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History Archival research shows that the Susannah Brook first appeared as the “Susannah River” in an “eye sketch” map by J.S. Roe (Surveyor-general) in 1829 when the Swan River Colony was first founded. As early as 1827 Captain James Stirling and the New South Wales colonial botanist Charles Fraser explored the lower reaches of this river near to its confluence with the Swan River. Owing to the fact that the Susannah River was located mostly on Colonel Latour’s property (Swan Location 6), its alternative name in the 1830’s was Latour’s Brook. Moore refers to Latour’s Brook as transecting his own grant at Swan Location 5a. He notes: ‘I find that the brook called Latour’s brook or Susannah river crosses my grant twice.’ (Moore 16th April 1833 in Cameron 2006: 221). Moore (1832) describes his disappointment on discovering that the valley from which the Susannah river issues from the hills does not appear to fall within his grant: ‘I cleared with my own hands (and a good American axe) eleven hundred yards of a vista through the bush to my lower boundary line. I was in great hopes that a valley from which the Susannah river (Latour’s brook) issues from the hills was in my share but, on getting a view through the vista, fear that it is not. However, as the brook traverses my grant twice, it makes the whole land valuable. A sketch of it to shew situation and localities.’ (Moore 9th August 1832 in Cameron 2006: 138).Moore (3rd May 1832) describes his first walk into the Susannah river valley as follows: ‘Went direct to the hills behind my place to the opening of a valley which I had heard of where Col Latour’s brook (as it is called) issues from the hills. It is a beautiful picturesque valley or glen of no great extent. We traced it up about 3 miles when it spread into different branches or rather several branches united there. No one branch appeared to be of any great extent so we turned back without exploring further, but in this we may be mistaken. These vallies frequently contract in some places & expand again in others more than you would expect; so I shall make another exploration at some other time. In some places the sides were very precipitous, formed of great masses and fragments of granite and whinstone – water in pools in some places but I do not think there would be water throughout the summer in any place I saw, though the water is running now in some places. …We saw the old huts of several natives, 11 in one place, 7 in another – bones, feathers and fur strewed all about.’ (Moore 1832 in Cameron 2006: 113)Moore’s work provides the earliest historical reference to Aboriginal habitation in the upper reaches of the Susannah River valley. This is relevant as, to our knowledge, it is the only documented evidence. From Moore’s description, the large number of huts observed would suggest that some important social and/or ceremonial activities had taken place prior to his arrival. If this were the case, an area in close proximity to this habitation must necessarily have had some mythological significance and for such ceremonial occasions to take place, there must have been a plentiful supply of food and fresh water to sustain the large group (or groups) at this time of the year. There is no reference in the general ethno-historical or anthropological literature to the Nyungar name for what is now known as the Susannah Brook. However, recently acquired information by Macintyre and Dobson (2008) reveals an interesting discovery - that the original Nyungar name for the head of Susannah Brook (that is, the ‘head’ as located in 1836) and the surrounding hill country was Goolgoil - which based on our research may be translated as ‘owl.’ Drummond’s (1836, 1839) goolgoil may be viewed as a different phonetic rendering of Moore’s (1835, 1836) gogo (or gurgur, goorgoor) which is the Nyungar onomatopoeic name for the owl, most probably the Southern Boobook (Ninox novaeseelandiae). The question of whether the upper part of the brook and surrounding hill country which is traditionally known as Goolgoil traditionally derived its name from its association with Gogomat, the powerful ancestral owl who is believed to have metamorphosed into stone at Boyay Gogomat on the hillside overlooking the Susannah Brook, can only be conjectured. The whole extent of the Susannah Brook watercourse, excluding its tributaries, is a registered Aboriginal heritage site (ID 640) with mythological and cultural significance. It is listed on the permanent sites register at the Department of Indigenous Affairs. However, during post-survey consultations regarding the “owl stone” the senior most Elder pointed out to Macintyre and Dobson that the tributaries of the Susannah Brook are also of cultural significance to Nyungars. He stated: ‘All the feeders into the brook are part of the river system and the Waugal was the one who created them all. I can’t understand how the Sites Department can make that brook a site but not its feeders. Without the feeders there would be no brook. The Waugal visits all of them – that’s his run’McDonald Hales and Associates (1990) recorded a site known as ‘the Susannah Brook Waugal” (site ID 3656) which is a pool located in the Susannah Brook, said to be located just outside and west of Lot 11. However, for some unknown reason the details of this site (including the site coordinates, site boundaries and associated map) are classified by the Department of Indigenous Affairs (DIA) as “closed,” hence the information is restricted and cannot be accessed without permission from the original recorders. Without access to these site coordinates and further field investigations with the Nyungar Elders and Traditional Owners, it is impossible to ascertain whether this Waugal pool site (ID 3656) is one of the ‘fine springs of water at the foot of the hills at Goolgoil…’ referred to by Drummond (1836) and/or whether ID 3656 is one of the pools referred to by Moore (1832 in Cameron 2006: 113) when he walked about 3 miles up the Susannah Brook Valley to what he thought were the headwaters. Drummond (1839) refers to the “watering place” known as Goolgoil as being located to the west of the hill through which the (old) Toodyay Road passes. When this information is added to his 1836 description of Goolgoil as being located at the head of the Susannah Brook (including the adjacent hill country) and Moore’s observation of pools when he journeyed 3 miles journey upriver to what he considered to be the headwaters of the brook, this would appear to locate Goolgoil within or in close proximity to Hanson’s Lot 11. It should be pointed out that as with many traditional Nyungar place names these often denoted a locale consisting of several related topographic features rather than a single specific feature. This helps to explain why adjacent hills, ridges and water sources sometimes were known by the same name. It may be conjectured that the powerful “owl stone” which marks an important site along the “track” (mat) of Gogomat, the Ancestral Owl Being, gave its name to the locale. |
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It is possible that the Susannah Brook Waugal site (ID 3656) is one of the pools referred
to by Moore (1832) and/or one of the springs referred to by Drummond (1836) and may
fall within the stretch of the upper Susannah Brook Valley known traditionally as
Goolgoil which included a known “watering place” (1839) to Aborigines. These sites
may also have been connected to the “owl stone” site overlooking the Susannah Brook. Macintyre and Dobson (1993, field notes relating to the Pinjarra-Murray region) recorded part of a myth from a Nyungar Elder who stated that there is a close relationship between the mopoke (what he called Gambigur) and the carpet snake (Wakaal). The story, according to the informant, related to the custom of sharing meat, for the Wakaal and the owl were like brothers. They both hunted at night and would share their meat with one another. However, one night the mopoke was unsuccessful and did not catch anything, so he went to the carpet snake’s camp and saw him finishing off the last of the meat (dadja) which he had caught. The mopoke became very angry at the Wakaal for not sharing his food and attacked him with his club. They fought all night until daybreak. The mopoke became blinded by the sunlight and at this time the Wakaal escaped into the river and sank to the bottom creating a large pool. The mopoke flew onto a large tree overlooking the pool, waiting for the Wakaal to come out. However, the Wakaal never came out but made tributaries up and down the river to enable it to move around in search of meat. The Nyungar informant only knew this small fragment of the story and did not know which part of the country the story originated from. He said he had heard ‘old people’ talking when he was a child. During post survey consultations to review the draft report, we were informed by the Nyungar Elders that this myth of the owl and the Waugal was known to them and could have application to the Red Hill area as it does to other parts of Nyungar country. They stated that such stories did not necessarily apply only to one place but were a recurring theme in southwestern Australia. Interestingly, Bates identifies “the owl or mopoke” together with the Woggal and the eaglehawk as the three most supreme, almost deity-like, mythological Ancestral Beings in Nyungar religion. She states: ‘The Perth natives believed that the mopoke had power to punish them if they broke certain native laws. He was said to have changed the eaglehawk, the crow, the white cockatoo and the emu into men and women.’These powers attributed to the ancestral owl are indeed significant. They not only help to explain the significance of the “owl stone” at Red Hill as symbolizing a highly significant totemic being in Nyungar religion, but they may also help to explain why the Owl/ Waugal story is said by contemporary Nyungar Elders to recur throughout the south west region. The owl is an iconic totemic being which features strongly, not only in Nyungar culture, but also in the foundation myths of other Aboriginal cultures. 9, 10 Just as the Waugal “can be controlled by certain medicine men” (Bates in White 1985: 219) , so too can the owl or mopoke, which, as shown in this report, is often associated with the powerful bulya men (sorcerers) as their “assistant totems” (see Appendix 9.84). Thus, the Waugal and the mopoke not only represent the highest echelons of Nyungar totemic mythology, but both are powerful creators, healers and destroyers, and it is for this reason that their ancestral and “living” spirit beings must be protected at all times. They are both arbiters of life and death, and mete out punishment to those who violate customary law. Both are associated with sacred winnaitch areas which require the performance of certain ritual ceremonies (such as the strewing of rushes in accordance with tradition) to avoid harmful consequences to those passing by. Bates collected numerous anecdotes relating to this ritual, most notably in places associated with the mythical Waugal: ‘the power of the sacred snake to punish those who transgress its rules at various places. In consequence these places were either strictly avoided or a special propitiatory offering was made by those who camped or hunted nearby.Similar ritual propitiations applied to the owl stone (Gogomat). George Fletcher Moore (1835) observed his Aboriginal guides conducting with utmost seriousness and ceremony the respectful ritual of strewing Xanthorrhea leaves around the base of the stone at Boyay Gogomat in the Lower Chittering. Similar rituals were (and still are) carried out by contemporary senior Nyungar Elders and Traditional Owners when visiting the “owl stone” at Red Hill in keeping with how they carry out customary rituals associated with such sacred places. Both the Waugal and the Owl (Gogomat) were important guardian spirits associated with winnaitch areas. Is it a coincidence that both of these supreme Totemic Beings are to be found in close proximity to one another at Red Hill? According to O’Connor, Bodney and Little (1985) the whole of the Red Hill area is considered winnaitch: ‘The entire Red Hill region is a winnaitch area: avoided in traditional times because of the existence there of Wurdaatji [also Wudjaardi], spirits who live in the jarrah forests and who assume a small human-like form and can be dangerous to humans if aroused. Although Aboriginal woodcutters worked right through the area in historical times, they were people of the coastal plains and earned their living under constant fear of the Wurdaatji….[these fears] are understandable and very real. The researchers were told by a number of sometime-woodcutters of humans and dogs being subjected to constant surveillance by Wurdaatji; of dogs being killed at night; and of woodcutters’ camps being subjected to barrages of abuse, stones and even large rocks at night.’ |
| This information is provided without prejudice by the Swan Valley Nyungah Community Aboriginal Corporation 2008, and is intended to be as accurate as possible. |