Noongar

The Noongar (/ˈnʊŋɑː/; alternatively spelt Nyungar, Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, or Noonga) are an Indigenous Australian people who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the south coast. Traditionally, they inhabited the region from Jurien Bay to the southern coast of Western Australia, and east to what is now Ravensthorpe and Southern Cross, south west of the circumcision line separating those Aboriginal groups of central Australia that practised male circumcision upon initiation from those who did not. Noongar country, according to Norman Tindale, was occupied by 14 different groups: Amangu, Ballardong, Yued, Kaneang, Koreng, Mineng, Njakinjaki, Njunga, Pibelmen, Binjareb, Wardandi, Whadjuk, Wilman and Wudjari. The Noongar traditionally spoke dialects of the Noongar language, a member of the large Pama-Nyungan language family, but generally today speak Australian Aboriginal English (a dialect of the English language) combined with Noongar words and grammar. Although Noongar today still recognise the existence of these groups, most Noongar today trace their ancestry to more than one of these groups.