User:Cazwin/Cazwin/Goonininup

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Pond at Goonininup.

Goonininup[edit | edit source]

Goonininup (Goona – faeces) (Nyiny - now) (Up – place) translating as " now here, place of the goona" (of the Waugal)[1].

Goonininup is a beautiful, peaceful place at the base of Mooro Katta or Kaaata Gar-up or Gatagarup or Mt Eliza (Western Australia) [2] on the banks of the Derbarl Yerrigan in Whadjuk country. It is part of the Waugal Dreaming bidi, where the Waugal made the waterways and hills between the wattarn [3] and last camping place at Boodjin (Boyagin Rock) [4].

Noongar katitjin[edit | edit source]

In 1985 Noongar Elders and holders of katitjin, Corrie Bodney and Lorna Little, with consultant Rory O'Connor, were appointed by the State Government, through the Western Australian Museum to undertake a site survey of Perth. The researchers categorised the sites into eight groups. Of the eight, Gatagarup is allocated as being:

  • a site of mythological or ritual significance
  • a site with research potential for tracing the impact of settlement on Noongar life
  • a site of pre-contact habitation and usage, and
  • a pre-contact camping/hunting/fishing site[5].

It was not categorised as being a burial, battle or other site. The researchers also found that Goonininup was somewhat protected by its proximity to Gatagarup (as Kings Park and Botanic Gardens is classified an A Class Reserve), but they did suggest that a plaque be mounted to notify the public of its Aboriginal importance [6]. To date, this has not happened.


Early Records[edit | edit source]

The earliest written account of the Waugal being in the vicinity of Goonininup is from 1836, where it was recorded to be one of the sites where the Waugal laid eggs that were seen, and removed, by the early Europeans[7]. The permanent spring located there is also said to be the urine of the Waugal and is sacred, with medicinal qualities[8].

Goonininup is recorded as being the burial place of a young Noongar kulangar; the first “domestic native” to die in the colony, on September 23, 1841. The record stated that this kulangar was the mam-mal (or son) of Ningina, a boordiya of Goonininup [9].

Baaburgurt was recorded by Daisy Bates to list the camps along routes to and from Boorloo (or Perth) through to the south of the state that were used for trade (especially wilgi or red ochre from where the Perth Central Railway Station and Horseshoe Bridge now stand) and for teaching[10]. Goonininup has been listed as one of the teaching camp sites along this route[11].

It is possible that this camp was under the leadership of boordiya Yellagonga, who, it is understood, attempted to defend the camp from the British who travelled up the beeliya and stopped there[12].

The site was, however, taken over by the British, first as a shipyard then as a 'feeding depot', which then became known as the Mt Eliza Native Institution[13].

Spring at Goonininup.

It continued to be a contested site and the land is now occupied by the Old Swan Brewery complex, where a long protest took place from 1988 - 1992 (link to protest page).

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Stasiuk, G, 2005 video recording, Noongar of the Beeliar, Kulbardi Productions; Broomhall, S and Pickering, G eds. 2012, Rivers of Emotion: An emotional history of Derbarl Yerrigan and Djarlgarro Beelier/ the Swan and Canning Rivers, Uniprint, Crawley: 14; Vinnicombe, P, 1989: 14
  2. ↑ https://www.bgpa.wa.gov.au/kings-park/visit/history Accessed 21/10/2017
  3. ↑ P Bindon and R Chadwick (eds), 2011, A Nyoongar Wordlist, WA Museum, Perth, p. 385
  4. ↑ Garlett, S, 2002, cited in Collard, L, 2006, The Cosmology: The Creator of the Trilogy Waakal or Nyungar Rainbow Serpent in M Leybourne and A Gaynor, (eds), Water: Histories, Cultures, Ecologies, p. 129, UWA Press, Crawley
  5. ↑ O'Connor, R, Bodney, C and Little, L, 1985:140-141 cited in Host, J and Owen, C, 2009, "It's Still in My Heart, this is my Country": the Single Noongar Claim History, UWA Publishing, Crawley, pp. 229-231
  6. ↑ O'Connor, R, Bodney, C and Little, L, 1985:140-141 cited in Host, J and Owen, C, 2009, "It's Still in My Heart, this is my Country": the Single Noongar Claim History, UWA Publishing, Crawley, p.232
  7. ↑ Armstrong 1836 in Green 1979: 189 cited in Vinnicombe,P 1989, Goonininup: An Historical Perspective of Land Use and Associations in the Old Swan Brewery Area, WA Museum, p. 10
  8. ↑ Colbung, K, cited in Green, 1979:6 cited in Vinnicombe, P 1989, Goonininup: An Historical Perspective of Land Use and Associations in the Old Swan Brewery Area, WA Museum, p. 13
  9. ↑ LM, 1933, Mount Eliza, The West Australian, Perth WA Sat 11 Feb 1933, pg.4 Available from http://trove.nla.gov.au Accessed 25/10/2017
  10. ↑ Bates 1938, cited in Vinnicombe,P 1989, Goonininup: An Historical Perspective of Land Use and Associations in the Old Swan Brewery Area, WA Museum, p. 18-19
  11. ↑ Vinnicombe,P 1989 after Bloor, 1987:1, Goonininup: An Historical Perspective of Land Use and Associations in the Old Swan Brewery Area, WA Museum, p. 18
  12. ↑ Green, 1989 cited in Vinnicombe,P 1989, Goonininup: An Historical Perspective of Land Use and Associations in the Old Swan Brewery Area, WA Museum, p. 18
  13. ↑ Vinnicombe,P 1989, Goonininup: An Historical Perspective of Land Use and Associations in the Old Swan Brewery Area, WA Museum, p. 22-24
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