Ongoing connection to Malgana Country
36 The Malgana people have maintained their connection to Malgana country since the assertion of sovereignty. As the submissions state, it is evident from the archaeological and historical record that Aboriginal people have occupied and used the resources of the land in the Determination Area since well before first contact.
37 Pastoral settlement in the region of the Determination Area began around 1860. By the beginning of the 20th century frontier violence and disease had reduced the size of the Malgana community. However surviving Malgana families and their descendants continued to occupy Malgana country and were incorporated into the pearling or fishing industry or in the pastoral industry as station workers or dependants of workers living on pastoral stations.
38 Malgana people's participation in the guano, sandalwood, pearling and fishing industries and on stations in Shark Bay involved multigenerational employment within their country throughout the early part of the 20th century. For example, many Malgana families were involved in the pearling industry in 1930s and then transitioned to commercial fishing after the collapse of the pearling industry post-WWII. Malgana men spent decades of shearing seasons on Faure Island or on other stations such as Tamala, Carrarang and Peron in the Determination Area, and fished for the remainder of the year. Other Malgana people resided in Denham within the Determination Area or in nearby regional towns, such as Carnarvon and Geraldton. Through this work and residence in Shark Bay and on stations within the Determination Area and nearby townships, Malgana people were able to continue to visit, hunt and gather on their country and transmit knowledge about the land to their children, thereby maintaining a continued connection to their land.
39 A significant number of Malgana people still live permanently in the application area in Denham (circa 70-100 people), while the majority of Malgana people live in Geraldton (circa 300 people) and Carnarvon (circa 400 people), some 300-400 kilometres from the application area. Living within an accessible distance from Malgana country enables those Malgana people who do not live in the Bay to visit, camp, fish, hunt and gather regularly within the application area, particularly during holiday periods.
40 Accordingly, both native game and plant foods continue to be important to Malgana people. Malgana people know of, and collect, numerous edible or useful native plants. Other foods that Malgana people hunt and collect include bobtail, long-tail (a type of lizard), kangaroo, emu, pink-grey galah, mull-hawk (big grey bird), bird eggs (shags [cormorants], seagull, divers), turtle eggs, dugongs, turtle, mullet, bluebone, whiting, snapper, oysters, mussels, crabs, prawns, scallops, cockles, little 'redies' and black snapper - and mallee fowl.
41 Fishing in Shark Bay is another traditional activity among Malgana people. Traditionally, nets, hooks and spears were used. Today Malgana people use nets, spears and fishing lines. The most common fish caught and named by Malgana people are Mulgarda (mullet); Bulhamarda (black snapper); Kuramata (Spanish bream); Nungs (yellowtail/spine tail); Ngulu (black trevally); Mulhagadara (whiting); Kerung (trumpeter); Irrumarri (bream); Ngagiya (flathead); Mardirra (pink snapper) and Wudgagarri (tailor). When fishing with nets, fish that are caught are individually plucked and picked out, after their gills have been carefully untangled and checked. The fishermen have to touch each fish as this was what they were taught by their old people. This type of net fishing allows the harvesting of their fishing grounds without overuse of fish stock and minimal by-catch.