South West Aboriginal Land & Sea Council

The South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council (SWALSC) recognise the importance of documenting and capturing stories of Noongar people.

Kaartdijin in Noongar means ‘knowledge’. Noongar people have lived in the south-west of Western Australia for more than 45,000 years. The aim of the Kaartdijin website is to share the richness of our knowledge, culture and history in order to strengthen our community and promote wider understanding.

For thousands of years Noongar people have resided on and had cultural connection to the booja – land. Everything in our vast landscape has meaning and purpose. We speak our own language and have our own lore and customs. The lore is characterised by a strong spiritual connection to country. This means caring for the natural environment and for places of significance. Our lore relates to ceremonies, and to rituals for hunting and gathering when food is abundant and in season. Connection to booja is passed on through our stories, art, song and dance.

Noongar people not only survived European colonisation but we thrived as family groups and sought to assert our rights to our booja. For Noongar people, the south-west of Western Australia is ngulla booja – our country.