The Esperance Nyungars, at the Frontier: An archaeological investigation of mobility, aggregation and identity in late- Holocene Aboriginal society, Western Australia

Abstract

This thesis documents the results of an Aboriginal community-based archaeological research project in the Esperance region, southern Western Australia. It is based on analysis of rock art, stone arrangements and flaked stone artefacts. The aim is to understand the role of the study sites – Belinup and Marbaleerup – within patterns of movement that underpinned society and economy in this region during the late-Holocene. The research explores concepts of identity (Jones 1997; Meskell and Preucel 2004) relating to the local Esperance Nyungar people, and the broader Noongar and Western Desert cultural blocs. It has been suggested that negotiations over territory, law and identity during the recent past were directly related to the expansion of the Western Desert cultural bloc (Gibbs and Veth 2002), which situates the study area at a dynamic frontier of cultural change. Exploration of these questions leads to a discussion about the historical construction of Esperance Nyungar identity.

The study sites are hypothesised to have functioned in the past as aggregation locales (Conkey 1980). Investigation of this hypothesis is illuminative; firstly, for understanding more about the study sites; and secondly about the application of the aggregation concept, and its limitations for archaeology. The results inform a discussion of how mobility (Binford 1980; Kelly 1992) and aggregation can be usefully applied together to investigate the intersections of social and economic elements in hunter-gatherer settlement.

As a conceptual tool for archaeology, identity is challenging because it cannot be directly interpreted from material culture in a simple way. Despite the challenges, identity is an important tool for understanding past societies. Identity is investigated here by mapping the occurrence of symbols across landscapes and considering how these may, or may not, relate to notions of identity and connections to place. The approach begins with what is known (contemporary identity and connection), and works backwards through time and outwards through space towards the unknown. Identity is a powerful way to link the archaeological past with the contemporary descendent community.

The process of undertaking a community-based research partnership is discussed, with critical reflection on the challenges and successes. An argument is presented for how and why community input and ownership is critical to the success of archaeological research into Aboriginal pasts in Australia and abroad.

The results demonstrate the inherent dynamism in Aboriginal society in southern Western Australia and highlight a historical legacy to the processes of cultural change underpinning Esperance Nyungar identity today. Those processes predate the colonial interruption, and continue into the post-Native Title era. This leads to a discussion and critique of the Native Title system, which often neglects to acknowledge the nuanced realities of Aboriginal societies and the inherent mutability of identity and connections across time and space. It is argued that the internal social dynamics of Aboriginal society are an important part of identity, as people continually negotiate who they are and how they relate to people and places. This constant process of identity-making is a fundamental part of Aboriginal culture and society now and into the distant past.