iNDIGENOUS SIGNIFICANCE

THE CONSULTATION PROCESS

In 2019 the City consulted with representatives of the traditional owner families of the Midland area after confirming they were supportive of Whadjuk Noongar language being used in the public open space naming.

The consultation included facilitating discussions with representatives of the traditional owners, and this group was responsible for considering and suggesting appropriate names for the park.

Two consultation sessions were held and a unanimous decision was made for the recommendation of the name Weeip Park.

Bibbulmun man and City of Swan Aboriginal Partnership and Development Officer John Mogridge coordinated the consultation process and meetings with the Elders.

John is passionate about celebrating the rich culture of Australia's First Peoples and helping young Aboriginal people to understand who they are and where they are from.

"You serve your community as both a young person, and as an older person, particularly if you become an elder," he said.

"That's why for me working here is awesome. The naming is honouring them and their elders and my own for that matter…the park being named Weeip is one project, a part of a bigger picture, and it's exciting."

Artist, anthropologist and traditional owner Vanessa Corunna, whose family's traditional country encompasses the New Junction development, originally submitted Weeip's name for consideration to the group as she felt she needed to put his name forward and explain his and his people's importance.

Vanessa is a descendant of Yagan's family. Her grandmother born by the Swan River in 1898, less than 70 years after European settlers began occupying the land now known as Perth metropolitan area.

"I'm hoping it will be a chain reaction where we can hear more about him," she said.

Vanessa explains that developing consultation relationships with the appropriate traditional owners is critically important for properly respecting Aboriginal protocols and to ensure the right people continue to speak for country.

"Being traditional to the area and being able to be a part of naming a place is really important because it helps us to bring back important knowledge and memories of the people of our country and its leaders, and in this case Weeip," she said.

"He was the Yoolin (a leader or Councillor) for that area, so it was really important bringing his name back to that place to be remembered again.

"That’s part of Aboriginal inclusion too, and the healing process and reconciliation, being able to bring back our stories of our people who we knew were right there when colonisation happened here."

Traditional owner Bella Bropho also played a significant role in selecting the name. Bella's family has an ancestral line with Weeip on her mother's side.

"So I was very proud to come here, because that's my family connection, and to acknowledge my ancestors," she explains.

HOW WEEIP CONTRIBUTED TO THE COMMUNITY WE KNOW TODAY

Weeip was recognised then as one of the most powerful Whadjuk totemic Clan leaders after Yellagonga and Midgegooroo. He had had previously negotiated with the British through Magistrate Moore for the release of his older son.

After the execution of Swan River leaders Midgegooroo and Yagan in 1833 and the imprisonment and release of Weeip’s older son Coondebung, the Whadjuk Nation's people stretching from Gingin to Pinjarra and from Mandurah to Toodyay needed a leader like they never had before.

In mid-1834 the British had also taken and continued to hold Weeip's younger son hostage in Fremantle Prison.

The British settlers were feeling increasingly insecure because of their small population, economic difficulties and their increasing understanding of the capacity for traditional owners to respond to common settler aggression if they wished to.

In August 1834, while his young son Billyoomerri was still held hostage in prison, Boora Clan leader  Weeip and his emissary Tongun negotiated a truce with Governor Stirling, assisted by Stirling’s translator Ellis, that aimed to reduce the settler's feelings of insecurity and to better meet Weeip's clan  needs for improved relations with the settlers.

History recounts that the truce was settled with a handshake between the two leaders. It also records Stirling's published remarks to Yoolin Weeip that seem chilling and threatening today:

Following this agreement, Weeip’s young son Billyoomerri was returned to his family.

Following the subsequent Pinjarra massacre, Weeip was again communicated with to confirm that the truce Stirling made with the Clan and Weeip as its leader was still active.

The negotiations and agreements meant people in Swan fared better than the totemic Clans and family at Pinjarra. Weeip ultimately laid the foundations for a better negotiated and shared future for his people in multicultural Perth.

Vanessa thinks it is entirely appropriate that Weeip and his people are remembered and celebrated both for their continued traditional custodianship of this land, and their significant but also very difficult contributions to our shared history.

History highlights the extent to which Whadjuk totemic clan leaders were called on to exhibit extraordinary leadership during early British settlement.

"Success meant the survival of their people. Failure meant the death of their people," she reflects.

"There were extraordinary male and female leaders that to date most histories have chosen to disregard or not to remember. Weeip was one of the most important of these leaders.

"Today that 1834 handshake is celebrated again. This celebration honours the Boora Clan leader Weeip and his Boya Ngura people as traditional owners, and their continuing respectful relationship with the City of Swan."