Nyabing Noongar History. Nyabing Noongar History
Nyabing Noongar History – Aboriginal history in Australia can be traced back over 40,000 years, and even more if new archeological finds in South Australia and the Northern Territory are proved, making it the oldest surviving culture in the world.
The Menang Noongar Tribe were located mainly around the Chinocup and Nyabing areas long before European settlement of the area. Elder Tassie Hayward recorded some of the history of the tribe. This is his story…
HAYWARD Tassie
Menang Noongar Tribe
“Trouliang” Family – Chinocup
By Tassie Hayward
My name is Tassie Hayward and I am an Elder of the Trouliang family group and we were located around the Chinocup area, around the Gypsum Mine for Trouliang’s descendant’s (which was also the William’s). This group has been around this area for hundreds of years. The Williams Boys have been here for 60 or more years at least. Trouliang was the mother of the Williams’, and my great-great grandmother, which was still under the Menang Noongar group.
Verdun Hayward
My Dad’s name is Verdun Hayward, and he used to come out here regularly to play football for Kent in the 1970’s, but also to help his uncles out who would work on the surrounding farms. Verdun worked most of his life in Gnowangerup. He was working on the Shire for most of it. When he came out to Nyabing to help his uncles, they would be doing jobs like stump picking, fencing, rock picking and poison pulling (Box poison, and a couple others but I’m not too sure). Some were shearing too, and possibly bagging salt.
The uncles would work for the Collins’, Badger’s, Tuffley’s (and probably would have shorn with them too), Patterson’s, Hobart’s, Stephens’, and Thomson’s. In the last 30 or 40 years, Paton’s (a big syndicate and was the Nyabing Pastoral Company) hired a lot of them for all the stump picking and other chores.
I have five brothers and five sisters, and they are spread from Perth, through to Gnowangerup and everywhere in between. They now do all sorts of work, from mine jobs (FIFO) through to work locally in Gnowangerup, farm labouring and numerous other jobs. Currently I am working on the “Solomon” mine up near Karijini and loving it. I come back every fortnight on two on one off roster. My job is a Machine Operator, driving Haulpaks [ii] at the moment. Its real pretty country, 6am – 6pm, working in the gorges, it certainly won’t be there in 30 years time, which is a real shame.
Dad is now retired and plays grandpa to all the kids, after serving about 25-30 years on the Gnowangerup Shire Council. Mum backed dad up with all things, and she looked after us kids as well.
Dad played footy for Kent Districts Football Club, he used to play in the back line or anywhere he could get a kick! I remember making that epic journey every weekend, getting home early morning. At that time, they were still playing in the Central Great Southern Football League, and the trips were long. Katanning twice, Tambellup, Kukerin, Dumbleyung, and Kojonup were all there.
I went to primary school in Gnowangerup, and during this time we went out to learn the old ways. But it was a bit different then. We would go out with my uncles, and my uncles kids would go out with my Dad. It was never written down as this, but this is the way it happened.
I went to high school in Gnowangerup as well and over the years it’s been a hands on learning experience to become who I am today. It’s getting harder and harder to get the kids together to pass on this family information, between computers, Facebook, TVs & I-pods!!
Even when we were growing up it was a family thing. There was always a big tent or yard, and we would yarn and yarn for hours, passing on our language and stories. Growing up and going out with the uncles, we would learn about life signs in the bush, learnt about the nuts and seeds, learnt all about finding the kangaroo, how to trace it by its tracks and then kill, skin and eat it. It’s all about the life skills, weather and seasons, and the knowing of where the next food source will be, whether its local or 50-60kms away.
Weather is judged by the trees and sounds as well. The sound can come through a lot denser (due to atmospheric conditions etc), watching the ants and animals and even watching the sky at night time as well. The leaves on some trees turn quite shiny when there is rain coming.
The book about Noongar language was written in Bunbury, and even the way they say Nyoongar is different to how we say it. It has over ten different dialects. Here in the Great Southern, for example the name of a dog, around the wheat belt area, they would say “dwert” and we would say “dwert” (sounded with a “t” sound instead of “d” sound).
And another is the word Noongar, we say Noongar, and they say Nyoongar, pronouncing the y in the word. The most important thing that I would like our young people today to learn is our language and dialect.
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