Wednesday, April 29, 2009

history

what is history ?


History is the study of the past, with special attention to the written record of the activities of human beings over time. Scholars who write about history are called historians . It is a field of research which uses a narrative to examine and analyse the sequence of events, and it often attempts to investigate objectively the patterns of cause and effect that determine events Historians debate the nature of history and the lessons history teaches famous quote by george santayana has it that "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. The stories common to a particular culture, but not supported by external sources (such as the legends surrounding king arthur) are usually classified as cultural heritage rather than the "disinterested investigation" needed by the discipline of history



what is history of western australia ?

The first inhabitants of Australia arrived from the north approximately 40,000 to 60,000 years ago and eventually spread across the whole landmass. These Indigenous Australians were well established in the area around Perth by the time European ships started accidentally arriving en-route to Batavia (now Jakarta) in the early seventeenth century.

Before the establishment of the Swan River Colony, the indigenous Nyungar people occupied the southwest corner of Western Australia, hunting and gathering. The lakes on the coastal plain were particularly important to the Aboriginal people, providing them with both spiritual and physical sustenance.

The area in which Perth now stands was called Boorloo. Boorloo formed part of Mooro, the tribal lands of Yellagonga, whose group was one of several based around the Swan River, known collectively as the Whadjug. The Whadjug was a part of the greater group of 13 or so dialect groupings which formed the south west socio-linguistic block still known today as Nyungar (“The People”), or sometimes by the name Bibbulmun.

After settlement in 1829, the European settlers gave the name “Third Swamp” to one of a chain of wetland lakes stretching from Claisebrook to Herdsman Lake. Nearly seventy years later, in 1897, 15 hectares of Third Swamp would be gazetted as a public park and two years later renamed Hyde Park. Hyde Park is now one of Perth's most attractive and popular parks.

From 1831, hostile encounters between European settlers and Nyungars – both large-scale land users with conflicting land value systems – increased considerably. This phase of violence culminated in events such as the execution of Whadjug tribal chief Midgegooroo, the murder of his son Yagan and the massacre of the Pindjarep people.

By 1843, when Yellagonga died, his tribe had begun to disintegrate and had been dispossessed of their land around the main settlement area of the Swan River Colony. They retreated to the swamps and lakes north of the settlement area including Third Swamp, formerly known by them as Boodjamooling.

Third Swamp continued to be a main campsite for the remaining Nyungar people in the Perth region and was also used by travellers, itinerants and homeless people. By the goldrush days in the 1890s they were joined by many miners enroute to the goldfields.[1] As Perth expanded with the gold rush the Nyungar people moved to Lake Gnangara where they were isolated from the European community until changes in the laws that recognised Aboriginal people during 1960s. The camp remained occupied until the early 1980s when it was converted to a school for Aboriginal children.