Rediscovery of original Noongar place names in Perth captured on film

Australia Broadcast Center

3 days ago

A two-year project to rediscover the original Noongar place names in Perth's southern suburbs has been captured on film.
The film, Boodjara, which premiered this week, tells the story of how 14 Noongar elders came together to share what they learnt from their own ancestors, painstakingly reclaiming the original place names of the Melville area, in Perth's southern suburbs.
Through long, careful conversations, they found not just names but stories.
Yagan Mia (Wireless Hill) means "home of the long-necked turtle", an important food source, while Niergarup is Point Preston, and translates as "place of the salmon".
Lucky Bay was known as Margamangup, "the place where they catch fish by hand from a fish trap".
The film shows the work of reclaiming culture playing out at the same time as the failed Voice referendum.
The film, Boodjara, charts the careful work elders did mapping the area and was shot by Noongar filmmaker Hugh Sando, recording the conversations that led to the rediscovery of the place names.
"It was beautiful to watch," Sando told Jo Trilling on ABC Radio Perth.
"These conversations unfolded, these stories were being told and I was able to document that in a way that you could share with the community, share with broader Australia.
The cultural mapping involved a physical linen map that was unrolled at every meeting and hand-carved clay stamps were made to represent different places.
Slowly, the project came together.
"I think whenever you're exploring something that has been affected by colonisation, there's always going to be challenges," Sando said.
"Thankfully, we have a group of elders that were involved in this project that care so deeply about language and about culture.
"And through that, there's robust discussion. There's critical debate."
He said for any place, knowing the traditional names was a way into learning about the culture and history.
"When Noongar people would refer to a place, it was more often than not a description of what was there, a story about that place.
"For me personally, it's so important and I think it should be important for everyone."
The name of the film, Boodjara, means country.
Sando said he hoped it inspired curiosity for people to learn not just more about Melville, but places all over Australia.
"Everyone thrives on the culture of the places they visit," he said.
"I would ask one thing from everyone that watches the film — be curious. Where am I? What does this place mean? What was this place before colonisation?
"And how is this place still important?
For the Noongar elders who took part in the project, it's a restoration of culture that will be felt for generations to come.
During the course of filming, Australia voted no to creating the Voice to parliament.
Geri Hayden, the cultural advisor on the place names project team, told the ABC last year it was about bringing Noongar stories to the fore for future generations.
"It's about reviving the Noongar place names and identifying them and telling the meaning so that our future generations know that we do have a culture, we do have a law," Ms Hayden said.
"It's very important that people know about it and especially our children who grow up in the society and the world around us.
"We learn about all this European history stuff but they forget about our culture and that means our history too."
Hugh Sando sees his film, and the cultural mapping journey it documents, as a way for First Nations culture to become stronger, despite the obstacles.
"It was a privilege for me to sit in on those conversations and be able to not only document, but witness that process happen," he said.
Boodjara was a collaboration between the Community Arts Network of Western Australia, Indigenous consultancy Moodjar and the City of Melville.