpa Land and Sea Council.

Nganda type: Patrilineal totemic local descent groups, no moieties or sections. Includes Nganda and Nandu.
Inggadi-Badimaia gtype: Sections not well defined, Patrilineal totemic local clans grouped into larger divisions. Includes Inggada, Dadei, Malgada, Ngugan, Widi, Badimaia, Wadjari, and Goara.
Djalenji-Maia type: Sections correlated with kin terms, Matrilineal descent groups. Includes Noala, Djalenji, Yinigudira, Baiyungu, Maia, Malgaru, Dargari, Buduna, Guwari, Warianga, Djiwali, Djururu, Nyanu, Bandjima, Inawongga, Gurama, Binigura and Guwari.
Nyangamada type: Sections with indirect matrilineal descent, with patrilineal local descent groups. Includes Bailgu, Indjibandji, Mardudunera, Yaburara, Ngaluma, Gareira, Nyamal, Ngala, and Nyangamada.

Wankai - occupying the Goldfields and Nullarbor regions of Western Australia affected from the 1880s onwards, represented today by the Goldfields Land and Sea Aboriginal Council Corporation.

Galamaia-Gelago type: Like Nyunga, but practising circumcision. Includes Galamaia, Ngurlu, Maduwongga, and Gelago.
Mirning type: Patrilineal local totemic descent groups, No moieties or sections. Similar to the Western Desert type. Includes Ngadjunmaia, Mirning.

Kimberley peoples - in the Kimberley region - speaking a variety of languages and affected from the 1870s onwards, represented today by the Kimberley Land Council.

Garadjeri type: As for Nyangamada. Includes Garadjeri, Mangala, Yaoro, Djungun, Ngombal, Djaberadjabera, and Nyulnyul.
Bardi type. Patrilineal local descent groups, no moieties or sections. Includes Warwar, Nimanburu, Ongarang, Djaul Djaui.
Ungarinyin type: Patrilineal. Includes Umedi, Wungemi, Worora, Wunumbul

Ngaanyatjarra - occupying the Central Desert region - and being much less affected than the other Aboriginal groups of Western Australia.

Impact of colonisation

Aboriginal traditional cultures have been greatly impacted since the colonisation of Australia began. During the late 19th and early 20th century it was assumed that Aboriginal Australians were a dying race and would eventually disappear.^[23]

While Aboriginal populations in Western Australia did decline until the 1930s, they have since increased.^{[citation needed]} Today, all Aboriginal cultures have been impacted by degrees of marginalisation and exclusion from participation in the dominant culture of Australia. This has resulted in higher than average rates of infant mortality, and lower life expectancy, education and rates of employment.^{[citation needed]}

191 Aboriginal languages have been documented in Western Australia,^[1] but as of 2018^[update] only 31 were spoken.^[24]

References

^ ^a ^b "AustLang". AIATSIS Collection. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
^ Porter, John (1990). Longitude 129 Degrees East, and Why it is not the Longest, Straight Line in the World (PDF). Canberra, A.C.T.: Australian Surveyors Congress (32nd). Retrieved 5 January 2024.
^ Memmott, Paul; Long, Stephen (1 March 2002). "Place Theory and Place Maintenance in Indigenous Australia". Urban Policy and Research. 20 (1): 39–56. Bibcode:2002UrbPR..20...39M. doi:10.1080/08111140220131591.
^ ^a ^b Redmond, Anthony (1 November 2011). "Identifying the Relevant Level of a Society in Australian Native Title Claims". Anthropological Forum. 21 (3): 287–305. doi:10.1080/00664677.2011.617714.
^ ^a ^b Berndt, Ronald M.; Berndt, Catherine H. (1980). Aborigines of the West: their past and their present (2nd rev. ed.). Perth: University of Western Australia Press. ISBN 0855641894.
^ "Connection to Country". Kaartdijin Noongar. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
^ ^a ^b Kimberley Aboriginal Caring for Culture Initial Consultation Report (PDF). 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
^ Palmer, Kingsley (2016). Noongar people, Noongar land: the resilience of Aboriginal culture in the South West of Western Australia. Canberra, ACT: Aboriginal Studies Press. ISBN 9781922102478.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Horton, David (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, society and culture. Vol. 1. Aboriginal Studies Press. ISBN 0855752491.
^ Nayton, Gaye (2011). The archaeology of market capitalism: a Western Australian perspective. New York: Springer. ISBN 978-1-4419-8318-3.
^ "Noongar Dialects". Noongar Boodjar Language Cultural Aboriginal Corporation.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Horton, David. The Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, society and culture. Vol. 2.
^ Palmer, Kingsley (2016). Noongar People, Noongar Land - The resilience of Aboriginal Culture in the South West of Western Australia. Aboriginal Studies Press. ISBN 9781922102478.
^ Ryan, Lyndall; Debenham, Jennifer; Pascoe, Bill; Smith, Robyn; Owen, Chris; Richards, Jonathan; Gilbert, Stephanie; Anders, Robert J; Usher, Kaine; Price, Daniel; Newley, Jack; Brown, Mark; Craig, Hugh (2017–2025). "Pinjarra Massacre". Colonial Frontier Massacres, Australia, 1780 to 1930. Newcastle: University of Newcastle. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
^ Ryan, Lyndall; Debenham, Jennifer; Pascoe, Bill; Smith, Robyn; Owen, Chris; Richards, Jonathan; Gilbert, Stephanie; Anders, Robert J; Usher, Kaine; Price, Daniel; Newley, Jack; Brown, Mark; Craig, Hugh (2017–2025). "Map". Colonial Frontier Massacres, Australia, 1780 to 1930. Newcastle: University of Newcastle. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
^ Paterson, Alistair (11 February 2014). "Berndt Museum Rock Art: The Western Desert Collections". Research Data Australia. The University of Western Australia. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
^ Dousset, Laurent (2011). "Part one: A historical and ethnographic overview". Aboriginal Australian kinship: An introductory handbook with particular emphasis on the Western Desert. Marseille: pacific-credo Publication. p. 14-44. doi:10.4000/books.pacific.561. ISBN 9782956398110. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
^ Mulvaney, John; Kamminga, Johan (2 September 2020). Prehistory of Australia (1 ed.). Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781003136941. ISBN 978-1864489507.
^ Peterson, Nicolas (1976). Tribes and boundaries in Australia: papers presented at the symposium "Ecology, spatial organisation and process in Aboriginal Australia" held at the Australian National University from the 23-26 October 1973. Canberra: Australian Inst. of Aboriginal Studies. ISBN 0855750480.
^ Dousset, Laurent (5 April 2018). "Systems in Geography or Geography of Systems? Attempts to Represent Spatial Distributions of Australian Social Organisation". Skin, Kin and Clan: The Dynamics of Social Categories in Indigenous Australia: 43–83. doi:10.22459/SKC.04.2018.03. hdl:1885/204978. ISBN 978-1-76046-163-8. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
^ Fourmile, Henrieta (May 1996). MAKING THINGS WORK: ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER INVOLVEMENT IN BIOREGIONAL PLANNING CONSULTANT'S REPORT. Canberra: Biodiversity Unit, Department of the Environment, Sport and Territories. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
^ N.T. Jarvis (Ed) Western Australia: An Altlas of Human Endeavour 1829-1979. Education Committee, WAY 79. Education Department of Western Australia. 1979: Page 32.
^ McGregor, Russell (1997). Imagined destinies : aboriginal australians and the doomed race theory, 1880-1939. Carlton, Vic: Melbourne University Press. ISBN 0522847625.
^ "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and languages are strong, supported and flourishing". Australian Government Productivity Commission. 14 June 2023. Retrieved 5 January 2024.

v t e Aboriginal peoples of Western Australia
Peoples	Amangu Arnga Bardi Badimaya Bailgu Baiyungu Ballardong Binigura Bunuba Buruna Djaru Duulngari Dyiwali Gija Gooniyandi Gugadja Ildawongga Inawongga Inggarda Jaburara Jabirr Jabirr Jadira Jawi Jukun Kalaako Kalamaia Kambure Kaneang Karajarri Kariera Kartudjara Keiadjara Koara Koreng Kurajarra Kurrama Madoitja Maduwongga Maia Malgana Malgaru Malngin Mandara Mandi Mandjildjara Mandjindja Mangala Mantjintjarra Ngalia Mardudunera Martu Mineng Miriwung Mirning Miwa Murunitja Nakako Nanda Nangatadjara Nangatara Ngaanyatjarra Ngaatjatjarra Ngadjumaya Ngalia Ngarinjin Ngarla Ngarlawangga Ngarluma Ngolibardu Ngombal Ngurlu Ngurrara Niabali Nimanburu Ninanu Njakinjaki Njunga Nokaan Noongar Nyamal Nyangumarta Nyigina Nyulnyul Panyjima Perrakee? Pibelmen Pindiini Pindjarup Pini Pintupi Pitjantjatjara Putidjara Spinifex Tedei Tenma Thalandji Tharrkari Tjalkadjara Tjeraridjal Tjurabalan Tjuroro Umiida Unggarranggu Unggumi Waljen Walmadjari Wardal Wariangga Warrwa Watjarri Wangai Wanman Wenamba Whadjuk Widi Wiilman Wilawila Wirdinya Wirngir Worrorra Wudjari Wunambal Wurla Yamatji Yawijibaya Yawuru Yeidji Yindjibarndi Yingkarta Yinikutira Yued
History	Flying Foam massacre Forrest River massacre Pinjarra massacre
By state or territory New South Wales Northern Territory Queensland South Australia Tasmania Victoria Western Australia