Kongal Marawar

Kongal Marawar names the south-western dialect country of the Noongar, extending from the Murray River towards Kojonup and south to Augusta. Near its northern coastal approaches, the Bindjareb people lived among the waterways and wetlands around Mandurah. Fishing, hunting and gathering followed the changing abundance marked by the six Noongar seasons. River fish traps called mungah embodied knowledge of currents and collective harvesting, joining practical work to responsibilities for water and Country.

British colonisation sharply altered these relationships. The Swan River Colony was established in 1829, and Thomas Peel's settlers subsequently moved towards Mandurah after the failure of their first settlement at Clarence. Grants of land introduced competing claims over places already inhabited and used by Noongar families. Conflict grew as settlement spread. On 28 October 1834, a force led by Governor James Stirling attacked Noongar people at Pinjarra on the Murray River. The massacre marked a violent stage in the colonial occupation of a region whose social geography long predated the new land grants.