Yued

Yued is a region inhabited by the Yued people, one of the fourteen groups of Noongar Aboriginal Australians who have lived in the South West corner of Western Australia for approximately 40,000 years.
European settlers first visited the Yued region in the 17th century, but it was not colonised until George Fletcher Moore’s visit in 1836. In 1846 Spanish Benedictine Monk, Rosendo Salvado created a Catholic missionary institution housing some Yued people, which became New Norcia, the only monastic town in Australia. Later impacts of European colonisation include the introduction of governmental assimilation policies such as the Aborigines Act 1905 which prompted the creation of settlement and internment camps like the Moore River Settlement, contributing to diseases within the Yued population as well as their displacement from the region.
There are ongoing projects to preserve Yued culture including the establishment of native titles, heritage plans and active cultural community programmes.

Language

At the time of European settlement, the Yued language was one of the 13 dialects of the Noongar language. The Yued language specifically belongs to Djiralay, one of the three main dialect groups within the wider Noongar region. The other two are Kongal-Boyal and Kongal-Marawar.
After colonisation, the number of fluent Yued speakers fell due to cultural assimilation policies which prevented Aboriginal people from practising their native language. As a result, contemporary Yued people speak a dialect of the English language known as Aboriginal English.

Names

There is a lack of concrete evidence to support that the endonym for this region was Yued and some sources suggests that it is rather a name used by non-Yued people to refer to the region. There is evidence that in the 19th century some Aboriginal people living in New Norcia referred to themselves as "Jun-ar", as recorded in the memoir of Rosendo Salvado.
One exonym used by the Yued's northern neighbours for their territory was "Minnalyungar". The Whadjuk term for thedm was "Jaburu-Jungara". In modern times, Yued is now the standard self-descriptive term used by local people in the area.

Country

According to Norman Tindale, Yued/Juat country covered roughly 16,900 sq. km. and extended over Gingin, Moora, New Norcia, the Moore River and Cape Leschenault. Towards the north, their lands reached up to the area around Hill River. The inland extension ran to near Miling and the Victoria Plains.
Under the Yued native title agreement, the region starts on the coast of Western Australia and extends inland, encompassing approximately 22,000 square kilometres of land. The towns contained within this region are Leeman, Jurien Bay, Cervantes, Two Rocks, Toodyay, Gingin, Calingiri, Lancelin, Dalwallinu, Coorow and Moora. The official description on the native title agreement of what encompasses the Yued region is as follows:

All those lands and waters commencing at the intersection of the prolongation westerly of the northern boundary of the Shire of Coorow with the 3 Nautical Mile Limit being a point on a present northern boundary of Native Title Determination Application WAD6192/1998 Yued and extending generally easterly, generally south easterly, generally south westerly and generally westerly along the boundaries of that native title determination application to the intersection with the 3 Nautical Mile Limit. Then generally north westerly along that 3 Nautical Mile Limit back to the commencement point.

Significant geographical locations

Multiple geographical sites are classified on the Aboriginal heritage listing sites under the Yued Indigenous land user agreement, indicating its importance to the Yued people.

Name	Reason for listing
Hasting's Cave	Contains artefacts, scatter, campsite
Karakin Lake	Women's gathering site, contains artefacts
Moore River	Water source, mythological importance due to the belief that it was created by the Noongar manifestation of Rainbow Serpent
Wedge Island Coast	Camp and hunting place, meeting place, water source

Flora and fauna

The Mediterranean to semi-arid climate of the Yued region formed unique flora and fauna that provided sustenance to the Yued people.

Common name	Noongar name	Use
Grass tree	Balgar	Leaves used as shelter and torches
Native yam		Main source of food
Kerbein	Norn	White, fleshy part at the base of the stem is eaten. Evidence shows that this practice is still continued today.
Edible grubs	Bardi	Source of food
Berries: sandplain berries/golberries	Mull	Source of food

Culture

Mythological beliefs

A spirit that is central to the culture of Noongar people, and the Yued people, is the Rainbow Serpent. Whilst the mythological figure is common to many Aboriginal Australian cultures, in Noongar culture this deity is referred to as Waugal.
The significance of Waugal to the Yued people arise from their belief that the serpent created the Moore River, leading to the river to be referred to as a Dreaming track. The river was important for many activities of the Yued people, as a meeting, camping and birthing sites. There is common belief that the Waugal permanently resides in the deep river pools in the vicinity of the Moore River.

Daily activities

There is evidence to support that the Yued people moved seasonally during the pre-settlement era. They moved in the springtime, sourcing swamps and estuaries where freshwater turtles, frogs and other fauna provided plentiful food. These swamps and estuaries became a congregation point with the Amangu people during the summer and early autumn months where they camped and traded.
The Yued and other Noongar people engaged in trade, an activity which was dictated by the six Noongar seasons. The common trading place amongst the Noongar people is labelled as the Mandurah, which facilitated good exchanges. The Yued people specialised in providing cutting and fighting tools in the Mandurah. Some of these include the dowak and d-yuna.

Social hierarchy

The Yued Region followed a social hierarchy that included six classes or sections of people, with inheritance determined by the mother's division class. These classes, which also acted as family names, are:

Tiraop
N-Oiognok
Palarop
Tondorop
Mondorop
Jiragiok

Rules for marriage between classes were specific, with only certain classes being able marry into each other. For an example, individuals could not marry into the same class.

Culture during European settlement

Whilst cultural assimilation policies such as the taking of the Stolen Generations reduced cultural practices, some Yued people escaped to reserves and river sites where they could maintain elements of traditional lifestyle. One recorded practice included initiation ceremonies for young boys entering manhood.

European settlement

The Yued region, like other Aboriginal cultures, underwent cultural shifts following the arrival of Europeans in Australia. The arrival of four Dutch trading fleets within the vicinity of Moore River between 1656 and 1658 has been identified as the earliest European visit to the Yued region. However, colonisation did not occur until Irish-born explorer and diarist George Fletcher Moore visited the Garban River in the Yued Region in 1836, later renamed Moore River after him.
Settlers attracted to the Yued region by its fertile land and steady growth of yam fields initially focused their pastoral work around two towns, Moora and Gingin, that they established. George Grey, governor of South Australia and New Zealand, noted that the region was a location where "more had been done here to secure a provision from the ground by hard manual labour than I could have believed it in the power of uncivilised man to accomplish". The first permanent settlers arrived in the region in 1846.
During this time, Yued people assisted explorers and settlers who were establishing themselves in Moora and Gingin by providing advice on land cultivation and helping them locate water, with some also finding employment on farming stations. However, Yued living conditions were soon compromised and they were often displaced from their land into the fringes of towns due to settler-introduced diseases, with many contracting syphilis, bronchitis and cyclical outbreaks of measles.

New Norcia

In 1845 a Catholic Missionary party led by Rosendo Salvado, a Spanish Benedictine monk, established themselves on the bank of Moore River. Salvado aimed to convert Aboriginal people and equip them with supposedly "Western" skills like farming without compromising their Indigenous identity. Salvado recruited Yued people from Gingin and Moora, providing them with housing and land to practise farming skills, and hiring some as mission employees. The community developed into the monastic town of New Norcia, a prominent town of the Yued region.
By 1847, some Yued people allowed their children to live with the monks. New Norcia Mission began housing and teaching young boys, as Salvado believed the centre could not cater to girls. The mission gave Indigenous children a structured education, responsibilities through chores, and lessons in sport and musical instruments. To raise funds for the mission, Salvado picked five Yued children to take to Europe to showcase the successful conversion of "native" children to the courts of Europe. By 1858, 92 Aboriginal people from Moora and Gingin resided in the New Norcia community.
Conflicts later arose within the New Norcia community, with Aboriginal residents resenting the lack of care due to the reduction of government subsidies and changing direction of the mission. In 1911, residents were encouraged to leave the mission, leading to some finding jobs on the outskirts of the Perth metropolitan area and others finding dwellings on the fringes of town.