Why the Noongar
nitja ngundabut, ngala kalleepgur ngala moort, ngala koort, ngala boodjara.
This is life, our family’s home, heart, our Country
History of Ballardong Noongar
With the arrival of Europeans in the 1830s, and their methods of land appropriation, Aboriginal people were systematically dispossessed from their lands. Carol Garlett, Senior Ballardong woman, says “...our people were removed by force and sent to Missions and Reserves. Young children were taken from their parents and sent to live in Mission schools … and we were forbidden to speak our language.”
In 1951, Noongar children were allowed to enter Government schools, but this proved difficult; racial discrimination was paramount (9) and still exists today in some towns.
As Janelle Garlett says… “we're not recognised as white people (are). We’re not talked to the same, we’re not treated the same, and some of our kids are still having trouble with racism...Australia is so much bigger with all sorts of other breeds so yeah, we’re on the bottom of the food chain. We're still looked at as inferior…
From: A transcript of a conversation with a young Ballardong woman, Janelle Garlett, Tammin, August 2023
(Figure – Noongar Countries. From: Noongar Boodjar Language Cultural Aboriginal Corporation https://noongarboodjar.com.au/?doing_wp_cron=1702179257.7759439945220947265625)
Working with Ballardong Noongar
Ballardong people, today, are wanting their knowledge of Country, their history and their language to have a presence in school learning. As Tracey de Grussa, Chairperson, Board of Directors, Ballardong Aboriginal Corporation says ... “ We want to share our culture and knowledge of Country.” Such knowledge requires a deeper understanding of Aboriginal culture and language.
The significance of language for Aboriginal people is profound. As Marcia Langton says…. “In many ways, our perception of the world is defined by language….when we lose our language, we lose the special meanings that language held for us. This applies to how we understand our environments and our family, our kinfolk and our inner selves...”(10)
Tyson Yunkaporta says ... “There is deep knowledge in our languages. There is a spirit of learning in our words. This is more than just knowledge of what to learn, but knowledge of how we learn it. This is our pedagogy, our way of learning. We find it in language words about thinking and communicating. We find it in language structure, in the way things are repeated and come around in a circle, showing us how we think and use information. The patterns in stories, phrases, songs, kinship and even in the land can show us the spirit of learning that lives in our cultures.”(11)
Culture (kaartdijin) and language (moort) can only be given by Noongar people.
Within the Noongar, there are 14 Aboriginal countries, each with their own language; 5 or 6 of these countries lie within the Wheatbelt - the Amangu, Yued, Ballardong, Ngadji-Ngadji, Wilman and Wadjari peoples. For schools in Ballardong country, for example, consult with the Ballardong Aboriginal educator, or the school’s Indigenous language teacher. If neither is present, the appropriate web-site links are found in each of the literacy activities in Connected Classrooms.
In teaching biological science, place-based learning requires time spent on Country, listening to Country, and learning from Country with the Aboriginal community.
Teachers are thus encouraged to reach out to their Aboriginal community and invite them to share their Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) with the class. Much can be gained from this practice. A culturally responsive approach to place and space will build on the diversity of Aboriginal cultural identities of students and families connected to the school.
“Australian environmental education carries a cultural obligation – Aboriginal people have a knowledge of country embedded in their very being. They have much to say if you let them say it. Biological researchers have come to recognise that the cultural resurgence of Aboriginal people includes ‘walking’ with them”(12).
How to Engage with the Ballardong Noongar
Schools wishing to engage with the Aboriginal Community are guided by the Department of Education’s Principles for Engagement with Aboriginal communities (Refer to Appendix).
Certain guidelines are essential that will enable respect and understanding between the school, the students, and the community.
Discuss with the Aboriginal community that students are planning a field trip to the bush in order to learn about the plants and animals, and that you would like them to be involved.
Aboriginal cultural and ecological knowledge shared with students (Intellectual Property) may be recorded and embedded in class activities; if so, you require their approval.
The efforts of Aboriginal communities must be recognised. These can be through remuneration, advocacy, and support for local initiatives.
the school, and the teacher, will recognise that this will be different in different contexts, and for every individual. This includes, for example, the way engagement and consultation take place, where and how On Country work is held.
If a project is developed with Aboriginal people, including written or audio-visual material, co-authorship must be acknowledged.
Ballardong Aboriginal Elder, Terry Dick, on Nookaminnie Rock, an important camping place for Ballardong people.
Education today for the Noongar
Margaret Collard, a Ballardong Educator, says…“I went to Quairading school… the teachers now are different. And my kids now, tell you what, they can be anything cause those teachers will give them what they want. That’s why I’m involved in schools. I would like to see more truth in the schools. I told my story and the kids said, ‘we didn’t know anything like this ever happened.’ Their mothers and fathers are not gonna tell them. I want it right from go one, warts and all… That’s what I’d like.”
From: A transcript of a conversation with Margaret Collard, Ballardong Elder, Quairading, June 2023
Kevin Fitzgerald, a Ballardong Educator, says… “…talking Noongar, (today, at the Quairading school) even some of the non-Aboriginal kids are saying kaya, you know, they really get them, and the attitude of the school is so important… Hey, what a good idea and some of the non-Aboriginal kids are learning Noongar too. And I think the parents are saying, you know, really good! They don’t walk the streets now, they go straight home to read a book or to learn something more; it's having an effect right across the board so far as education, language and attitudes are concerned…”
From: A transcript of a conversation with Kevin Fitzgerald, Ballardong Elder, Cultural Advisor to the South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council (SWALSC), Perth, May 2023.
References
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2. Massey, C., Transforming Landscapes. Griffith Review 63 247-261 (2019).
3. Wait, A., Meagher, K., Climate change means Australia may have to abandon much of its farming. The Conversation. 2021.
4. David Lindenmayer, Macbeth, S., Smith, D., Young, M., Natural Asset Farming: Creating productive and biodiverse farms. CSIRO Publishing, Victoria, Australia, (2022).
5. Lindenmayer, D. et al., Wildlife Conservation in Farm Landscapes. CSIRO Publishing, Victoria, Australia, (2016).
6. Prober, S. M., Smith, F. P., Enhancing biodiversity persistence in intensively used agricultural landscapes: A synthesis of 30 years of research in the Western Australian wheatbelt. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 132, 173-191 (2009).
7. Humphreys, W., Kitchener, D. J., The effect of habitat utilisation on species area curves; implications for optimal reserve area. Journal of Biogeography 9, 391-396 (1982).
8. Kitchener, D. J., Predictors of vertebrate species richness in nature reserves in the Western Australian wheatbelt. Australian Wildlife Research 9, 1-17 (1982).
9. Haebich, A., For Their Own Good. University of Western Australia Press (UWA Publishing), Perth, Western Australia, (1988), pp. 413.
10. Langton, M., Ed., Welcome to Country, Hardie Grant Publishing, Richmond, Victoria, (2019), pp. 220.
11. Yunkaporta, T. K., Our Ways of Learning in Aboriginal Languages, Department of Education and Training, New South Wales, (2018).
12. Wooltorton, S., Collard, L., Horwitz, P., Pollina, A., Palmer, D., Sharing a place-based Indigenous methodology and learnings. Environmental Education Research 26, 917-934 (2020).
13. Klahr, D., Zimmerman, C., Jirout, J., Educational interventions to advance childrens’ scientific thinking. Science 333, 971-975 (2011).
14. Michaels, S., Shouse, A. W., Schweingruber, H. A., Eds., Ready, Set, Science! Putting Research to Work in K-8 Science Classrooms National Academies Press, Washington DC, (2008).