Waarkarl Woonya Bidi

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Waarkarl Woonya Bidi (Albany Highway) stretches 397 km between the two rivers, Derbarl Yerrigan (Swan River) and Kalgan Beeliar (Kalgan River) and is named in honour of the Waarkarl who, in the Dreaming, created the rivers and the hills and valleys between them. Waarkarl Woonya Bidi is the most direct route from Kinjarling (Albany) to the many sites along the Derbarl Yerrigan (Swan River) that were used to conduct lore (unwritten knowledge, beliefs, rules or customs) and ceremony. Nyoongar people walked this route many times over thousands of years to attend meetings at Kaarta Garup (head camp) at what is now Mount Eliza in Kings Park. Some people would have branched off to go to Mandjar (Mandurah), which was a trading place. Waarkarl Woonya Bidi begins in Whadjuk Country, passes through Balardong, Wiilman and Keneang and ends in Menang Country.

Nyoongar people walked this route many times over thousands of years to attend meetings at Kaarta Garup (head camp) at what is now Mount Eliza in Kings Park.

When the British arrived, they used the same track to create a direct link between the two early settlements at Boorlo (Perth) and Kinjarling (Albany). The road was used initially to carry mail and supplies to settlers living along the route. Goods garnered or produced in the area, such as timber and wool, were sent by rail to ports at Kinjarling (Albany), Goomburrup (Bunbury) and Walyalup (Fremantle).

There are fifteen narratives associated with Waarkarl Woonya Bidi (Albany Highway) as shown on the map below.

Waarkarl Woonya Bidi (Albany Highway) begins at the Causeway, the bridge link over the Derbarl Yerrigan. Before European settlement this was called Boodjargabbeelup (place where the land meets the sea). Because it was shallow water and exposed mudflats, it was one of the main crossing points of the river.

The Causeway straddles Kakaroomup (Heirisson Island). Kakaroomup used to be part of a small chain of islands and surrounding mud flats. This was called Matagarup, meaning a place where the river is only leg deep and thus could be crossed.

As Waarkarl Woonya Bidi travels southeast across the Perth Basin, on one side is Djarlgarro Beeliar (Canning River), a major tributary of Derbarl Yerrigan, and on the other side is Welshpool. Like Derbarl Yerrigan, Djarlgarro Beeliar has been of great importance to Nyoongar people for many, many thousands of years. It was a source of food providing freshwater shellfish, fish, waterfowl, turtles, and other animals and birds that came to drink.

In 1899 the Governor of Western Australia, John Forrest, gazetted a 500-acre reserve at Welshpool. It was intended to be a central living area for Aboriginal people in the Perth metropolitan area who were physically incapable of working. It was thought they could camp there while their families grew flowers, fruit, and vegetables for the local market and for themselves. Charles Timbul (Timble) and Ngilgie were the first residents at Welshpool Reserve. Unfortunately, Nyoongars from all over the area were moved there as the new Chief Protector of Aboriginal People, Henry Princep, wanted all Aboriginal people in the metropolitan area moved to reserves. In 1903 it became a ration station but by 1908 it was deserted.

Waarkarl Woonya Bidi soars upwards over Moorda (Darling Scarp). Going the other way, down over the scarp, this change in the landscape was known as Gargangara, gargan meaning to pitch down, as a bird might suddenly swoop, or as lightning pitches down to land. Once over the scarp the road runs between two water sources, Wungong Reservoir and Canning Reservoir.

Gargan meaning to pitch down, as a bird might suddenly swoop, or as lightning pitches down to land.

Wungong is now a reservoir but was once a brook named by an early settler called Armstrong who believed wungong was a local Nyoongar word meaning to embrace. The north and south branches of Wungong Brook clasp the parcel of land that was the centre of Armstrong's farm.

In 1829 Midgegooroo was a Whadjuk leader. His land extended from what is now Leda to Moorda in the south and was bounded in the north by the Derbarl Yerrigan (Swan River) and Djarlgarro Beeliar (Canning River). It is thought he was among those who watched the first settlers arrive and take up residence.

Elder Noel Nannup talks about the road as it makes its way south by the Waangamaap (Serpentine River):

The Serpentine River and its catchment was important to Nyoongars because it was one of the places where fish such as bream, trumpeter and eel came to breed. They travelled up as far as the falls to lay their eggs then headed back out to sea. Birds came to feed and ate many of the eggs. Down river many Nyoongars set up fish traps using stones, nets or branches; there is evidence of this down river at Barragup. The Serpentine catchment includes a series of pools that are adjacent to the highway just south of the Gleneagles rest area where the Balmoral and the Bibbulmun Tracks cross. These pools were once crystal clear and full of freshwater marron. They were surrounded by karri trees, ferns, and box sedge. The bulb of the fern was a food source, and the box hedge was used for making string. Now the water is muddy and many of the plants are dying. All around this area are clusters of red rocks, this is the home of the woylie.

The route crosses the lower boundary of Balardong Country, Edler Noel Nannup explains the significance of the land that is visible from Nerdabin:

Nerdabin is a granite outcrop, which is visible on the east side of Waarkarl Woonya Bidi. The top of the hill gives stunning views. Nyoongar people would have stood at the top and surveyed a triangle of land with points at Nerdabin, Mount Dale and Boyagin (grinding rock). This triangle contained lush pasture fed by water from Darkin Swamp. It was used by Nyoongar people to farm kangaroos. Boyagin was called grinding or noisy rock because Nyoongar people could hear a grinding noise through the rock. The rock lies on a fault line that goes through Meckering and Cadeaux.

We are now in Wilman Country; Elder Noel Nannup continues to explain how the route was used:

There are small pools of freshwater adjacent to the highway all the way down to the Beaufort and Arthur Rivers. Nyoongar people used these water sources when walking north and south on the highway. Just north of Crossman is a granite ridge pointing towards Narrogin. This is the home of the Fire Waarkarl. The Fire Waarkarl is a totem and part of a songline, it stays home until the summertime and waits for a fire to start. Then it takes off, raging in the fire front.

The Dryandra woodlands in the Caernarvon Hills was, and remains, a favourite camping place for families.

We are now in Kanlyang Country. Kojonup means place of the axe. Elder Jack Cox talks about the Waarkarl:

The Waarkarl was here alright, he made the hill and the river, and he lives in the spring here.

Jack Cox has lived around Kojonup all his life; he was raised by his grandparents who ran a farm. He went to school in Boyup Brook. He became a champion boxer and now lives in Kojonup.

Kojonup is named after the kodj, the axe that was made from stone round here. Let me tell you about that. The axe was chipped out of a piece of stone. Then they would get a good bit of wood, mangart (jam tree) probably for the handle. Then they mixed glue using kangaroo poo, some ash and some other stuff and they would lash the axe head to the wood using sinew and the glue. It was so strong you couldn't get them apart again. When you think they hewed jarrah and karri wood with it. They never used the axe for fighting, it was used for wood. If there was a bee's nest up a tree, they would chip out footrests in the bark with the axe, climb up and collect the honey. I tell you I won't like to have to do that, all the way up one of those trees with bees buzzing around you!

The spring on the hill made this place real good for us Nyoongars, the spring was always running and fresh, the water was good and clean. Since they built a wall round the pool the water is not so good. Three tribes used to come here and camp by the spring. They would come for the ceremony of making the axes and sharpening them. Round by the pool there is a place in the granite where you can see long indentations from where they sharpened the axes over thousands of years.

It gets cold here in the winter and the axe would have come in handy getting a bit of firewood. There are some big flat granites around here; on those cold clear nights they used to set fires around and on the granites. When it was time to lie down, they'd move the fire and lay where the fire had warmed the rock. When it was wet, they would build a mia mia (humpy) with sticks. They would twist tea tree branches around the sticks and sometimes line it with clay to make it waterproof. They built the mia mia with the back to the wind and the front to the fire, it was quite cosy.

Kojonup is on the track between Perth and Albany, so the whitefellas were bound to come across it sooner rather than later. There's some who believe that the first whitefella in the area was Alfred Hillman (a surveyor who arrived in 1837), and that the Nyoongar people guided him to the spring. That sounds right because Nyoongars were generous people and in 1837 it was still very early in the piece; we hadn't worked out what was going on. He must have gone back and told his pals what a good spot it was because soon it was a staging post between the two settlements. They must have looked around and seen it was good land for sheep.

They might have been getting ready for trouble because in 1837 Redcoats arrived. There are some who believe that after the first Redcoats arrived the three tribes came, as they had done for thousands of years for their kodj ceremony. There would have been hundreds of them camped by the spring right in front of the army station. The Redcoats came out with their guns shooting, killing women and children. Some say they can still hear them screaming and calling out in fear. The soldiers must have been frightened the Nyoongars would come and fight back because in 1845 they built the barracks and had a stack of Redcoats staying. They were there until the 1860s when the mounted police took over. Course we are all friends now.

Elder Jack Cox talks about the well at Qualeup which is east of Kojonup.

It was called the night well at Qualeup because there was no water in the well during the day. Then at night you hear it roar as it comes up the well. The water used to come and go with the tide - when it was in you could water 1000 sheep. A whitefella came and blew it up - he wanted to make it bigger like a dam, but it collapsed and closed up. Used to be springs everywhere but when the farms came, they made contour banks and it changed the watercourse and the springs died out.

Waarkarl Woonya Bidi continues southwards into Menang Country, through Moorilup (Kendenup) near the origins of the Kalgan River. Through Narrikup Pwakkanbak (Mount Barker), the Porongorup Mountains are visible.

The Porongorups are older than the Permian, being formed when Australia was first welded with Antartica. They may have been crushed by the Permian ice sheet for the peaks are eroded into domes and they are home to ancient giant karri forests. The mountains and dense forests are not favourite places for Nyoongars to live, instead they remained on the surrounding plains but visited the mountains and the forests for specific items such as medicine.

There are many stories about the Porongorups, this one is told by Elder Vern Gillies:

The Borrongup (the Porongorups) was regarded as a sacred but dangerous place, the home of the totem spirits. Hunting was forbidden in the area. It was said that the Waarkarl, the snake, lived in the peaks of the mountain, and the djarnaks, or ghosts and evil spirits, lived among the rocks. What and Watami were members of the Bronzewing Pigeon people, wholived to the west of the Porongorups. One day What, the woman, went out into the bush to find food. Every so often, she called out to her husband to tell him what she was looking for, and what she was finding. He wasn't happy with what she was finding. Eventually, What found a snake, which was considered to be a real delicacy, and she ate it all. She didn't give any to her husband - all the more for her. But when Watami found out, he became very, very angry. He struck her and broke her leg, then he walked away and left her. What became very sick, and she dragged herself along where the King River runs, until she reached the place that we know as Green Island - she then lay down and died.

Her faithful dog then picked up her scent and followed her tracks, and when he found her, he started to dig all around her. And he dug, and dug - and as he dug, he sprayed dirt over her to cover her, to make a grave for her. He dug for a long, long time, until the sea rushed in to form what we now know as Oyster Harbour. In the meantime, What's son found out what his father had done, and went out seeking revenge. He caught him, and he speared him at the first mountain in the Stirling Ranges, which is what we know as Yongah Mia. Yongah means man, and Mia is the throwing stick. Remarkably, from the air, the mountain clearly looks like a throwing stick.

Waarkarl Woonya Bidi follows Kalgan Beeliar to the ocean.

The iconic shape of the natural harbour was formed when the sea levels rose approximately 8,000 years ago. Then the Nyoongar people lived on the old coastline where it was flat.

The Aboriginal Journey Ways Project was a collaboration between Edith Cowan University and Main Roads. The aim was to research and articulate traditional cultural meanings of selected Aboriginal journey ways that are aligned with modern main roads and bridges.

The Project culminated in the publication of the book "Aboriginal Journey Ways - How Ancient Trails Shaped Our Roads".

Waarkarl Woonya Bidi is one of the journey ways documented in the book. We hope to share more journey ways on this site in the future.