I|til ilillllll Iilil lllilillll llli il 016471 POlftrNT'n,\]I- ]FO]R : . ,\B C R]IG I N,\N- C UN-]TU]R.,\N- "]TOU]R]ISN4I,\CTNVITNES ,\ND ECO NN WA[-,VUNG,\ N"\"]TNONAN.PARK N]EAR PERTF]I" WtrS"]T]ERN,\USTR,\[-,NA. for tlhre1l)epantulent of Comservation andl ll.amdlMl anagennent "nanRoddta N4anclh lt 993 :.380- 8 ( 9411) ROD i. : t ', , -.,ii,i l:l:\.r+{nl{*r i r r;.1;1;,;,: 1',i:1:dli{l 'ii.,i;,]i:r;l.i,:.r.:..i-ii,;.il\ il I 6 4 ? tr ]P@1I]ENTNA]L lFOR. ,AtsOR.IIGIINA]L C{J]LIITJR,AIL .\ND ECO IIOURjISMI ACIIIVNTII]BS NN ST.A]LYUNGA N.ATNONA]L JPAR.K N]EAR. PER.TH, WES1IERN .A{JS1IR.A[.[A for the Denlartnnemt of Conservatiom and n-and Mlanagenaent .nam Rodda Mlareh n993 I I EXECUTIVESUMMARY The proiect brief was to I a) collateall relevantresearch material on Aboriginalheritage/culture in WalyungaNational Park WNP), b) summarisethe materialfor usein developingvisitor information, I c) preparea reportto include: i) the potentialfor Aboriginalinterpretation and ecotourism activities in WNP ii) a sitedescription map showing location of potentialthemes to be developed I iii)summarised information in everydaylanguage iii)an annotatedbibliography of all researchmaterial accessed. I In the preparationof thisreport no contacthas been made with Aboriginal communities. It is basedon documentedmaterial. A vital componentof the overallstrategy is thento I inviteinvolvement by Aboriginalpeople in the earliestpossible stage of the development. I The reportcontains the namesof someAboriginal people now deceased. In Summary T WNP lies 40 kilometresnorth east of Perth,Western Australia, and covers1800 hectaresof woodedslopes and rivervalleys. The naturalmajesty and integrityof I Walyungacurrently attracts 90 000 visitorsper annumand it is an areawith strong SouthWest Aboriginal (Noongar) connections. I Certaintrends are obviousregarding Australian Aboriginal culture: 1) Thereis a determinationamongst Aboriginal people that their culture is notto die. T Groupssuch as the NoongarLanguage and Culture Centre in Bunburyhave formed, and now producelanguage dictionaries, courses and educationpackages for peopleto I rediscoverthe heritageand culture; 2) There is a rapidlyincreasing number of non-Aboriginalswho want to learnabout I Aboriginalculture - possiblythe oldestsurviving culture on earth. t Thesepeople want a safe placeto do this, bothculturally and physically. 3) Overseastourists want to learnof Aboriginalways. Internationalbands such as Yothu t Yindi and variousactors have arousedgreat interestin this culture. I Currentlyno quality,regular activities allow this contact and experiential opportunity. Fiftypercent of internationaltourists indicate the wish to learnabout Aboriginalarts and culture(Bureau of TourismResearch, 1990) and manyhave stated their disappointment I in not havingcontact and experiencingAustralian Aboriginal ways. I I t I Forthe followingreasons Walyunga National Park is a site uniqueto providesome of I theseneeds: its name,lack of majorcompeting developments, closeness to Perth,ease of access,long term preservation by legislation,quality of vegetationand fauna, long I term useby Aboriginalpeople and proximityto a largepopulation of Aboriginalpeople. In this,the InternationalYear of lndigenousPeople, a greatopportunity exists, if local I Aboriginalpeople wish, to developWalyunga National Park into a majorcultural area, uniquewithin Australia, and offer an excitingspectrum of programmes,activities and facilitiesto helpthe Noongarculture be betterunderstood. t Thereis a vastamount of literatureon Aboriginalsites and culture in thisarea (eg 400 metresbeyond park boundaries). Curiously there is onlyone very well documented I archaeologicalsite which is up to I 000years old in the park.There is oneother site and somescattered artefacts which have been considerablyless documented.No other T surveysare knownto havebeen conducted there. Internationaland localstudies indicate the rapidlygrowing interest in Aboriginalculture I andcontact, as wellas in ecotourism. As muchas onestudy may highlight the potentialand necessityfor culturaltourism in I Australia,several more, through evaluation of existingenterprises, urge caution. Suggestionsare madein the bodyof the report abouthow to reducethe risk of pitfalls I in suchventures, should any proceed. Generalsuggestions are presentedbelow. I Suggestions Part 1 1 To fosterthe growinginterest in localAboriginal lifestyles a regionalcultural centre I couldbe establishedin WNP for Aboriginalpeople of the southwest of Western Australia(Noongars). I 2 Appropriateexisting organisations would be of great importancein further developmentof the Noongarculture project in the studyarea. These could be I identifiedand includedfor futureplanning. 3 A combinationof culturaland eco tourism could be developedby drawingupon T the principlesand elements of traditionalAboriginal culture that have been identifiedin the survey.This may be oneway of conveyingtraditional values and philosophiesto the westernworld.These principles honour the earth,and this is I the majorcomponent of ecotourism. T I 4 A thoroughinvestigation into Aboriginal significance and occupationof Walyunga NationalPark should be conductedprior to anyfurther development. Not only wouldthis shed extra light on the informationbut alsoensure further protection of I any sites. T t1 I I t I A parkmanagement plan should be developedand implementedin 1993/ 94. as proposedby the Departmentof CALM.Management would thus include strategies I respondingto findingsin the detailedsurvey work intoAboriginal significance in the oark. I The informationsigns about Aboriginal culture currently in the parkcould be upgradedwith regard to appropriatecontent that is availablefrom the findingsof I this report. Althoughnot in thejurisdiction of the Departmentof CALM,further protection and informationcould be implementedand providedregarding nearby Aboriginal sites. I Thiscould include community and inter-departmentalinput. I I t I I I I I I I I T I I I f I Thefollowing first short story is writtenin everydaylanguage about someknown I Noongaraspects of thePark, and the second describes the journey of thewakarl (waugal)through Walyunga to thesea. The Mud Map of thePark accompanies them. T The WalyungaStory Walyungahas been a meetingplace for large groups of Aboriginalpeolple from a wide I areaover thousands of yearsaa,91. lt's notcertain if Walyungawas in theWadjuk or Balladongtribal boundary. The name may have come from Waylo'+s, Noongar for the 'northtribe', and 'yong-a' or'youngar' which means 'people'. Another name meaning mightbe 'walluk yong-a' meaning to ' to share,to divide'se. Peoplewent to Walyungaespecially when they had something to sharewith one another.They took things to giveas presentsmore than to trade14. Thecampsite was quite large, with thousands of implementsor piecesof themfound on a slopenear a streamin thelate 1970's. Thearea was bountiful, which may well have been the reason for large groups of peoplethere at anyone time. There was a permanentpool or 'livingwater' in theriver thatthey could live by for thewhole year. But the Noongarswere aware not to useup all the resourcesat onceand so movedto andaway from it (Bindon, pers comm). It wasa retreatto thecool hinterland from the hotplain. The Noongarsmoved about purposefullyfrom season to seasonto getthe bestof the resourcesavailable sla. Therewere yangets or reedroots in a lagoonand around a spring,plenty of bayoor zamiagrowing among nearby broken rock, and warran or yamvines growing bet\,veen rocksand climbing the zamia 44. Other tubers and red onions grew there too. Theyangets or bullrushthat grew in freshwater had roots that were pounded, made into littlecakes and cooked in thefire. The bayo or zamiafruit was also enjoyed. Theyams were ready to dig outof theground before winter when the ground was gettingsofter. But still it tooka longtime and lots of workto digthem up. Thiswas done by the women with their digging sticks, and children. Some say that it wasa dangerfor whitefellas horses to stumbleor peopleto fallinto the holes afterwards.The holes were half a metreacross and up to twometres deep. The yams werefrom as thick as your finger to asbig as yourarm. lt wasquite a tightfit for the peopledigging them out. But they were important enough for lotsof peopleto cometo shareat theright time s6. Each year there was an increaseceremony to makesure more yamswould be aroundin the ne)idseason. Notonly was the plant food good at Walyunga,but the bushwas home for many animals,and the water had fish, tortoises, frogs, gilgies and lotsof visitingwaterfowl whoprovided eggs. iv Frogswere caught by diggingfor themor stalkingthem and were then threaded on a longreed for easiercarrying. Some frogs, were never eaten. Gilgies were dug out from the banksof the riverand streams 54. An emu huntwas consideredexciting and when one wascaught calls of happinessfrom the Noongarswould relay across the hiilsand downthrough the valleyss6. Big eagleswere not caughtbecause it was believedthat you wouldlose your aim in spearthrowing zz. Peoplemostly camped on the highground where they hadgood views across the coastalplain. lt waswell drained there too for winter.Another good thing was the open tracksacross to the DarlingScarp because down in the valleysthe bush was sometimestoo thickto walkthrough at. In summerwhen a lotof the waterhad dried up, the Noongarsaround places like Walyungawould find an old,hollowed out wandoobranch where water was stored. Theycould tell by a slightmark or changeof colouron the surface.There