• Boodjar (Country): The land, waters and sky to which people are spiritually connected.
• Moort (Family): Kinship ties, mutual obligation and community; sharing and reciprocity.
• Kaartdijin (Knowledge): Traditional stories, laws, customs and lore passed down by elders through story, song, and dance.

All life is understood as connected. Noongar spirituality lies in the belief of a cultural landscape and the connection between the human and spiritual realms. Everything in our vast landscape has meaning and purpose. Life is a web of inter-relationships where maam and yok (men and women) and nature are partners, and where kura (long ago, the past) is always connected to yey (present). Traditional lore taught, for example, not to disturb sacred springs or sites where spirit-people dwell. Caring for country, through sustainable fishing, hunting and even controlled burning, is part of this respect.

 

Several places in and around Mosman Park are sacred in Whadjuk tradition. Many of these sites feature in Dreaming stories or were important for resource gathering and ceremonies:

• Garungup (Rocky Bay) Caves: On the riverbank at Rocky Bay there is a limestone cave system believed to be the final resting place of the rainbow-serpent Waagal, who created the Noongar and their world before it made the tunnel underneath out to the Gabee (Indian Ocean). Inside one cave is a tall pillar; dreamtime stories say Waagal coiled around it. The name Garungup means the ‘place of anger’ or a place to be avoided, warning people not to disturb the spirit there. Before European settlement, families camped on these shores, fishing and holding ceremonies near the caves.
• The Seven Sisters of Walyalup:  A chain of limestone hills that once stretched across the Fremantle–Mosman Park area, forming part of a major ancient Dreaming story shared across Australia. These hills are connected to Waagal and represent ancestral women who travelled the land and sky, shaping Country as they moved. Cantonment Hill and Clontarf Hill in Walyalup are the only remaining hills of the original seven. However, whilst the physical geography has evolved, the Dreaming Hills still retain their spiritual significance to ancestral Dreaming narratives.
• Minim Cove: At the southern edge of Mosman Park lies Minim Cove, a sheltered river cove rich in Aboriginal heritage. Archaeological discoveries made here revealed that Noongar peoples used this area as a seasonal camp and fishing site. Stone tools made from quartz and chert, found beneath undisturbed bushland, have been dated to around 9,930 years old, making them some of the oldest artefacts in the region. Minim Cove was also a traditional camping and fishing site for Noongar people, who gathered here while waiting for the tide to fall before crossing the river.

All these places are linked by the songs and stories of Noongar peoples. Today, walking trails around Town (such as the Heritage Trail) include signage about Garungup and Minim Cove, helping everyone learn their significance. Acknowledging these sites reminds us that Mosman Park’s landscape is a living map of Whadjuk history and beliefs.

Mosman Park was not terra nullius (“nobodies land”) when settled by Europeans in 1829, and the arrival of European settlers brought dramatic change and hardship to Noongar way of life. Early settlers renamed places (Buckland Hill, Cottesloe Beach, then Mosman Park) and established farms, homes, and factories. In the first half of the 20th century a period of exclusion prohibited Noongar people from entering Mosman Park and all surrounding metropolitan areas (only men working on the riverbank were allowed and were living on camps in the fringes).

From the late 1800s the sandstone “Seven Sisters” hills were quarried for construction; at Garungup one of the caves was later used for lime-burning. Freshwater springs at Minim Cove were buried under housing developments. By the early 1900s, access to traditional food was increasingly blocked by fences and pollution. Most Whadjuk people were pushed off prime riverside land or moved onto reserves.

Despite this, local Aboriginal people resisted and endured. Whadjuk elders continued to teach their grandchildren the old ways in secret. One well-known story is that of Fanny Balbuk, a prominent Whadjuk woman from the mid-1800s. She famously challenged settlers in Perth and Fremantle, pointing out that Government House and other buildings were built on the graves and lands of her people. Stories of her courage, saying to colonists “You’re standing on the graves of my ancestors” became part of local lore. Like many Noongar people, Fanny and her family endured hardship but never forgot their connection to boodjar (country).

In recent years, there has been a growing commitment to honour Whadjuk Noongar culture and work toward genuine, meaningful reconciliation. The Town of Mosman Park officially acknowledges the Whadjuk Noongar people as the Traditional Custodians and carers of this land. We recognise their cultural connection to the land and waterways of Mosman Park, and their contributing contribution to our Town.

The Town of Mosman Park Council has officially adopted the development of our second Reconciliation Action Plan, building off the foundations laid in our first Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan. The Town’s administration also actively involves Aboriginal Elders and community members in consultations on heritage and planning projects and regularly invites Elders to advise on best-practice relating to cultural management. The Town has also recently adopted a new Procurement Policy, amplifying Aboriginal owned businesses.

Above all, The Town of Mosman Park aspires to walk together, building strong relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal residents. As outlined in the Town’s Strategic Community Plan 2021 – 2031, we work towards a future where “Aboriginal culture is respected, celebrated and embedded in the Town’s day-to-day activities.” By acknowledging the past and working hand-in-hand today, our community moves toward a future where Noongar heritage is honored, and everyone plays a part in caring for this land. The rivers, hills and sky of Mosman Park have stories that span tens of thousands of years; by learning those stories, we deepen our sense of place and strengthen our shared future.