Details

Latitude

-30.971667

Longitude

116.213611

Start Date

1900

End Date

1950

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This layer contains historical information about Aboriginal people that may be distressing. It also contains names of people who have passed away.

Rose Davis, a Yued Nyoongar woman, describes life in this area: “Our land extended east towards Midland and west including the Moore River. Some of the names of those families were Jackamarra, Murricherry, Pineran Calgaret and Ryder. There were about two hundred families living around the Victoria Plains area before Salvado came and set up the New Norcia Mission in 1849. Salvado was a Spanish Monk who wanted to Christianise ‘natives’ in Western Australia. Before he did, he lived for two years with Yued families, trying to get a sense of who we were.  When he set up the mission, he had a good respect for the local people and their ways. He introduced them to European ways by teaching about Christ, literacy and sport. A Yued woman, for example, looked after the first post office. He formed a Nyoongar cricket team. The families who were encouraged to live near the monastery were given cottages – just two rooms and a roof, there were no curtains at the window and nothing to hang curtains on, so they used chaff or wheat bags. It is not mentioned anywhere now if you look around the place, but the local Yueds did all the donkey work of the buildings." 

Sources