The eastern border of Western Australia was not decided upon with any regards to the cultural or language groups which it cut through. [1]: 2 Instead, it was intended to run along the 129th meridian east. [1]: 6 This means that many of the linguistic and cultural groupings of Aboriginal peoples found in WA are not limited by it.
With 191 languages being documented within its borders, [2] over an area that would make it the tenth largest country in the world (2,523,924 square kilometres (974,493 sq mi)), [3] [note 1] it has historically held a diverse range of traditional Australian Aboriginal cultures.
Broadly speaking, it has been found that traditional Aboriginal cultures can be linked to major drainage basins [4] and to the IBRA system of Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia. [5]: 42 [note 2]
Thus the Noongar people, occupying the South Western Coastal Division Number VI, circumcising cultures of the Yamatji people are associated with the Indian Ocean Division Number VII, the Kimberley peoples with the Timor Sea Division Number VIII and the Desert Groups of the Interior are associated with the Western Plateau Division Number VIII. Within these broad areas of cultural similarity smaller traditional cultures were closely adapted to the requirements of a bioregion, as it was from these sites that Aboriginal people drew their sustenance. Thus for example, the Binjareb people took their name from Binjar, a Noongar word meaning wetland and made extensive use of these and the surrounding tuart banksia woodlands of the Swan Coastal Plain. Throughout Western Australia, Aboriginal people were not just passive recipients of the bounty of these natural environments, but actively took a role in the creation and maintenance of these biogeographic regions, through hunting practices, firestick farming, [6] fish trapping and other means that broadly maintained the flora and fauna of their region.
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. [7][ better source needed]
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. [8]
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 WA, [2] but as of 2016 only 31 were spoken. [9]
The eastern border of Western Australia was not decided upon with any regards to the cultural or language groups which it cut through. [1]: 2 Instead, it was intended to run along the 129th meridian east. [1]: 6 This means that many of the linguistic and cultural groupings of Aboriginal peoples found in WA are not limited by it.
With 191 languages being documented within its borders, [2] over an area that would make it the tenth largest country in the world (2,523,924 square kilometres (974,493 sq mi)), [3] [note 1] it has historically held a diverse range of traditional Australian Aboriginal cultures.
Broadly speaking, it has been found that traditional Aboriginal cultures can be linked to major drainage basins [4] and to the IBRA system of Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia. [5]: 42 [note 2]
Thus the Noongar people, occupying the South Western Coastal Division Number VI, circumcising cultures of the Yamatji people are associated with the Indian Ocean Division Number VII, the Kimberley peoples with the Timor Sea Division Number VIII and the Desert Groups of the Interior are associated with the Western Plateau Division Number VIII. Within these broad areas of cultural similarity smaller traditional cultures were closely adapted to the requirements of a bioregion, as it was from these sites that Aboriginal people drew their sustenance. Thus for example, the Binjareb people took their name from Binjar, a Noongar word meaning wetland and made extensive use of these and the surrounding tuart banksia woodlands of the Swan Coastal Plain. Throughout Western Australia, Aboriginal people were not just passive recipients of the bounty of these natural environments, but actively took a role in the creation and maintenance of these biogeographic regions, through hunting practices, firestick farming, [6] fish trapping and other means that broadly maintained the flora and fauna of their region.
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. [7][ better source needed]
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. [8]
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 WA, [2] but as of 2016 only 31 were spoken. [9]