Kongk Noel Nannup

Nyoongar

Ngany koolang-kwart Jambinoo-ngat (Geraldton), 1948. Ngaangk baal Ngarluma Yindjibarndi, Bilybar- ool (Pilbara) wer Maambart baal Wadjak Nyoongar.

Warn

Ali koolambidi ngany warn boola warn-midi, karkalyaraniny wheat bins, yekaniny koomba kaditj- kaditj boonarook-kadak, (trucking supplies), warowiny railway lines-ngat Mt Newman wer Tom Price wer yekaniny koomba boodja-kadak kaditj-kaditj-ak (loader driver) Three Springs-ngat.

Ngany dandjoo-djinang kordo-ngat, Cheryl, Three Springs-ngat wer ngalak Jambinoo (Geraldton) koorl. Aliny ngalak moolyak WA-ngat warow miya boya- kadak Aboriginal Loans Commission-ool.

Ngany moolyak warn, 1978, National Park Ranger wer djoorap djoorap nganyang Ngaangk boodja-k – Millstream Chichester National Park – moolyak National Park baalap bandang dandjoo-warn Aboriginal-kadak.

Kwobadjil kaadatj-boya-bibool-kadak (scholarship), moolyak yang Gough Whitlam-ool, Department of Conversation and Land Management (CALM) yang ngany-ak koongko Canberra-koorl kaadatj Cultural Heritage Management 3 years-ngat.

Ngolanga korl-koorliny wer warniny CALM-ngat Narrogin-ngat, ngany moordidjil baranginy boola boola boya grant-ak koomba-warn-ak (projects) winirak warda-kaalak-ngat boodja-k karkalyaraniny.

Ngany koodjir waangkan Birdiya-kadak, Angus Wallam Narrogin-ngat wer moolyak maar-koorl Yedi-wiring (Songlines). Aliny koondaaminy bidi-k ali moort barn wer nyin, ali ngalang wirn nyedingal-ak baalap warba moordidjil warn-midi. Yeyi ngany maar-koorl-kadak boola-boola Yedi-wiring (Songlines) arn WA wer bandang baalap koordak baalabany-ak warn.

Ngany Cultural Ambassador wer Birdiya-bwora Nyin(Elder-in Residence) Edith Cowan University-ngat wer 2003 ngany-ak yang-kadak honorary doctorate bibool Murdoch University- ool. 2017, ngany NAIDOC Maaman Birdiya Year-ngat. (NAIDOC Male Elder of the Year)

English

I was born in Geraldton in 1948. Mum is Ngarluma Yindjibarndi from the Pilbara and Dad is Whadjuk Nyoongar.

I worked in many jobs when I was young, including cleaning wheat bins, trucking supplies for building the railway lines to Mt Newman and Tom Price, and as a loader driver in Three Springs. I met my wife Cheryl in Three Springs and we moved to Geraldton. There, we were the first in WA to build a house using a loan from the Aboriginal Loans Commission.

In 1978, I started working as a National Park ranger, and loved eventually working in Mum’s country – the Millstream Chichester National Park – the first National Park fully staffed by Aboriginal people.

Through a scholarship established by Gough Whitlam, the Department of Conservation and Land Management sponsored me to go to Canberra to study Cultural Heritage Management for three years.

Back working for CALM in Narrogin, I brought in half a million dollars of grants for projects such as cleaning up reserves. I also talked to Elders, including Angus Wallam in Wagin, and started to map Songlines. These are dreaming trails along which people moved and lived and where our spirit ancestors performed great deeds. Now I have mapped hundreds of primary Songlines all over the state and everyone wants to use them.

I was the Cultural Ambassador and Elder-in- Residence for Edith Cowan University, and in 2003, I received an honorary doctorate from Murdoch University. In 2017, I became NAIDOC Male Elder of the Year.